If you sell a house in Florida, how long you are liable afterward depends on what the buyer claims went wrong. Breach of a written contract term can be sued on for five years, negligence claims for two years, and fraud claims for four years from the date the buyer discovers the problem, with an absolute cutoff of twelve years from the act itself. That twelve-year outer limit is the real answer to how long your exposure lasts, and the shorter deadlines inside it decide which claims a buyer can still bring at any given point.
The Deadlines That Define Your Exposure
Florida sets a separate filing window for each type of claim a buyer can bring. The clock behaves differently for each one, and that is what makes the overall exposure period so uneven.
Breach of Written Contract: Five Years
A buyer has five years to sue over a broken promise in the written purchase agreement.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 95.11 – Limitations Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property The clock usually starts at closing, or at the moment the buyer discovers the breach. If your contract warranted that the pool pump worked and it was dead at closing, the buyer has five years from that date to file.
Negligence: Two Years
Florida’s 2023 tort reform law, HB 837, shortened the negligence deadline from four years to two.2Florida Senate. CS/CS/HB 837 – Civil Remedies For any sale that closed on or after March 24, 2023, a negligence-based claim must be filed within two years.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 95.11 – Limitations Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property That covers negligent misrepresentation, where a buyer argues you stated something about the property without checking whether it was true. The window is tight, and it closes much sooner than a fraud claim would.
Fraud: Four Years From Discovery, Twelve Years Maximum
Fraud claims get four years, but the four years does not start running at closing. Florida’s accrual statute starts the clock when the buyer discovered the fraud, or should have discovered it with reasonable diligence.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 95.031 – Computation of Time A concealed defect that stays hidden for three years still gives the buyer four more years from the day it surfaces.
The outer limit is twelve years. No fraud claim can be filed more than twelve years after the fraud was committed, no matter when it comes to light.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 95.031 – Computation of Time That twelve-year repose period is the true ceiling on how long you can be sued over the sale. A buyer who tears into a wall eight years after closing and finds termite damage you knew about can still file a viable claim. A buyer who finds the same damage thirteen years later cannot.
What a Buyer Has to Prove
Knowing the deadlines matters only if you also know what kinds of claims survive them. Three categories account for almost all post-sale lawsuits against Florida sellers.
The most common is a failure-to-disclose claim built on the 1985 Florida Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. Davis. That case established that a seller who knows about a problem that meaningfully affects the home’s value and that a buyer cannot easily spot has to disclose it before closing.4Justia. Johnson v. Davis Three things have to be true: you actually knew, the defect was material, and it was hidden. Work done without permits, concealed water damage, recurring pest problems, and known sinkhole activity are the kinds of issues that regularly trigger this duty. Speculation about what you “should have known” is not enough; the buyer needs evidence that the knowledge was yours before closing.
Fraudulent misrepresentation goes further. It is the claim that you actively lied, such as telling a buyer who asked that the roof was two years old when it was original and leaking. Fraud carries the longest tail because of the discovery rule described above.
Negligent misrepresentation is the lower-bar cousin: you stated something false without bothering to verify it. Telling a buyer the plumbing is copper when you never checked, and it turns out to be deteriorating polybutylene, fits here. The proof standard is easier for the buyer, but the two-year filing window is much harder to beat.
Breach of contract claims turn entirely on what the written agreement says. If the contract contains a specific warranty and that warranty was false at closing, the buyer has a straightforward claim within the five-year window.
What an As-Is Clause Does and Does Not Do
Most Florida residential contracts include an as-is provision. It shifts the inspection burden to the buyer, meaning the buyer accepts responsibility for defects a reasonable inspection would have revealed and generally cannot complain later about them.
What the clause does not do is erase your duty to disclose known latent defects. Florida courts have been consistent on this point. If you know the yard floods in every heavy rain and you stay silent, as-is will not save you. Active concealment is worse: painting over mold, drywalling over a cracked foundation, or hiding water stains before showings tends to strengthen a buyer’s fraud case because it shows intent rather than mere omission. As-is covers what an inspector can find. It does not cover dishonesty about what an inspector cannot see.
The Separate Rule for Homes Built Before 1978
If your home was built before 1978, federal law adds a disclosure obligation that runs on its own track. Before the buyer signs the purchase contract you must share what you know about lead-based paint or lead hazards, provide any inspection reports you have, give the buyer an EPA pamphlet on lead risks, and allow at least ten days for the buyer to conduct a lead inspection.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information The contract itself must contain a signed lead warning statement.
Skipping this disclosure is expensive. A seller who knowingly fails to comply can be held liable for triple the buyer’s actual damages, plus attorney fees and court costs.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Civil penalties under the Toxic Substances Control Act can reach $10,000 per violation. Keep the signed lead disclosure for three years after closing.6U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Real Estate Disclosures About Potential Lead Hazards
How Long to Keep Your Records
Your closing documents, signed disclosures, inspection reports, and repair receipts are the evidence you need to defend yourself if a claim surfaces. Throwing them away early is one of the most avoidable mistakes a Florida seller makes.
Keep everything for at least five years after closing. Florida requires real estate brokers to retain transaction records for five years, and that matches the longest non-fraud filing window.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 475.5015 – Broker Records If there is any realistic chance a fraud claim could surface, keep the file for the full twelve-year repose period.
Practical rule: hold your closing documents, the signed disclosure forms, your pre-sale inspection reports, repair invoices, and copies of all written communications with the buyer for a minimum of seven years. Push that to twelve if you have any reason to think a buyer could later claim you hid something. A clean file is the cheapest defense you will ever have.