Highlands County, FL Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

110 governs garage and yard sales on residential lots in unincorporated Highlands County. A homeowner or lessee may hold no more than two garage or yard sales in a calendar year, and each sale is limited to three consecutive calendar days. The seller must be the legal owner of the goods, or acting with another owner, and only tangible personal property already belonging to the household may be sold; the ordinance bars bringing in new merchandise acquired specifically for resale. Sales must stay on the residential premises itself, confined to the garage, patio, driveway, yard or the residence, and cannot spill onto the street or right-of-way.

Before opening, the resident must obtain a permit from the Highlands County Office of the Tax Collector and pay the fee the Board of County Commissioners sets by resolution; the permit lists the address and the date of the sale. Mobile home parks, campgrounds, RV parks and HOA-governed subdivisions get a community-wide option: the association can pull one permit covering every household in the community, but that community permit can only be used twice a year. Sales run by private nonprofit organizations are exempt from these limits entirely.

Because chapter 12 of the Highlands County Code of Ordinances is enforced through the county's administrative code enforcement process, a resident who runs an unpermitted sale, exceeds the two-sale cap, or lets a sale run past three days can be cited and brought before the Code Enforcement Special Magistrate.