Open Permits When Selling a House in Florida: How to Find and Clear Them Before Closing

Jeannie Jacobson, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Gold in Port St. Lucie, Florida, represents home sellers across Port St. Lucie, the Treasure Coast (St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties) and Palm Beach County, in English and Spanish, and builds a permit check into every written pricing analysis and pre-listing plan. The sections below follow the questions sellers actually ask, in the order the problem tends to unfold: what the permit status means, whether the sale can go forward, who pays, where to search, how to close a permit, and what to do when the problem appears mid‑contract.

What is an open permit, and how is it different from an expired permit or unpermitted work?

An open permit is a building permit that a local building department issued but never closed with an approved final inspection. The work may be finished, half-finished or never started; the record simply shows that the department has not signed off. Florida sellers meet three related problems that look alike on a lien search but are fixed in different ways, so the first job is to name the right one.

An expired permit is an open permit that has passed the time limit in the Florida Building Code. Under Florida Building Code, Building, Section 105.4.1 (8th Edition, 2023, the edition in force in October 2026), a permit becomes invalid if the authorized work does not start within six months after issuance or is suspended or abandoned for six months after it starts, and Section 105.4.1.3 treats work as in active progress when the permit has received an approved inspection within 180 days (restated in Collier County Building Bulletin #16, amended October 6, 2025). Each building department adds its own procedures for extending, reactivating or voiding expired permits, so ask the department that issued yours. An expired permit is still an unresolved permit; expiration does not erase it from the record.

Unpermitted work is construction, repair or replacement that required a permit and never had one. A converted garage, an enclosed screen porch, a replaced electrical panel or an added bathroom with no permit history are typical examples. Unpermitted work does not show up as an open permit, because no permit exists; it shows up when an inspector, an appraiser or a buyer compares the house with the public record.

A code enforcement case is a separate track run by a city or county code compliance office under Chapter 162, Florida Statutes. A code case can start because of unpermitted work, and if the owner does not correct the violation, the code board can impose daily fines and record an order that becomes a lien on the land (Florida Statutes §162.09, 2026). Two more terms complete the vocabulary:

• A final inspection is the last inspection on a permit; once the inspector approves it, the department closes the permit, and for some work it issues a certificate of completion or certificate of occupancy.
• A notice of commencement is a document recorded in the county’s official records before work starts on many improvements; under Florida Statutes §713.13 it expires 1 year after recording unless the notice states a different date, and an unexpired notice can appear as an exception on the buyer’s title commitment.

For the Port St. Lucie definitions and how the City of Port St. Lucie applies the expiration rules, the Port St. Lucie open-permit guide covers the local detail. The rest of this article works statewide and adds Palm Beach County and the wider Treasure Coast.

Who is responsible for open permits when selling a house in Florida?

The current owner is responsible for open permits when selling a house in Florida in practice, even when a previous owner or a long-gone contractor pulled the permit, because Florida Statutes §553.79(16)(a) lets any owner close the permit and the buyer’s side will ask the seller to do it. Who ultimately pays is set by the purchase contract the parties sign, and Florida’s two common residential forms split the cost differently.

The FR/BAR “AS IS” Residential Contract

The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase is a widely used residential form in Florida; it lets the buyer inspect during an inspection period and cancel if unsatisfied, without obligating the seller to make repairs. An inspection period is the number of days after the effective date during which the buyer may inspect and cancel; on the current AS IS form (ASIS-7x) ¶12(a) sets it at 15 days if the blank is left empty. The AS IS form’s ¶12(c), titled “Seller Assistance and Cooperation in Close-Out of Building Permits,” says that if the buyer’s inspection identifies open or needed building permits, the seller must promptly deliver plans and documents in the seller’s possession and cooperate in good faith with the buyer’s efforts to get estimates, including signing necessary authorizations, but in fulfilling that obligation the seller “shall not be required to expend, or become obligated to expend, any money.”

Under the AS IS form, then, a seller’s legal minimum is cooperation, not cash. The buyer’s leverage is the right to cancel during the inspection period. In a market where the buyer has other choices, cooperation alone rarely keeps the deal together, and the seller ends up negotiating a fix, a credit or a holdback anyway.

The FR/BAR Standard (repair) contract

The FR/BAR Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase, often called the Standard contract, gives the seller repair obligations up to dollar limits written into the contract. One of those limits, the “Permit Limit” in ¶9(a), covers costs of closing out open or expired permits and obtaining permits for improvements built without one, and it is 1.5% of the purchase price if the blank is left empty. Under ¶12(d), if the buyer reports open or expired permits or unpermitted improvements within the inspection period, the seller must get a licensed estimate within 10 days and, up to the Permit Limit, have the permits closed no later than 5 days before the closing date. If the cost exceeds the limit, the seller may pay the excess or the buyer may accept the property “as is” for permits with a credit equal to the Permit Limit; if neither does, either party may cancel and the buyer gets the deposit back.

