Selling a house with a sinkhole history in Pasco County

Can you sell a house with a sinkhole in Florida?

Yes. No Florida law stops you from selling a house with sinkhole history, repaired or not. What changes is what you must disclose, who can insure and finance the house, and the price.

Sinkholes come from the land itself. Much of Florida sits on limestone, and slightly acidic water slowly dissolves it, leaving gaps underground. When the soil above settles or drops into a gap, a sinkhole forms (Florida Geological Survey). Not every crack or dip is a sinkhole: clay soils, broken pipes and buried debris can cause them too.

Houses with sinkhole history usually fall into one of four groups, and each sells differently:

• Repaired and certified. The insurer paid, the ground and foundation were stabilized, and an engineer certified the work. These can often sell on the open market with the reports in hand.
• Claim paid, repair not finished. The owner received insurance money but the full repair was not done. This must be disclosed, and it often narrows the buyers to cash buyers.
• Suspected, never tested. There are cracks or a depression but no engineer's report. Buyers may want testing, and an insurer may require it before offering sinkhole coverage.
• Tested, no sinkhole found. An engineer found another cause. Keep that report to show buyers and insurers.

What does Florida insurance cover: sinkhole loss or ground cover collapse?

Every Florida home policy must cover a catastrophic ground cover collapse, which is narrow. Broader sinkhole loss coverage is optional, costs extra, and the insurer may require an inspection first.

"Structural damage" has a strict legal meaning, such as floors or the foundation moving beyond set limits, or load-bearing walls leaning dangerously (Fla. Stat. 627.706). The Department of Financial Services sinkhole guide (February 2026) warns that a crack across a wall or floor tiles popping up may not meet that test.

• Claim deadline. A sinkhole claim is barred unless the insurer gets notice within 2 years after the policyholder knew or reasonably should have known about the loss (627.706). Ask your agent or a Florida attorney which deadlines apply to your claim.
• How a claim is paid. On a verified loss, the insurer may pay only actual cash value, without below-foundation work such as grouting and underpinning, until you sign a repair contract. You have 90 days after coverage is confirmed to sign one, the insurer pays as the work is done, and repairs are generally due within 12 months (Fla. Stat. 627.707).
• No rebates. Accepting a rebate from the repair contractor voids the coverage, and offering one is a felony (627.707).
• Disagreements. If the insurer denies the claim or you disagree about the cause or the repair method, you can use the state's Neutral Evaluation Program, where an engineer or geologist acts as an objective third party (DFS guide).

What do you have to disclose when you sell a sinkhole house?

Two rules overlap. You must disclose known facts that materially affect value and that the buyer cannot readily see, and if your insurer paid a sinkhole claim, you must tell the buyer before closing and say whether all the money went to repairs.

The general duty. In Johnson v. Davis (1985), the Florida Supreme Court held that a home seller who knows of facts materially affecting value that are not readily observable and not known to the buyer must disclose them. Florida Senate staff note that this duty applies even when the buyer agrees to buy a home as-is (Senate staff analysis, 2025). Selling for cash does not change it.

The sinkhole claim rule. A seller whose sinkhole claim was paid must disclose, before closing, that it was paid and whether the full amount was used to repair the damage (Fla. Stat. 627.7073). The state's geologists also note that most Florida seller disclosure forms ask about sinkholes (FGS Sinkhole FAQ).

Gather these before you list or ask for offers:

• The engineer's or geologist's report from the claim, and any neutral evaluator report
• The insurance claim letters and the amount paid
• The repair contract, permits and final inspections
• The monitoring engineer's report certifying the repair was properly done

Where do sinkhole reports and repairs show up?

In up to four places: the county clerk's official records, the property appraiser's file, the building permit history, and the state's subsidence incident database. None of them is complete on its own.

• Clerk's official records. An insurer that pays a sinkhole claim must file the engineer's or geologist's report with the county clerk, who records it. After stabilization, the monitoring engineer's report is recorded too. Recording does not create a lien or a defect in the title (627.7073).
• Property appraiser. The Pasco and Hillsborough property appraisers publish sinkhole or subsidence lists (see the county section below). Pasco's labels come from building permits.
• Building permits. Stabilization and foundation work often shows up in permit history, which tells you when the work was done and whether it passed final inspection.
• The state's subsidence incident reports. The Florida Geological Survey keeps a downloadable database of reported incidents on DEP's Map Direct site. Reports come from the public, the State Watch Office and emergency surveys, most were never field-checked, and no law ever required sinkholes or claims to be entered (Subsidence Incident Reports).

