Five underwriting issues for multifamily portfolios in 2026

1. Water and building systems

Carriers want plumbing materials, water-heater age, leak detection, shutoff procedures, roof condition, electrical updates and preventive maintenance. A portfolio-level program should still preserve location-level detail.

2. Valuation and restoration

Review replacement cost, debris removal, ordinance or law and rental income against a severe event. Consider realistic rebuilding time and any post-reopening income recovery period separately.

3. Security and liability

Access control, lighting, cameras, incident procedures, security vendors and local crime conditions can affect general liability and umbrella terms. The review should identify assault, battery, firearms and habitability restrictions directly.

4. Lender compliance

Loan requirements can conflict with available exclusions, sublimits or deductibles. That conflict should surface before binding so the owner, lender, broker and legal advisers can address it deliberately.

5. Loss remediation

Underwriters want more than a loss run. They want evidence that root causes were investigated and controls changed across the relevant properties.

• Scope remediation beyond the damaged unit
• Track recommendations to completion
• Document contractor and vendor changes
• Monitor repeat causes by property

Our view

A multifamily submission should operate like an asset-management file: accurate property facts, a control narrative and clear ownership of open recommendations. The underwriting process is evaluating the buildings and the management discipline behind them.