Can You Sell a Florida House With an Old Roof If Insurers Won’t Cover It?

A buyer who borrows needs insurance because the lender wants its collateral protected. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says a mortgage lender generally requires the property to be insured. FHA’s loan file checklist includes evidence of hazard insurance. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide says roofs must be insured, although not always on a replacement cost basis. So if no insurer will write the house, a financed buyer can get stuck, and that may not surface until after the contract is signed.

A cash buyer has no lender, so there is no lender insurance requirement and no lender appraisal. That is why a roof that stops a financed buyer may not stop a cash sale. A cash buyer may still want insurance, and the price will reflect the roof. First find out what the rules say about your roof. An old roof is not always an uninsurable one.

Section 627.7011(5) of the Florida Statutes sets two rules for homeowners’ policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022. First, an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowner’s policy solely because the roof is less than 15 years old. Second, for a roof at least 15 years old, the insurer must let the homeowner have the roof inspected by an authorized inspector, at the homeowner’s expense, before requiring replacement. If that inspection shows 5 years or more of useful life left, the insurer may not refuse to issue or renew solely because of roof age.

The word “solely” matters. The law protects against a refusal based on age alone. It does not stop an insurer from acting on a roof’s condition. The same section says it does not limit an insurer’s ability to reject or nonrenew for other lawful reasons, and it does not apply to mobile home policies. An authorized inspector must be approved by the insurer. The list includes licensed home inspectors, building code inspectors, contractors, engineers and architects.

Roof age runs from the last date 100 percent of the roof’s surface was built or replaced under the code then in effect. If the roof was redone in stages, and those stages eventually covered the whole surface, the statute uses the date of the first partial replacement. A patch does not reset the clock. If your insurer is dropping you, section 627.4133 generally requires at least 120 days’ written notice of nonrenewal, with the reason stated. That letter tells you what the insurer actually objected to.

Citizens Property Insurance was created by the Legislature to insure eligible owners who cannot find coverage in the private market, so its rules are worth knowing even if you never apply. Its FAQ, updated in March 2026, asks for documentation of a full roof replacement on tile, slate, clay, concrete or metal roofs more than 50 years old, on shingle or other roofs more than 25 years old, and on mobile homes with roofs more than 25 years old. Some exceptions apply: you can submit documentation verifying at least five years of remaining useful life for underwriters to review.

A 2023 Citizens bulletin added more detail. If the whole roof was not replaced at once, roof age is based on the oldest part. A qualifying roof gets coverage for up to five years, even if the inspector estimates longer. Condition counts too. Citizens expects all roofs to be in acceptable condition when an application is submitted, and its forms ask about cracking, curling, granule loss, exposed felt, missing tabs or tiles, soft decking, hail damage and leaks.

A 4-point inspection covers the roof, electrical, HVAC and plumbing. Citizens requires one on any Personal Residential Multiperil application for a home more than 20 years old. It must be dated within the 12 months before the new-business application and signed by a verifiable Florida-licensed inspector, such as a contractor, building code inspector or home inspector. On renewals, underwriting asks for one case by case. It does not apply to condominium or tenant policies. With photos of each roof slope, the roof section can replace Citizens’ separate Roof Inspection Form.

A wind mitigation inspection is a different thing. It records features such as roof covering, roof deck attachment and roof-to-wall attachment on the state’s Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802, which the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation revised effective April 1, 2026. OIR says the form is valid for up to five years if the structure does not materially change and no inaccuracies are found. It can earn premium discounts, but Citizens looks to the 4-point or Roof Inspection Form for remaining useful life.

Private insurers set their own underwriting rules, so these numbers are not a statewide standard, and Citizens can change them. Since July 2026, its system can pull the year of the last roof update from a third-party data vendor on new applications, and an agent who disagrees has to document the correct year. Keep your roofing paperwork, and ask a licensed agent what applies today.

Start with the date. Look up the last roofing permit with your city’s building department, or with the county if you are in an unincorporated area. Then ask the insurer for the exact reason for any refusal or nonrenewal, and ask a licensed agent to check more than one company. The Florida Department of Financial Services lists FMAP, the Florida Market Assistance Plan, as a free property insurance referral service, and it runs a consumer helpline at 1-877-693-5236.

Next, get the roof inspected by a Florida-licensed professional the insurer will accept. If the roof is under 15 years old and sound, age alone should not block coverage. If it is older but shows at least 5 years of useful life and is in good condition, coverage may be available and a normal listing is realistic. If it has less than 5 years left, leaks, or is rated unsatisfactory, the options below apply.

Cash buyers. There is no lender to approve the roof or the insurance. The trade-off is price, because a cash buyer builds the cost of the roof into the offer. Choosing to sell the house as-is means you are not agreeing to make repairs, but it does not remove your duty to disclose what you know.

