Can I sell a house with code violations in Florida?
Yes. An open code case or a recorded code enforcement lien does not legally prevent you from selling; the violation and the lien simply transfer with the property. What it does is eliminate most buyers: lenders will not finance a house with an active lien, and retail buyers do not want to inherit a daily fine. A cash buyer who deals with code enforcement regularly can purchase the house as is, correct the violation, and negotiate the fine down with the city after closing.
The fine is almost never the number on the lien. That is the part most owners do not know.
How code enforcement works in Brevard County
Every city in Brevard (Palm Bay, Melbourne, Cocoa, Titusville, Rockledge, West Melbourne and the beach towns) and the county itself run code enforcement under Chapter 162 of the Florida Statutes. The process is the same everywhere:
- Notice of violation. An inspector cites the property (overgrowth, junk vehicles, unpermitted work, roof condition, pool without a fence, unsafe structure) and gives a deadline to fix it.
- Hearing. If it is not fixed, the case goes before a code enforcement board or special magistrate, who issues an order with a compliance date.
- Daily fines. Miss the compliance date and fines run per day: up to $250 a day for a first violation and $500 a day for repeat, under Fla. Stat. 162.09, and up to $5,000 per violation if the magistrate finds it irreparable. Palm Bay and Cocoa are the most aggressive in the county.
- Lien. The order is recorded in the Brevard official records and becomes a lien on the house and on any other real property you own in the county. It accrues interest and runs for 20 years.
- Foreclosure. After 3 months the city can foreclose the lien on non-homestead property. Homestead cannot be foreclosed for a code lien, but the lien still blocks a clean sale.
Six months of a $250 daily fine is $45,000. We regularly see Brevard liens in the $20,000 to $150,000 range on houses worth less than the lien.
Why the lien amount is negotiable
Cities want compliance, not the money. Nearly every Brevard municipality has a lien reduction procedure: once the violation is corrected, the owner (or new owner) applies to the board or magistrate, and the fine is cut to a fraction, often the city's actual costs plus a few thousand dollars. Palm Bay and Melbourne routinely reduce six figure liens to under $10,000 when a buyer has fixed the property.
The sequence matters: fix first, then ask. And the application usually goes better from a new owner with a repair plan than from the owner who let it run. That is the mechanical reason a cash buyer can pay you for a house that looks like it is under water on the lien.
Unpermitted work is its own problem
A lot of Brevard violations are not about the lawn. They are about the enclosed porch, the garage conversion, the second kitchen or the roof that was done without a permit. The city's fix is "get a permit or remove it," and an after-the-fact permit means an inspection of work that is already closed up, often by a contractor who will not vouch for someone else's work. This is slow and expensive for an individual owner and routine for us; we carry a contractor relationship for exactly this, and when the work cannot be permitted we price the removal in.
A real one: Cocoa Avenue, Indialantic
The owner of a house on Cocoa Avenue in Indialantic passed away and the heirs lived out of state. They had never seen the property and did not know its condition. It had been abandoned for years, and the town had been citing it the whole time. The daily fines had grown past $100,000, and the city was moving to foreclose on the lien. The heirs had no idea any of this was happening.
We found the case in the public record before anyone contacted them. We tracked down the heirs, explained what they owned and what it owed, sat down with Indialantic code enforcement, and worked out a resolution on the lien as part of our purchase. The heirs were paid for a house they had assumed was worth nothing, and the town got a beachside property back in compliance.
That pattern, an inherited house nobody is watching while a fine runs daily, is the most common way a Florida family loses a property without ever knowing it was at risk.
What you need to have ready
- The case number from any notice or hearing letter
- Which city or the county cited you
- What the violation is (or send a photo)
- Whether you have received a lien notice and the amount
- Whether the house is your homestead or vacant
With that we can pull the case, estimate the real compliance cost, and give you a number.
Frequently asked questions
Do code violations transfer to the new owner in Florida? Yes. The violation stays with the property and a recorded lien stays on the title. That is why most buyers will not purchase until it is resolved and why a cash buyer who takes it on is the usual solution.
Can a city foreclose on my house for code violations in Florida? On non-homestead property, yes, after the lien is 3 months old (Fla. Stat. 162.09(3)). Homestead property is protected from code lien foreclosure, but the lien still has to be paid or reduced before the house can be sold with clear title.
How do I get a code enforcement lien reduced in Brevard County? Correct the violation, document it with photos and any permits, and apply to the city's code board or special magistrate for a lien reduction hearing. Most Brevard cities reduce substantially once the property is in compliance.
Can I sell a house with unpermitted work in Florida? Yes, with disclosure. The buyer takes on the permit issue. Lenders often refuse to finance houses with known unpermitted additions, which pushes these sales toward cash buyers.
Does a code lien attach to my other properties? Yes. A recorded code enforcement order is a lien on all real and personal property of the violator in that county, not only the cited parcel.
How MGO handles code violations
We buy houses in Brevard County and Palm Beach County with open code cases, daily fines, recorded liens and unpermitted work. We price the real cost of compliance, not the inflated lien, close in weeks, do the repairs and permits ourselves, and negotiate the lien reduction with the city after closing. You are paid and done.
Call or text (561) 295-9202 or send the address through the form.