Who Actually Checks Permit History When You Buy a House in Florida? (Usually Nobody)
A Florida buyer put in an offer on a house with a gorgeous great room. During due diligence, a permit search revealed the entire addition had been built unpermitted — thrown up in the chaotic weeks after Hurricane Andrew, decades earlier. The seller had no idea. The deal nearly ended in a lawsuit before the buyer got out of the contract.
Stories like this surface constantly in Florida, and they almost always come with the same shocked question: *wasn't someone supposed to catch this?*
Usually, no. Here's why.
The most expensive assumption in Florida real estate
Most first-time buyers assume permit history gets checked somewhere in the process — by the home inspector, the title company, someone. In reality:
Your home inspector doesn't check permits. A home inspection looks at the *condition* of the house — the roof, the wiring, the plumbing as they exist today. It is not a records search. An inspector can walk straight through an unpermitted addition and never know it, because that's not what they're hired to find.
Your title company might check — or might not. Some title packages include a municipal lien and permit search. Some don't. And when it is ordered, it often happens the week of closing — far too late to investigate anything it turns up, let alone negotiate who pays to fix it.
Nobody else is checking at all.
One buyer's agent described a case where a lien was never recorded in the initial search. The county found it after closing and pursued the new owner for $15,000. Title insurance covered it — but only because the buyer had insisted on it.
What a permit problem actually costs
An old open or expired permit might only need records, a small fee, and a final inspection to close out. But it can also mean:
- Contractor bills to complete or redo work
- Engineering reports and opening up walls
- Insurance complications (insurers increasingly ask for finaled roof permits)
- Lender problems that stall or kill the closing
- Post-closing liability — because once you own the house, the permits are yours
Who pays isn't automatic. It comes down to the contract and negotiation — and you can only negotiate what you discover *before* closing.
How to actually get permit history checked
If you're buying in Florida, do this during your inspection period — not the week of closing:
- Ask your title or closing company — specifically — to order a municipal lien and permit search for the exact property. Be precise with the wording: a basic title search is not the same thing. Confirm in writing that permit history is included.
- Check the city or county building department directly. Most Florida jurisdictions have an online permit portal. If the record looks incomplete, call the building department with the address and parcel number and ask about open permits, expired permits, code cases, and missing final inspections.
- Know which jurisdiction actually holds the records. A huge share of "Miami" and "Tampa" addresses are actually unincorporated county — searching the wrong system returns a clean-looking "no results" that means nothing. (Our city permit guides link the correct portal for 30 Florida jurisdictions.)
- Get the results early enough to act. The whole point is having time to investigate, get the building department's answer on what close-out requires, and negotiate with the seller before your inspection period ends.
The fast version
Traditional municipal lien searches ordered through a title company typically cost $100–$200 and take days. If you just want to see what's on file for an address right now, PermitVista's free search shows you in seconds how many permits a Florida property has and whether any are flagged for attention — then a full report is $2.99, with every permit's status in plain English and links back to the official records for verification.
Either way: check before you close. In Florida, the permit history is the part of the house nobody shows you at the open house — and the part most likely to follow you home.
Related: What is an open permit? · Can you close with an open permit? · How to close out an old permit
Frequently asked questions
Does a home inspection include a permit search?
No. A home inspection evaluates the physical condition of the house. It does not include any search of city or county permit records — unpermitted work can pass a home inspection without being detected.
Does the title company check for open permits in Florida?
Sometimes. Some title packages include a municipal lien and permit search; others don't. Ask specifically, confirm in writing that permit history is included, and request it early in the inspection period rather than the week of closing.
How much does a municipal lien search cost in Florida?
Typically $100–$200 when ordered through a title company, with turnaround measured in days. Free official portals exist for most jurisdictions, and instant report services can compile the history in seconds.