Sell a House With Unpermitted Work — Without Fixing the Permits

What counts as unpermitted work around here

Pinellas is full of 1950s to 1970s block houses, and over the decades many of them got bigger without paperwork. The usual suspects: a carport or garage enclosed into a bedroom, a screened porch closed in with windows and a window unit, a shed that became an in-law suite, a water heater or electrical panel swapped by a handyman, a re-roof done by a cousin. Some of it is fine work. Some of it is not. The building department cannot tell until someone opens a permit and inspects it.

The Florida Building Code requires a permit before you construct, enlarge, alter, repair, or change the occupancy of a building, or replace regulated electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or impact-resistant elements (FBC § 105.1; Fla. Stat. § 553.79(1)). Inside St. Petersburg the Construction Services and Permitting Division enforces that; in unincorporated Pinellas and in unincorporated Pinellas and several of the smaller cities it is Pinellas County Building Services. Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, and the other cities each run their own.

Two different problems get lumped together. Unpermitted work means no permit was ever pulled. An open or expired permit means someone applied, but the job never got its final inspection. Under the code a permit goes invalid if work does not start within six months or stops for six months (FBC § 105.4.1), so many 'open' permits from 2005 or 2015 are really expired ones.

How it surfaces when you try to sell

You usually find out one of three ways. The buyer's inspector notices the enclosed garage has no vent and no permit history. The appraiser compares the Property Appraiser's square footage to what is actually there. Or the title company orders a municipal lien search. Title insurance covers recorded title defects, not permits, so Pinellas closing agents order a separate lien search that pulls open and expired permits, code cases, and unpaid utility balances from the city or county. The City of St. Petersburg's own lien research request runs $55 and takes about three business days and covers utility balances, special assessments, and utility liens; code liens come from Codes Compliance and permit history from the city's online permit portal (Click2Gov). Unincorporated Pinellas uses the county's Accela portal. Anyone can look up an address.

Once an open permit or an obvious addition is on paper, the buyer's lender and insurer get involved, and that is where retail deals die.

Two pieces of state law help here. Fla. Stat. § 553.79(16)(c) lets a building department close a permit six years after issuance without a final inspection if it finds no apparent safety hazard. And § 553.79(16)(a) lets the current owner close a permit even if they were not the original applicant, by hiring the original contractor, a different licensed contractor, or acting as owner-builder. Neither makes the problem disappear on its own. Someone still has to ask, and the department still gets to inspect.

What an after-the-fact permit actually involves

Most people picture a form and a fee. Here is what it tends to look like.

• The penalty fee. The Florida Building Code lets the building official charge an additional fee for work started before a permit was issued (FBC § 109.4). Pinellas County's building department states plainly that after-the-fact permits normally cost double. The county waived that penalty for storm-related repairs after Debby, Helene, and Milton, but the waiver ended June 30, 2026 and fees were reinstated July 1, 2026.
• Exposing the work. The code requires work to stay exposed and accessible until it is inspected (FBC § 110.1). For a finished room that means opening drywall so an inspector can see framing, wiring, and plumbing, then patching afterward.
• Drawings and engineering. An addition or enclosed garage usually needs plans, and often a Florida-licensed engineer's letter on the footer, tie-downs, and roof connection. If an old permit exists and the work is substantially complete, Fla. Stat. § 553.79(16)(b) lets it be judged by the code in effect when that application was filed. Work that never had a permit gets judged by what the inspector can see today.
• Fixing what fails. Undersized wiring, a bathroom with no vent, a slab poured without a footer. Each one is a correction before the final, and in the worst case the building official can require the work to be removed.
• Time. Plan review, inspections, and corrections run weeks to months, and meanwhile a financed buyer cannot close.

If the house sits in a FEMA special flood hazard area, which covers much of St. Pete, Gulfport, and the beaches, the after-the-fact permit is also measured against the 50 percent substantial improvement rule. That can turn a permit question into an elevation question.

Why retail buyers' lenders and insurers walk

A cash buyer can accept risk. A bank and an insurer are paid not to. When an appraiser notes an unpermitted addition, the underwriter can refuse to count that square footage, require the permit closed before funding, or decline the loan. Even when the loan survives, many Florida insurers require a four-point inspection of the roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC before writing a policy on an older house, and the state's Insurance Consumer Advocate notes that depending on the results the owner may need to complete repairs before a policy is issued. An enclosed carport with a window unit and surface-mounted wiring is exactly what that inspection is built to catch. No insurance, no loan. No loan, no retail buyer.

There is also a tax wrinkle: if the Pinellas County Property Appraiser picks up the extra square footage, the assessment can rise to match. Not a reason to hide it. A reason to know what you are selling.

Your disclosure duty, and how to stay on the right side of it

Florida does not require a seller's disclosure form, but it does require disclosure. In Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985), the Florida Supreme Court held that when the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller must disclose them. Florida courts have applied that to residential sales ever since, and an as-is clause does not cancel it. If you know the back bedroom was built without a permit, or that a 2012 permit was never finaled, the law expects you to say so.

With us, telling the truth costs you nothing. We are buying the house for what it is, permits and all. Tell us what you know, show us whatever paperwork you have, and we price it in. For anything beyond that, talk to a Florida real estate attorney; we are a buyer, not a law firm.

How we buy it and resolve the permits after closing

One short walkthrough, fifteen to thirty minutes; a lockbox or a neighbor works if you are not local. We look at the unpermitted areas with an eye to what the building department will ask for: footer, roof tie-in, electrical, egress, flood zone. Then we put a written cash offer in your hands, typically within 24 hours. The offer is the renovated value minus repairs, the permit work, holding and resale costs, and our margin, and we show you the math. If listing would net you more after you close the permits yourself, we will say so.

At closing, $0 in fees or commissions, and we pay normal closing costs. Any code enforcement liens or back taxes are paid from the purchase price by the title company. After closing the permits are ours to deal with. Depending on the house, that means our licensed contractor and engineer opening an after-the-fact permit in our name, or taking an addition back down to what was approved. Fla. Stat. § 553.79(17)(a) prevents the city or county from penalizing an arm's-length buyer solely because a prior owner's permit was left open, which lets us step in cleanly. We close in as little as 7 to 14 days when title is clean, or on your schedule.

Related: Back taxes, liens & code violations · Uninsurable house · Hoarder house or major repairs · all situations we buy

We are a cash home buyer, not a law firm. This page is general information about Florida law and local process, not legal advice. For advice on your situation, talk to a Florida attorney — we work with several and are glad to make an introduction.