The 40-second answer
You don't need to pull new permits to sell a house in Florida. But if permits were pulled and never closed — or if work was done without a permit at all — that's a problem you need to deal with before listing, not after. Open permits are public record, title companies find them, and lenders (FHA and VA especially) often won't fund against them. Florida law also requires you to disclose material defects, and unpermitted work qualifies. This article explains what you're required to do, how to search permit records yourself, and the three ways to resolve what you find.
Quick facts
| | | |---|---| | Disclosure law | Florida Statute §475.278; Johnson v. Davis (Fla. 1985) | | Open permit search | Miami-Dade: miamidade.gov/permits · Broward: dpepp.broward.org | | Closing a simple open permit | $50–$200 (schedule final inspection) | | After-the-fact permit (unpermitted work) | $500–$5,000+ depending on trade and corrections required | | FHA/VA stance | Often won't fund; unpermitted work excluded from appraised value | | Timeline to close a permit | 2–8 weeks for simple cases; 8–16 weeks for ATF permits |
First: selling doesn't require new permits — the issue is existing ones
There's a common misconception: people think they need to pull permits before selling. You don't. No Florida law requires you to obtain new permits as a condition of sale.
What matters is the permit history already on file. Specifically:
- Open permit: Work was done and a permit was pulled, but the job was never finaled (no final inspection). The permit is still open in the system.
- Expired permit: A permit was pulled but it lapsed — usually because no inspections were scheduled within the required timeframe. Different from an open permit in that it may require re-application.
- Unpermitted work: Work was done with no permit ever pulled. The most serious category — nothing in the county record, but the work exists in the house.
Each creates different liability and has a different resolution path.
What Florida law requires you to disclose
Under Florida Statute §475.278 and the Florida Supreme Court's ruling in Johnson v. Davis (1985), sellers must disclose all material facts that affect the value or desirability of the property and are not readily observable.
Open permits and unpermitted work qualify as material facts when:
- The work affects the structure, safety, or insurability of the home
- The seller knows about it (or reasonably should know)
- A buyer wouldn't discover it through ordinary inspection
The critical point: open permits are public records. They're not hidden. But "it's in the public record" is not a defense against non-disclosure when you knew about the issue and chose not to mention it. Florida courts have held sellers liable for non-disclosure of permit issues even when the permits were technically searchable.
The Seller's Property Disclosure form (required in Florida real estate transactions) specifically asks about known permit issues. Answer truthfully.
Consequence of non-disclosure: buyers retain the right to rescind the transaction and may have grounds for a fraud claim. After closing, if a buyer discovers unpermitted work during a renovation or insurance claim, the liability flows back to the seller.
The work most likely to have permit issues in South Florida
This is where South Florida differs from the rest of the state. The trades most commonly involved in open permit or unpermitted work situations in Miami-Dade and Broward:
Roof replacements. After the 2004-2005 hurricane season and again after Irma (2017), enormous numbers of roofs were replaced. Permitting practices varied. Second owners often have no idea whether the replacement was permitted. This is the single most common permit issue in South Florida real estate transactions, and it directly affects whether a buyer can get insurance.
HVAC replacements. Florida requires permits for all HVAC work. Smaller contractors sometimes skip this. A 5-year-old AC system with no permit shows up on a 4-point inspection as "unknown age" — which can make insurance underwriting difficult.
Electrical panel upgrades. 150A and 200A service upgrades are required for modern insurance underwriting. Many older homes had them done without permits. Like HVAC, the panel age becomes "unknown" on a 4-point inspection without a permit record.
Impact window and door replacements. In the HVHZ, impact openings are a code requirement for new construction and major renovations. Replacement installations — especially those done in the years immediately after 2001 when the rule was new — sometimes skipped permits. This matters for wind mitigation inspection results (opening protection category).
Screen enclosures and pool cages. Ubiquitous in South Florida. Among the most commonly unpermitted structures. Technically require permits in both Miami-Dade and Broward; often not pulled by smaller contractors.
Generators. Whole-house transfer switches require electrical permits. Skipped frequently on rush installations after hurricanes.
Additions and conversions. Garage conversions to living space, screened patios enclosed as conditioned space, mother-in-law additions. Among the highest-risk categories because they affect square footage calculations, appraisals, and insurance coverage amounts.
