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Florida Statute Wont let me sell my house?

G

GreeZdLightNin

Registered User
Joined
Jul 22, 2022
Messages
6
Location
Pensacola, FL
Hello, Its my first time here. First off, a little about me...
My Dad and I have done carpentry/construction for over 20 years.
I bought a house about a year and a half ago in Escambia County, FL.
This year, the roof needed to be replaced per the "insurance" company.
I, as the homeowner, pulled a permit and my Dad and myself did a re-roof, complete with licensed inspector, passing/signing it off... jumping through all the hoops.

Heres the weird part...In order to get the permit approved, They made me sign a form saying that I wouldnt sell the house for one year to "make sure there isnt anything wrong with the re-roof."
Skipping to the point...
It has been about 3.5 months since we did the re-roof and all is good, however, we are having some major issues with the neighbors and my wife is insisting we sell and move.
I called the Clerk of the Courts since they would know about the florida statute for waiting 1 year to sell after doing my own work. The man at the clerk of the courts office said there were no exceptions, however, they dont enforce it and if i wanted to sell, it was between myself and the buyer.

My question is...Can i actually sell as long as the buyer is okay with the timeframe not being one year?
I can always sweeten the deal with a homeowners warranty. After all, we know what were doing and have quite a bit of experience which is why we did the work ourself...
Any insight to this is appreciated as im in a tough spot between my wife and this ridiculous statute in Florida.
Thanks.
 
The one year time frame is common. It is also commonly ignored. I had many owner builder projects with a for sale sign in the front yard. The other common feature is the requirement to have resided in the dwelling for the previous year. That too is ignored.

You did the right thing by getting a permit and there is no reason to think that the result of your work is any less than what a contractor would produce….the final inspection is proof enough.
 
Ok, thanks for the encouragement. I bought this as a FSBO and even did the repairs prior to buying it so we have done a lot of work to it and it has been over one year since buying.
 
As you are not a professional (loose term) or licensed roofing firm the product manufacture, I believe in many instances can claim not an approved installation, so as not to cover the warranty on the product, shooting from the hip here on this, but the gist.

Additionally, I have always been told what is listed in the disclosure statement and are buyers being informed of the situation, because the real question is did the owner do a shoddy repair and claims it off as being done correctly and a year down the road, well you get it.

The best person to really answer the question would be a realtor I would think, If you fully disclose the work done in the listing, and note it was done during your time owning the home and living there currently, hence, you owned it and lived in it, not the opposite of never living in it, a flip per say, and the buyer accepts the property as is, and the buyers lender is ok with it, what is the issue? I believe it's called making an informed decision, I will also note more than likely there's a home inspection going on also for them....

If you are confident enough and can buy a home warranty for it then by all means go ahead, if something ever happens down the road, just know the warranty company is coming back at you for reimbursement of the expense of the repair. The warranty is for the buyer, the company makes sure they are covered, and you are the guarantor, on the hook for the term of the warranty.

And then again, I can be all wrong, but your note that they are not enforced regularly, I would have to believe it's a feel-good paper or CYA for the AHJ if anything ever happened later to flip it back on you.
 
See what happens when the title company does a lien search. If it shows up and the buyer has a mortgage, you will be dead in the water. If you have a cash buyer then you can probably put money in escrow until the year is up.
 
If you don't say anything, nobody will ever know. If that makes you uneasy, go ahead and tell them that you did the roof. If that makes them uneasy they can ask the home inspector to pay close attention to the roofing or they can walk away. As long as you used roofing nails and followed the instructions for high wind application....passed inspection....and even made it through a rain season with no leaks....what's the worry????

The shingle manufacturer's warranty has nothing to do with the installation. The shingles could be upside down and not void the warranty. The warranty covers the shingles from color fading, premature drying out, etc.....it's only the product.

The home warranty that sellers almost always purchase for the buyer will probably not cover the roof......I might be wrong about that but for the little that they cost it seems unlikely.

Jeff mentioned a lien....his building department is tougher than I imagined.
 
Thanks for the info. We had planned on this being a longterm home so we went through the correct procedures as far as number of nails per shingle, tar on the drip edge, correctly sealing the valleys with top quality tar rolls instead of metal, etc.
We've also replaced the main exterior circuit panel, post disconnect, then inspected as well. It really an issue with the neighbors, wanting more land now as well.

I will be transparent about the roof and will also encourage inspector to inspect well. I had two inspectors look at it before and after we reroofed to make sure it would last.
 