Custom terms

Any contract can carry an addendum that assigns permit costs, sets a deadline for the seller to close a named permit, or creates a holdback. A clear addendum written before the inspection period ends is cheaper than a dispute three days before closing. If the listing already shows a known permit issue, a written disclosure plus a pre-negotiated remedy in the contract keeps the buyer’s attorney from treating the permit as a surprise.

Contracts, disclosure and the allocation of permit costs are legal questions; before signing an addendum about a permit, review it with a Florida real estate attorney.

Which office holds the permit records for your home?

Permit records belong to the building department of the city, town or county that had jurisdiction when the permit was issued. On the Treasure Coast and in Palm Beach County that means at least a dozen different offices, each with its own portal, fee schedule and closing process. Sellers lose days by calling the wrong one, so match the parcel to the office first.

Sources for the table: City of Port St. Lucie Lien Services and Building Department pages; Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning and Building Lien/Permit Searches page (all accessed October 2026).

The annexation trap in Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County’s search page states that its results represent unincorporated Palm Beach County and do not include properties in municipalities except those annexed from the county, and it advises checking the annexation date first. For a home in an area that a city annexed after it was built, the early permits — the original construction, perhaps a pool — may sit in the county system while later permits sit with the city. A seller who searches only one system can miss half the history. Before hiring anyone to close an old county permit on a parcel that is now inside a city, ask both the county’s Building Division and the city’s building department which office will close it, what inspection it needs and what it costs, and get the answer in writing.

Port St. Lucie specifics

In the City of Port St. Lucie, the Lien Services search bundles the items a closing agent cares about into one request: liens, open permits, active code cases and utility usage. Port St. Lucie Utility Systems balances matter because unpaid utility charges can follow the property, and the city’s page notes that utility information is provided by phone. For Port St. Lucie homeowners who added solar panels, the permit and interconnection paperwork deserve their own check; the guide on selling a Port St. Lucie home with solar panels covers that file.

Port St. Lucie sellers who list with Jeannie Jacobson start from a permit list built for the parcel’s actual jurisdiction, so the first search goes to the right office and the result is in hand before photos are scheduled. Sellers elsewhere on the Treasure Coast and in Palm Beach County get the same first step, matched to their city or county.

What should a seller do about work that was never permitted?

A seller with work that was never permitted has four options: obtain an after-the-fact permit, remove or restore the work, disclose it and price the house to reflect it, or sell to a buyer who accepts it in writing. No single option is right for every house; the answer depends on what the work is, whether it is safe, what an after-the-fact permit would require, and who the likely buyers are.

Option 1: After-the-fact permit

An after-the-fact permit is a permit issued for work already done. The building department usually requires drawings or a contractor’s affidavit, may require opening walls or ceilings so the inspector can see wiring, plumbing or framing, and may charge more than a regular permit. Fees and procedures are set locally; ask the building department for its after-the-fact policy and fee schedule before committing. For electrical panels, water heaters and air conditioning change-outs, a licensed contractor can often handle the permit and inspection quickly. For room additions, garage conversions and enclosed porches, the inspection can turn into a design review, and the work may need to meet current code, not the code in effect when it was built.

Option 2: Remove or restore

Sometimes the cheapest path is to undo the work. A screen room enclosed with windows can go back to screen; a garage converted without a permit can go back to a garage if the conversion is simple. Removal may also need a permit, so ask before demolishing anything.

Option 3: Disclose and price for it

A seller can leave the work in place, disclose it in writing and price the house so the buyer’s cost of legalizing or removing it is built in. This works best when the buyer pool includes cash buyers and investors, and when the work does not affect the appraiser’s count of living area. Disclosure must be accurate: describe what was done, when, by whom if known, and that no permit exists. Vague wording such as “some updates may not be permitted” invites the very dispute disclosure is meant to prevent.

Option 4: A buyer who accepts it in writing

Some buyers intend to renovate and will accept unpermitted work with an addendum that acknowledges it. The addendum should name the work, state that no permit exists and state what the buyer is accepting. A Florida real estate attorney should draft or review it.

The code enforcement angle

If unpermitted work has already drawn a code enforcement case, Florida Statutes §162.06(5) (2026) applies to the sale. An owner who transfers property that is the subject of a pending code enforcement proceeding must disclose the proceeding in writing to the prospective buyer before the transfer, deliver copies of the related documents, and file notice with the code enforcement official within 5 days after the transfer; failing to make the required disclosures creates a rebuttable presumption of fraud. If the property transfers before the hearing, the proceeding is not dismissed, and the new owner gets a reasonable time to correct the violation. Recorded code liens follow a related rule: under §162.09(3), a code enforcement lien may not be foreclosed on real property that is a homestead, which is why many of these liens sit quietly for years and surface only at the sale, when the closing agent requires payment or a release. The same subsection makes a recorded order a lien not only on the land where the violation exists but on any other real or personal property the violator owns, so a code lien from one property can follow a seller to the sale of another.

