Code violations don't always show up in a permit search. Building permits, code-enforcement violations, and recorded liens are tracked in three different government databases — and a property that looks clean on the permit side can still have an active code-enforcement file accruing fines and approaching lien recordation. This article walks through how to actually check for open violations on a Miami-Dade or Broward property using free public databases, what each database covers, and what's missing.
It's a companion piece to our guide on checking permit history — together they cover the two most common research questions: "what permits have been pulled on this property" and "what code issues are currently active against it."
What you'll need
- Property folio number (Miami-Dade — 13 digits) or property ID (Broward) — find on your tax bill or Property Appraiser address search
- Property address — backup identifier
- Municipality the property is in — most cities run their own code-enforcement systems separately from the county
- Property owner's name — needed for some lien searches that index by owner rather than property
Miami-Dade County code-enforcement search
For properties in unincorporated Miami-Dade, code violations are tracked through Miami-Dade Code Compliance.
- Go to www.miamidade.gov/codecompliance
- Click "Search Cases" or "Code Compliance Lookup"
- Search by address, folio, or owner name
- Results show all open and historical code-enforcement cases on the property, including:
- Case number and date opened
- Violation type (unpermitted work, overgrowth, zoning, junk vehicle, etc.)
- Status (Open, Compliance Achieved, Closed, In Hearing, Lien Recorded)
- Inspector assigned
- Cure date if applicable
- Hearing date if applicable
Click into each case for the inspector's notes, photographs, and the full documentary history. Active cases (status Open or In Hearing) are the ones with active financial exposure — fines may be accruing daily depending on the cure period status.
Municipal code-enforcement portals
Each incorporated city in Miami-Dade and Broward runs its own code-enforcement department. Common portals:
- Coral Gables — coralgables.com → Departments → Code Enforcement → Case Search
- City of Miami — miamigov.com → Departments → Code Compliance → Search Cases
- Doral — cityofdoral.com → Services → Code Compliance → Online Search
- Miami Beach — miamibeachfl.gov → Online Services → Code Compliance Case Lookup
- Pinecrest — pinecrest-fl.gov → Departments → Building & Planning → Code Enforcement
- Hialeah — hialeahfl.gov → City Services → Code Enforcement
- Homestead — cityofhomestead.com → Departments → Code Compliance
- Fort Lauderdale — fortlauderdale.gov → Departments → Code Enforcement
- Hollywood — hollywoodfl.org → Departments → Code Compliance
Each portal works slightly differently — some require registration, some allow anonymous search. All show the same general data: open cases, case status, violation type, and historical disposition.
Broward County code-enforcement
For unincorporated Broward properties, code violations are tracked through Broward Code Compliance at broward.org/codeenforcement. The system is similar to Miami-Dade's — search by address or folio, get a case list, click into each case for the full history.
For incorporated Broward cities, each municipality runs its own. The city URLs above for Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood are the most common; for smaller Broward cities, check the city's official website for the code-enforcement portal.
Recorded liens — the Clerk of Courts
Once code-enforcement assessments reach the recorded-lien stage, the lien is filed with the Clerk of Courts in the county where the property sits. These are NOT in the code-enforcement portal — they're in a different database entirely.
- Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts: miamidadeclerk.gov → Official Records Search
- Broward County Clerk: records.broward.org → Official Records Search
Search by property address, owner name, or document type ("Lien" or "Code Enforcement Lien"). Active recorded liens against the property will show up with the recording date, the amount assessed, and the recording party.
Recorded liens attach to the property — they survive ownership transfer and follow the property to the new owner unless resolved. This is why title companies pull lien searches as part of every closing. A property that looks clean on the permit search and on the active-case search can still have a recorded code-enforcement lien from years ago that was never resolved.
What you can find with this method
The DIY public-records method reliably surfaces:
- Open code-enforcement cases (current status)
- Historical code-enforcement cases (closed/compliance-achieved)
- Recorded code-enforcement liens
- Pending Code Enforcement Board hearings
- Violation types and inspector notes
What you'll miss
Things this method does NOT reliably surface:
- Building violations cited at the permit-application stage — these may live in the permit database, not the code-enforcement database. Cross-checking both is necessary.
- 40-year recertification deficiencies — tracked in a separate Miami-Dade recertification database. A failed recertification may not show up in either the permit search or the code-enforcement search until the unsafe-structure citation is issued. Our 40-year recertification walkthrough covers this.
- HOA violations — these are private-association matters, not public code-enforcement, and don't appear in municipal databases (though they can become legal liens through a separate process).
- State-level violations — DEP citations, EPA citations, and other state/federal violations live in their own systems.
- Tax-deed proceedings — properties heading to tax-deed sale appear in the Clerk's records but require a different search.
- Implicit violations — unpermitted work that hasn't been cited yet. The structure exists, no violation is on file, but the moment an inspector notices it (during a neighbor complaint, a permit application, a four-point inspection), the violation gets cited. The DIY method tells you about cited violations, not potential ones.
When the DIY method is enough
Free public-records search works well for:
- A quick check on whether a property has any obvious active code-enforcement files
- Verifying that a violation you knew about has been properly closed
- Researching a property's compliance history for context before a project or transaction
- Checking for recorded liens as part of due diligence on a property purchase
When professional research is worth it
The free method falls short when you need:
- A unified picture across permit history, code enforcement, recorded liens, recertification status, and environmental designations
- Identification of potential violations — work on the property that doesn't have a corresponding permit, which suggests unpermitted construction the city hasn't cited yet
- A documented report for use in real estate transactions, refinances, insurance applications, or attorney consultations
- Quantified risk — knowing not just what's on the record but how severe each finding is and what resolution would require
This is what the MyHausFax™ Snapshot is built to produce. Free with every Permit Solutions Services inquiry — we pull from all the databases above plus several more, cross-reference findings, identify potential unpermitted work by comparing the permit list against on-the-ground structures, and deliver the result as a brief written Snapshot within one business day. If you'd rather not spend an afternoon on six government portals, this is the shortcut.
If you find an active violation
If your DIY search surfaces an active code-enforcement file on your property, the resolution sequence depends on the case status:
- Active, inside cure period: resolve the underlying violation (often by pulling an after-the-fact permit — see our working-without-a-permit guide) before the cure period expires
- Active, past cure period, fines accruing: resolve the violation and then file for mitigation — see our code-enforcement guide for how mitigation works (often 70-95% reductions)
- Recorded lien stage: requires both resolving the underlying violation and a formal mitigation hearing to clear the recorded lien from the property record
Our Permit Violations practice handles all three phases. Most NOV-triggered cases close in 8–14 weeks once we have the scope mapped.
Permit Solutions Services is a Miami-based specialist firm resolving permit violations, after-the-fact permits, open permits, and complex compliance cases across Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Request a free MyHausFax™ Snapshot or call 305-600-9422.