Financed buyers after a roof credit. A credit can work, but it does not create an insurance policy. The buyer still needs coverage the lender will accept. Citizens has one path for this. An applicant who recently bought a home with roof damage, or with less than five years of remaining useful life, may still qualify. The purchase must occur within 45 calendar days of the requested coverage date, and a full roof replacement must be completed within 30 days of that date. A roofing contract signed by the applicant, with a licensed general, residential, building or roofing contractor, must be submitted, and Citizens’ other eligibility rules still apply. Whether a lender will close on that basis is the lender’s call, so the buyer’s loan officer and insurance agent should confirm it early.

Conventional loans have loosened on this point. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now accept actual cash value coverage on roofs, which pays replacement cost minus the roof’s decreased value. That may open up more policies, but the buyer carries more of the risk. Seller credits have limits too. Fannie Mae deducts sales concessions from the price before figuring loan-to-value, so ask the lender how a roof credit will be treated.

FHA and VA buyers. These lenders look at the roof itself. Under HUD Handbook 4000.1, last revised August 12, 2026, the appraiser must report if the roof has less than two years of remaining life and make the appraisal subject to inspection by a professional roofer. If repairs cannot be finished before closing, an FHA lender may set up a repair escrow, provided the house is habitable and safe at closing. HUD also lists repair allowances as an inducement to purchase, which reduces the purchase price dollar for dollar when the loan amount is figured. VA’s Lender’s Handbook says the roof covering must prevent entrance of moisture and provide reasonable future utility, durability and economy of maintenance. It lists leakage as a defective condition, and appraisals must be made subject to repair of defective conditions.

Sometimes, yes. If the house is otherwise in good shape and you can pay for the work, a new roof can reopen the full pool of buyers, because it removes the roof-age question for insurers and lenders. Get written bids from licensed roofers, then compare the likely net of a listing with a new roof against an as-is offer. Our cash offer vs. listing guide shows how to run those numbers. A cash sale is not always the right answer here. If the roof passes inspection, or a modest repair gets the house insured, a listing may leave you with more money.

If the goal is to reset the roof’s age, replace all of it. The statute counts the date 100 percent of the surface was done, and Citizens uses the oldest part of a roof replaced in stages. Pull a permit, get the final inspection and keep the paperwork. Citizens’ 2023 bulletin listed a finalized roof permit, or a paid-in-full roofing contract, work order or receipt, as proof of replacement. A permit left open creates its own problem at closing, which our guide to selling with open or expired permits covers.

The Florida Building Code’s 25 percent rule can also turn a repair into a replacement. Section 706.1.1 of the Existing Building code says not more than 25 percent of a roof area or roof section may be repaired, replaced or recovered in any 12-month period unless the roof covering on the entire roof or section is replaced or recovered to meet the code. Section 553.844(5) of the Florida Statutes creates the exception. If the roof or section was built, repaired or replaced under the 2007 Florida Building Code or a later edition, only the part being worked on has to meet the current code. The Ninth Edition, which takes effect December 31, 2026, keeps the same wording. Ask a roofer or the building department how it applies to your roof.

Selling as-is is about repairs, not silence, and the leading Florida case on this point is about a roof. In Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985), the sellers knew of roof problems and did not disclose them, and the buyers found water coming in after a heavy rain. The Florida Supreme Court held that a home seller who knows of facts materially affecting the property’s value, which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, has a duty to disclose them.

A known leak or past water damage from the roof may fall within that duty, even if you have patched it. Our Florida seller disclosure guide covers the wider list, and our AS IS contract guide explains the inspection period, which is when a buyer usually gets the roof looked at. Ask a Florida real estate attorney what your own facts require, including how to handle an inspection report or a nonrenewal letter.

Roofing in Broward County and Miami-Dade County follows different rules from most of Florida. The Florida Building Code defines the High Velocity Hurricane Zone as those two counties, and roofs there fall under their own Sections 1512 through 1525. Palm Beach County is not in the zone. The code calls for a valid and current product approval on all roofing components and systems, and for an HVHZ Uniform Roofing Permit Application completed by a licensed contractor. The 25 percent limit appears in the HVHZ rules as well, at Section 1521.4. In Miami-Dade, the county’s Product Control Section issues the Notices of Acceptance that document many of these approvals.

Miami-Dade says the Ninth Edition’s HVHZ changes will affect some Notices of Acceptance for roofing underlayments, along with testing and attachment requirements for hip and ridge shingles. If you plan to re-roof around December 31, 2026, ask your roofer which edition applies to your permit.

For permit history in Miami-Dade, note that the county has 35 municipalities, each with its own building official. The county itself handles unincorporated areas, where folio numbers begin with 30.

If you have a mortgage and let coverage expire, the lender can buy insurance and charge you for it. The CFPB says force-placed insurance usually protects only the lender and can cost twice what you would normally pay, and your servicer has to notify you at least 45 days before charging you. With or without a mortgage, a house with no coverage leaves you holding the risk of any loss until closing.

Florida Cash For Home buys South Florida houses as-is, old roofs included. We have bought 650+ homes in the area since 2012, working from our office in Hollywood. We give a written offer within 24 hours of the walkthrough and can close in about 10 days when title is clear, or later if you prefer. You pay no commissions or closing costs. Our offer will reflect the roof, so it may be less than a listing with a new roof could bring. Compare it with the other paths above before you decide.