About and methodology
City Home Rules is a directory of what US cities, townships and sewer districts require before a home can be sold.
Why we built it
There is no national list of point-of-sale requirements. Agents and inspectors keep regional lists for their own market, and they go stale as cities change their ordinances. We put them in one place, with sources.
How we compile it
- Official sources first. City and district pages, fact sheets and ordinances.
- Title company and realtor association lists second. These are compiled from calls to each municipality and are updated yearly.
- Conflicts are shown, not hidden. When sources disagree, the city page says so.
- Every page shows when it was last checked and links to its sources.
How we make money
When a homeowner asks for help, we pass the request to independent local providers or home buyers, who may pay us for the referral. We do not perform inspections or repairs. Listings are never paid placements in the city data.
All sources
- Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors, Point of Sale & Rental Information (rev. April 2025)
- LP Property Group, Northeast Ohio cities with and without point-of-sale inspections (phone survey 2024-2025)
- City of Shaker Heights, Point of Sale Procedure
- City of Cleveland Heights, Point-of-Sale Fact Sheet
- City of Maple Heights, Point of Sale Inspection
- City of University Heights, Point of Sale
- Structure Tech, Minnesota cities requiring Truth-in-Housing / Time-of-Sale (reviewed Feb. 26, 2026)
- TruthInHousing.com, city requirement sources
- City of Minneapolis, Truth in Sale of Housing
- City of Minneapolis, TISH evaluations process
- City of Saint Paul, Truth-in-Sale of Housing
- City of Bloomington, Time-of-Sale Housing Inspection Program
- City of Maplewood, Truth in Housing
- City of South San Francisco, Sewer Lateral Point of Sale Ordinance Fact Sheet
- City of South San Francisco, Request for 180-day time extension (rev. Feb. 2, 2026)
- City of San Bruno, Point of Sale Sewer Lateral Requirement (Municipal Code 10.13)
- City of Burlingame, Public Works (Sewer Lateral Test Ordinance 1329)
- Burlingame Properties, The Burlingame, Hillsborough and San Mateo sewer lateral tests
- City of San Mateo, private sewer lateral program
- Palo Alto Online, What Peninsula homeowners need to know about sewer inspections before selling (Mar. 2026)
- East Bay Municipal Utility District, Private sewer laterals
- EBMUD PSL program fee schedule
- East Bay Regional PSL Program
- Stege Sanitary District, Private Sewer Lateral
- City of Berkeley, Private Sewer Lateral
- City of Emeryville, Sewer Lateral Permit
- City of Alameda, Private Sewer Lateral
- City of Richmond, Sewer Lateral Compliance Ordinance (RMC 12.17)
- Oro Loma Sanitary District, Point-of-Sale Private Sewer Lateral Inspection Program (Ordinance 35-17)
- Crockett Community Services District, Sewer Lateral Compliance Ordinance
- City of Santa Cruz, Sewer Lateral Ordinance (Code 16.08.066)
- County of Santa Cruz Public Works, Sewer Lateral Resources
- City of Morgan Hill, Utility Inspections at Property Sale
- WFG National Title, Presale Inspection Reports 2026 (cities that require a building report)
- Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, Residential Property Report (9A)
- Pennsylvania Land Titles, Allegheny County Municipal Information: dye testing and occupancy (Feb. 2024)
- Mt. Lebanon Magazine, Dye testing: a home sale requirement
- The Almanac, Upper St. Clair approves ordinance requiring sewer inspections before property sales
- Greater Philadelphia Home Sale Fee Index (Aug. 2026 edition)
- Suburban Realtors Alliance, Municipal Code and Ordinance Compliance Act (MCOCA)
- Warrington Township, Use & Occupancy
- Borough of Ambler, Residential resales now require use and occupancy permits
- Brick Township Bureau of Fire Safety, Residential resale detector inspections (state fee tiers)
- St. Louis Area Occupancy Permit & Inspection Requirements by Municipality (updated April 2026)
- City of St. Louis, Residential Occupancy Permit
- Chicagoland municipal transfer taxes and inspections by town (reviewed Oct. 2026)
- First American / Saturn Title, Illinois transfer stamp requirement listing (rev. Nov. 25, 2024)
- Central Michigan District Health Department, Time of Transfer Program
- Aspire North REALTORS, local septic and well ordinances (quotes and links to each ordinance and sanitary code)
- City of Arcata press release, Sewer laterals must be inspected before sale (Feb. 2026), via Redheaded Blackbelt
- City of Silver Lake, Ordinance 100, Point-of-sale certification of sanitary sewer service compliance (amended April 6, 2026)