The Port St. Lucie version of this decision, including how garage conversions and additions meet the appraisal there, is covered in the guide to unpermitted additions and garage conversions in Port St. Lucie. Whether a particular disclosure or addendum protects you is a legal question for a Florida real estate attorney.

How do permit problems affect price, appraisal, insurance and financing?

Permit problems affect a Florida sale in four places: the buyer’s offer price, the appraiser’s report, the homeowners insurance quote and the lender’s approval. A permit that cannot be closed by closing shrinks the buyer pool to buyers who can live with it, and a smaller buyer pool usually means a lower or slower offer.

Appraisal

An appraisal is a licensed appraiser’s opinion of market value, ordered by the buyer’s lender. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide, section B4-1.3-05, states: “If the appraiser identifies an addition(s) that does not have the required permit, the appraiser must comment on the quality and appearance of the work and its impact, if any, on the market value of the subject property” (Fannie Mae Selling Guide, accessed October 2026). That instruction cuts both ways for sellers. An unpermitted family room finished to the same standard as the rest of the house is not automatically excluded from value, but an appraiser who sees poor workmanship or no air conditioning in the space can give it little or no value, and an appraisal that comes in below the contract price reopens the price discussion. The series guide to seller options when the appraisal comes in low covers what happens next.

Insurance

Florida insurers price and accept homes based partly on the age and condition of the roof, the electrical, plumbing and air conditioning systems, and the home’s wind protection. A 4-point inspection is a short report on those four systems — roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC — that many Florida insurers require for older homes. A wind mitigation report is an inspection, on the state’s Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802), that documents roof covering, roof-to-wall connections, roof shape, secondary water resistance and opening protection so insurers can apply wind-loss discounts. On the current revision, OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26), adopted by Rule 69O-170.0155, F.A.C., the roof-covering section asks the inspector to provide, for each roof covering, the permit application date, or the FBC or Miami-Dade product approval number and the year of original installation or replacement, or to indicate that no information was available to verify compliance. A roof or window job with an open permit can leave the inspector without the documentation the insurer wants, and a buyer who cannot bind insurance cannot close a financed purchase. The series guide to 4-point and wind mitigation reports before you list explains how sellers use these reports as a marketing tool.

Financing

Lenders read the appraisal, the title commitment and the insurance binder. A safety-related open permit — electrical, structural, a pool barrier — is the kind of item an underwriter may require resolved before funding. Government-backed loans add their own property standards, which is one reason buyers using FHA or VA loans ask detailed questions about permits on additions and pool enclosures.

Price

The price effect is a buyer’s estimate of three things: what it costs to close or legalize the work, how long it takes, and how much uncertainty is left. A seller who has a contractor’s written quote and the department’s written requirements replaces the buyer’s worst-case guess with a known number. Sellers who are deciding between fixing and pricing can see how both choices change the bottom line in the guide to Port St. Lucie seller closing costs; commissions and closing fees in any sale are negotiable.

How long does it take to clear a permit problem before closing?

Clearing a permit problem takes anywhere from a few business days, when the work is finished and only a final inspection is missing, to several weeks or longer, when a new contractor must take over, correct work or obtain an after-the-fact permit. The search itself has published turnaround times; the fix depends on contractor availability and the building department’s inspection calendar.

Working backward from a listing date

A practical rule for sellers is to put the official search at the very start of the pre-listing plan, before photos and before staging. The reason is arithmetic: if the search comes back clean, nothing is lost; if it comes back with an open roof permit, the seller still has the whole preparation period to close it, and the listing can state that permits are closed. Searching after an offer arrives compresses the same work into the gap between the inspection period and the closing date, with a buyer and a lender watching.

When the clock is already running

If the seller is already under contract, the order changes. The closing agent’s search is usually already ordered, so the seller’s job is to get a contractor’s written plan and date within days, tell the buyer’s side what the plan is, and decide early whether an extension or a holdback will be needed. An early, specific answer keeps the buyer’s lender from treating the file as stalled. Sellers who wait for the closing agent to raise the issue a second time often end up negotiating from a weaker position, because the buyer’s rate lock and moving plans are now at stake.

When the permit is very old

For a permit issued more than 6 years ago with no apparent safety hazard, ask the department about closure under §553.79(16)(c) at the same time you call a contractor. If the department agrees to close it administratively, the contractor call may not be needed. If it does not, you have lost no time.

This article is general information about Florida real estate practice as of October 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, building codes, local fees and contract forms change; confirm current requirements with the building department that has jurisdiction over your property, and consult a Florida real estate attorney about your contract, disclosures and any permit-related agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions