Much of the paperwork behind a sale depends on where the house sits and which office keeps its records. These notes cover the main county offices involved in a sale, with dates and rules as of October 2026. You can ask HBS about your house before you look any of this up; the records simply help you weigh your options.
City or county: who handles your house
Brandon, Riverview, Valrico, and Seffner are Census-designated places, which the Census Bureau describes as unincorporated communities without a legally defined boundary or a functioning government of their own. So Hillsborough County handles permits and code enforcement in all four, even though Brandon and Riverview each counted more than 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census. Tampa, Temple Terrace, and Plant City are incorporated cities that handle their own; Tampa runs its own online permit search, and Plant City has its own code enforcement division and issues its own building permits. A mailing address alone does not settle the question, so confirm the parcel's jurisdiction before you pull records.
Permit records depend on the date
As of October 2026, county permits issued from Jan. 20, 2021 on are in HillsGovHub, and permits from 2005 through Jan. 19, 2021 are on the county's Building Permits Reports page. Permits from 1976 through 2004 are not online; you request them with the year built, the address and any prior addresses, and the folio number. County staff research a request for free for up to 30 minutes, and the first 10 paper pages are free, then 15 cents a page. Certificates of occupancy are not available for permits issued before 2012, and elevation certificates are not typically available for homes built before 2000.
Code cases and code liens
County code cases opened on or after Jan. 19, 2021 are in HillsGovHub, where you can search by case number, street, address, folio, or name; older cases are on the Building Permits Reports page. To check for a lien, the county suggests looking for case numbers that start with BA, CE, C, L, or W, then confirming the lien in the Clerk's Official Records. Under s. 162.09, Florida Statutes, a recorded fine order becomes a lien on the land, an enforcement board may reduce a fine, and a code lien cannot be foreclosed on a homestead. To settle a county lien, the property must be in compliance first, and as of October 2026 the county typically answers in 7 to 10 business days and allows 30 days to pay an offer. Payment by personal or business check carries a 60-day hold before the lien is released, and the application warns there are no assurances the process will meet your closing timeframe.
Flood zones and the 50 percent rule
In FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, the county applies the 50 percent rule: if repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or addition costs reach 50 percent of the building's market value, not counting land, the whole structure must meet current floodplain requirements. County guidance still adds up permits pulled within the 12 months before your most recent permit application, but since June 26, 2025, s. 163.31795, Florida Statutes, has barred local governments in the flood insurance program from enforcing such a period. Market value can come from the Property Appraiser, which offers an online 50 percent rule calculator, or from a state-licensed appraiser. After Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the county mailed notices about its substantial damage rules to homes and businesses in the flood hazard area, but it says not getting a notice does not necessarily mean a house is under the threshold. For owners who would rather repair and stay, the county's Rebuilding for Tomorrow program, funded with federal disaster recovery money, opened homeowner repair and reconstruction applications on May 1, 2026.
Foreclosure, tax deadlines, and surplus money
As of October 2026, the Clerk of Court holds foreclosure sales online every weekday at 10 a.m. and tax deed sales online on Thursdays at 10 a.m. The Clerk notes that an owner's right of redemption under s. 45.0315, Florida Statutes, ends when the certificate of sale issues, so talk with a lawyer early if a sale date has been set. Foreclosure surplus can be claimed by the owner of record when the lis pendens was filed, and surplus still with the clerk one year after the sale is presumed unclaimed under s. 45.032, Florida Statutes. On the tax side, unpaid taxes generally become delinquent April 1, the Tax Collector's certificate sale starts to close on or before June 1, and a certificate holder may apply for a tax deed two years after April 1 of the year the certificate was issued. Surplus claims from tax deed sales held since Aug. 15, 2019 use a Clerk affidavit form and are accepted only by mail.
Inherited homes and probate records
Probate is handled by the Clerk's Probate, Guardianship, and Trust Department, and a case is opened in the circuit court of the county where the person who died lived or owned property. You can search cases by name on the Clerk's HOVER system, and the Clerk posts a list of all probate cases filed in the past 30 days. Whoever has the original will must deposit it with the Clerk within 10 days of learning of the death, under s. 732.901, Florida Statutes, and there is no fee to deposit it. As of October 2026, s. 735.201, Florida Statutes, allows summary administration when the estate, not counting exempt property, is $150,000 or less, or when the person died more than two years ago. The Clerk notes that most Florida probate cases require an attorney, and a probate lawyer can tell you who has authority to sign for the house.
Listing or cash: the July 2026 numbers
In July 2026, the median Hillsborough County single-family home sold for $430,000, flat from a year earlier, after a median 34 days to contract, according to Florida Realtors data published by the Pinellas REALTOR Organization. The county had 1,358 closed sales that month, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, along with 3.9 months of supply, and 245 of those sales were cash sales. The median sale closed at 96.7 percent of the original list price. If your house is well kept and you have time for showings, listing may bring a higher price, while a direct cash sale can trade some price for fewer steps and no buyer financing. When a homestead property sells, the Property Appraiser removes the exemption and resets the assessed value to market value for the new year, so ask the Property Appraiser about portability if you plan to buy another Florida home.