How to search for open permits before you list — by county
This is the most practical section of this article. Do this yourself before you pay a title company to find problems at closing.
Miami-Dade County
Search at miamidade.gov/permits — search by address. You'll see permit numbers, types, statuses (issued, approved, expired, final), and the contractor who pulled each permit.
Important caveat: Properties inside the City of Miami (not just Miami-Dade County) may have city-issued permits in a separate system. The county portal covers unincorporated Miami-Dade and some municipalities; the City of Miami uses its own portal. If your property is inside Miami city limits, search both.
You can also pull the complete permit history for any South Florida address:
Broward County
The Broward County Building Code Services portal is at dpepp.broward.org (BCS — Building Code Services). Search by address.
Critical Broward-specific warning: Most incorporated cities in Broward — Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, and others — maintain their own permit systems separate from the county. A search through the county BCS portal will miss city-issued permits. You need to check both:
- Broward County BCS: dpepp.broward.org
- Your specific city's building department (Fort Lauderdale uses Accela; most others have their own portals)
If you're not sure which municipality your property falls in, look up the address on the Broward County Property Appraiser site — it will show you the municipality code.
Broward County permit history →
Palm Beach County
Search through the Palm Beach County building department at pbcgov.com. Same caveat applies: incorporated municipalities (West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach) may have separate city systems.
Palm Beach County permit records →
The three paths to resolution
Once you know what open or missing permits exist, you have three choices:
Path 1: Close the open permit (simplest)
If the work was done correctly and the permit is just sitting open because nobody scheduled a final inspection, closing it is usually straightforward and cheap.
Call your county building department. Tell them you have an open permit on your property and want to schedule a final inspection. Provide the permit number. A building inspector will visit, verify the work was completed correctly, and mark the permit finaled in the system.
Cost: Typically $50–$200 in inspection fees, depending on the county and trade. Timeline: 2–6 weeks in most cases. Caveat: If the inspector finds the work wasn't completed or doesn't meet code, you'll need to bring it up to standard before the permit can be closed. Cost then depends on what corrections are required.
Path 2: After-the-fact (ATF) permitting for unpermitted work
When no permit was ever pulled for work that required one, you need an after-the-fact permit. Both Miami-Dade and Broward have formal ATF processes.
The basic steps:
- Submit an ATF permit application (same as a regular permit application, with documentation of what was done)
- Pay fees — typically 2x the normal permit fee as a penalty
- A building inspector reviews the work; if it meets current code, the permit is issued and then immediately finaled
- If the work doesn't meet current code, you pay a contractor to bring it up to standard, then re-inspect
Realistic cost by trade:
- Roof replacement (ATF): $300–$800 in fees if the roof meets code; $2,000–$8,000+ if corrections are needed
- HVAC replacement: $200–$500 in fees; add contractor cost if work needs correction
- Electrical panel: $300–$700 in fees; may require a licensed electrician to verify/document
Timeline: 4–12 weeks typically; longer if corrections are needed.
The hard part: ATF permits require the work to be inspectable. For a roof, this means the inspector can verify the deck attachment, underlayment, and flashing — much of which may be hidden. In some cases, exposing the work for inspection is not practical or is very expensive.
Path 3: Sell as-is with full disclosure
If closing the permits is impractical — the work doesn't meet current code, the timeline doesn't work, the cost is prohibitive — you can disclose the issue and let buyers decide. This is a legitimate option with real buyers.
Who buys as-is: Cash buyers (investors, iBuyers, estate buyers) are the most common. They price the risk and factor the resolution cost into their offer.
What discount to expect: Roughly 1.5–2x the estimated resolution cost. If closing the permits will cost $5,000, expect offers to come in $8,000–$10,000 lower than a clean comparable — buyers price uncertainty, not just cost.
How to structure it: Your real estate attorney should handle the contract language. The disclosure needs to be explicit — "open permit for roof replacement, permit number X, pulled by contractor Y, inspected but never finaled." Vague language creates liability.
What open permits do to your buyer's financing
This is where permit issues most often kill deals.
Conventional loans: Most conventional lenders will fund with open permits if the issue is minor (a single small permit, not affecting livability). However, they may require the permit to be closed before funding, or require an escrow holdback — money set aside at closing to pay for resolution.