How does a repaired or unrepaired sinkhole affect buyers, lenders and insurance?

A certified repair with full paperwork keeps more buyers in play. An unrepaired or undocumented sinkhole often limits the sale to cash buyers, because buyers with a mortgage need insurance, and insurers can decline sinkhole coverage.

The state's geologists put it plainly: if a repair was certified by a licensed professional engineer and accepted by the insurance company, the home is likely safe, but no one can promise a repaired sinkhole will never cause problems later (FGS Sinkhole FAQ). Some buyers accept that and some do not, and that shapes the price.

Engineering reports. The FGS says home inspectors and insurance adjusters are not trained or qualified to decide whether there is a sinkhole; licensed professional geologists and engineers are. Tests may include ground-penetrating radar, electrical resistivity surveys and soil borings. Results are not always conclusive, and a detailed survey is often beyond a typical homeowner's budget. In state data from 2006 to 2010, engineering and site inspection averaged $9,466 per closed claim (OIR, 2010). That figure is historical, so get current quotes.

Where do you check sinkhole records in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas?

Pasco has the most public tools, Hillsborough has a property appraiser search, and in Pinellas you rely mainly on clerk records and permits. Always search by address and owner name, and ask each office what its list leaves out.

How common is it here? In a 2010 state review of insurance claims, Pasco had more sinkhole claims from 2006 to 2009 than any other Florida county: 4,672 of 17,977 statewide, or 26%. Hillsborough had 2,924 and Pinellas 1,140. Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough together held 66% of all claims (OIR, 2010). These are old claim counts, not a risk score for any one house.

Repair, list, sell as-is or sell for cash: which option fits?

If you have coverage and an open claim, repairing through the claim and then listing often leaves you the most money. If the house is unrepaired, the claim money is spent or the paperwork is missing, an as-is sale may be simpler, at a lower price.

To compare what a cash sale would leave you with what listing might, see our cash offer vs. listing comparison.

How does Tao Home Buyers handle a house with sinkhole history?

We buy houses with sinkhole history in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco, as-is. Bring whatever reports you have; they help any buyer, including us, understand the house.

We are the end buyer: Tao Builders LLC buys in its own name and closes at a licensed title company, and we do not assign or wholesale contracts. Earnest money goes to the title company the same day you sign (or the next business morning if you sign after hours). Our proof of funds is a letter from our lender.

We can close in as few as 10 days when the title is clear, and you pick the closing date. Our cash offer will usually be below what the house would sell for fully repaired, and if your repair is certified and the house is insurable, listing it may leave you more. Matan, the owner, has bought houses around Tampa Bay for 4 years and has personally bought more than 50. He is a licensed Florida real estate sales associate with Jay Alan Real Estate, buying for his own company as a principal, not as anyone's agent.

Sources

Official sources we checked for this page. Rules change, so confirm anything important with the source or a Florida attorney.

1. Fla. Stat. 627.706, sinkhole and collapse coverage (Florida Senate)
2. Fla. Stat. 627.707, sinkhole claim testing and payment (Florida Senate)
3. Fla. Stat. 627.7073, sinkhole reports, recording and seller disclosure (Florida Senate)
4. Sinkhole FAQ (Florida Geological Survey, Florida DEP)
5. Subsidence Incident Reports (Florida Geological Survey, Florida DEP)
6. Sinkholes and Catastrophic Ground Cover Collapse guide, February 2026 (Florida Department of Financial Services)
7. Report on Review of the 2010 Sinkhole Data Call (Florida Office of Insurance Regulation)
8. Senate staff analysis, CS/CS/SB 948 (2025), seller disclosure duty (Florida Senate)
9. Subsidence/Sinkhole Parcel List (Pasco County Property Appraiser)
10. Subsidence search guide (Hillsborough County Property Appraiser)
11. Sinkhole inspections (Citizens Property Insurance Corporation)
12. Why homeowner's insurance is required (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)