GreeZdLightNin said:
I had two inspectors look at it before and after we reroofed to make sure it would last.
Click to expand...
I have to be honest and tell you that a hundred inspectors wouldn't make sure that it will last......well maybe there's one in that hundred.
 
ICE said:
I have to be honest and tell you that a hundred inspectors wouldn't make sure that it will last......well maybe there's one in that hundred.
Click to expand...
I figured that. When they county told me about what I was signing I said, "is t that what the inspectors for?, If not, why am I paying for this?"
She just said, "well, sometimes they miss things they cant see."
 
GreeZdLightNin said:
I figured that. When they county told me about what I was signing I said, "is t that what the inspectors for?, If not, why am I paying for this?"
She just said, "well, sometimes they miss things they cant see."
Click to expand...
In Florida, in particular there are a few inspections are required for roofs.

  1. Sheathing
  2. Tin Tag
  3. Dry In
  4. Roof Covering
  5. Flashing
  6. Final
 
jar546 said:
In Florida, in particular there are a few inspections are required for roofs.

  1. Sheathing
  2. Tin Tag
  3. Dry In
  4. Roof Covering
  5. Flashing
  6. Final
Click to expand...
The city of Los Angeles gets as many re-roof permits as the entire state of Florida.
With these required inspections:
1. -0-

The wind starts in Florida and peters out coming across the country.
 
ICE said:
The shingle manufacturer's warranty has nothing to do with the installation. The shingles could be upside down and not void the warranty. The warranty covers the shingles from color fading, premature drying out, etc.....it's only the product.
Click to expand...
ICE, you would think that, but I had a 40-year roof installed on my last home in the fall of 2000, when I sold in July of 2020 the home inspector brought up a few things, when we went to the manufacture for the shingle, as the shingle was only 50% through its life span, one of the first things they grab on to, was that the installation company was not an approved installer of their product. I had all the paperwork, and the firm that installed the roof was still around and went to bat for the new owner, but not all shingle warrantees are product only i found out the hard way, especially when it comes to long term warrantees on products.
 
tbz said:
ICE, you would think that, but I had a 40-year roof installed on my last home in the fall of 2000, when I sold in July of 2020 the home inspector brought up a few things, when we went to the manufacture for the shingle, as the shingle was only 50% through its life span, one of the first things they grab on to, was that the installation company was not an approved installer of their product. I had all the paperwork, and the firm that installed the roof was still around and went to bat for the new owner, but not all shingle warrantees are product only i found out the hard way, especially when it comes to long term warrantees on products.
Click to expand...
You are correct about the "Certified Installer" warranty for shingles with the extended warranty. There is even a fifty year shingle. I don't want to say that such a warranty covers workmanship but I I don't want to say that it doesn't. Workmanship is what this thread is about. I think that you are referring to a warranty that includes labor to replace a roof that has failed under warranty.
 
The roof i had replaced was a 30 year that was 13 years old. The insurance companies are what made my decision to replace due to them not wanting to cover me. This happened just before the new law that insurance companies are now required to cover unless theres over 20% damage i believe.
 
ICE said:
You are correct about the "Certified Installer" warranty for shingles with the extended warranty. There is even a fifty year shingle. I don't want to say that such a warranty covers workmanship but I I don't want to say that it doesn't. Workmanship is what this thread is about. I think that you are referring to a warranty that includes labor to replace a roof that has failed under warranty.
Click to expand...
Things are different i guess now than then, but it was a straight 40-year product off the shelf, I went with the 40 as the cost over the 20-year or 30-year product was only about $900.00 more at the time. In the end the manufacture, who will remain nameless, provided the new shingles at a drastically reduced cost, not free, also paid 60% of the labor bill for the new roof for the new owner of the home I was told, I did my part at closing costs.

At the time of the first roofs replacement at 15 years of age, enough of the original roof came off during tornado force winds in the area, the contractor and product were all done by my home insurance companies recommended contractor. The roof's base cost was on my insurance provider, the optional upgrades I did at my own expense, as I figured for my deductible and a few minor costs more I was getting a new roof replacement, to a highly better product, I even had them replace all the flashing, not just repair it.

Anyway, the next roof I do I think I am going metal... a little off topic..
 
The one year limit has nothing to do with the quality of the roofing. It has more to do with the potential of people abusing the owner builder exemption for contractor licensing.
 
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