FHA and VA loans: Much stricter. FHA appraisers are required to flag unpermitted additions and improvements. If unpermitted square footage is excluded from the appraised value, the buyer's loan amount may drop below what they need. VA follows similar guidelines. In practice, FHA/VA buyers frequently can't purchase homes with significant unpermitted work without resolution first.
Title insurance: Title companies search permit records as part of their title search. When they find open permits, they have three options: (1) exclude the permit from coverage (creating a title exception), (2) require the permit to be closed before issuing the policy, or (3) require an escrow holdback. In South Florida, where title insurance is typically a seller expense, the holdback or correction cost comes out of your proceeds.
The 4-point inspection connection
Buyers of homes over 25 years old in Florida typically need a 4-point inspection to get homeowners insurance. The 4-point covers roof, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. If major work in any of these four trades was done without permits, the inspector notes it as "unknown age" or "unpermitted" — both flags that cause insurance carriers to hesitate or decline.
The chain that kills deals: Seller replaces HVAC in 2019 without a permit → buyer's 4-point inspector notes "HVAC system, age unknown, no permit record" → buyer's insurance carrier declines or requires inspection by an HVAC engineer → buyer can't get insurance → deal falls through.
This chain is especially common with roof replacements in South Florida post-hurricane. A buyer who can't insure the home can't close with a lender.
If you're not sure whether your roof replacement was properly permitted, check before you list:
If you're the buyer — what to look for
During due diligence: Run the permit search yourself (using the county portals above or MyPropFile) before you waive your inspection contingency. Compare what you find to the seller's disclosure form. Discrepancies are negotiation leverage.
Before your inspection contingency expires: Get an insurance quote with the actual permit history. Your agent will ask about the roof age and HVAC age — the permit records are the authoritative answer. If the insurer can't confirm key dates, your quote will reflect that uncertainty with a higher premium or a declined application.
In your contract: If the permit search reveals open permits, address them explicitly in the contract — who closes them, by when, and what happens if they can't be closed in time. Don't rely on verbal assurances.
One thing buyers miss: Code enforcement liens are separate from building permits. A property can have clean permits and still have code enforcement liens attached — for overgrown vegetation, an unlicensed rental unit, or a structure built without permits and later flagged. Code enforcement liens in Miami-Dade and Broward attach to the property, not the owner. They survive a sale. Your title search should catch them, but ask specifically.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell a house with an open permit in Florida? Yes, with full disclosure. You're not legally prohibited from selling. But you need to disclose the open permit on the Seller Property Disclosure form, and you should expect buyers (especially those using financing) to require resolution before or at closing.
Does an open permit affect home value? It can, depending on what the permit is for and whether it's resolvable. A simple final inspection issue on a minor permit has minimal impact. Unpermitted square footage that affects the appraised value has direct financial impact.
Who is responsible for closing a permit — buyer or seller? It's negotiable and should be in the contract. Convention in Florida: seller is responsible for permits pulled by the seller or during the seller's ownership. But this is dealt with in the contract, not assumed. The contract should specify.
How long does it take to close an open permit? 2–6 weeks for a simple final inspection. 4–12 weeks for an after-the-fact permit on straightforward work. Longer if corrections are needed or if the county is backlogged.
What is an after-the-fact (ATF) permit? A permit applied for after the work was completed, when no permit was ever pulled. It requires an inspector to verify the completed work meets current code. Both Miami-Dade and Broward have formal ATF processes. Fees are typically 2x the normal permit fee.
What if I bought the house and the previous owner left open permits? The open permits are your problem now — they attach to the property, not the prior owner. You can try to resolve them directly with the county building department. If the prior owner's contractor is still in business, contact them — they pulled the permit, and they may have an obligation to close it. As a practical matter, this situation is worth disclosing to a real estate attorney before you list.
Sources: Florida Statutes §475.278, Johnson v. Davis 477 So.2d 985 (Fla. 1985), Miami-Dade County Building Department, Broward County Building Code Services, Palm Beach County Building Division. Last reviewed May 2026.
MyPropFile is not a licensed attorney. This is informational guidance based on public statute and market practice — not legal or real estate advice. Transaction decisions should be made in consultation with a licensed Florida real estate attorney.