Who pays for the owner’s policy in Deerfield Beach?
The buyer customarily pays for the owner’s policy in Deerfield Beach.
That is the custom in Broward County, and so in Deerfield Beach. Custom is not law. The purchase contract decides it, and in a negotiated deal either side can end up paying. Read the contract before assuming which line it falls on.
Who chooses the title company. The buyer customarily chooses the closing agent, the title company, in Broward County, and so in Deerfield Beach. That is a custom of its own: the side that pays for the owner’s policy usually brings the closing agent, and the contract can put either on either side.
That is the custom as we see it on our own files, confirmed on November 3, 2026. It is a report of what is usual, not a rule, and not a promise about your contract.
How the custom runs in the other counties is on who pays for title insurance in Florida, and what each side can insist on is on who chooses the title company.
What title insurance costs on a Deerfield Beach purchase
The same as anywhere in Florida — the premium is promulgated.
- Owner’s policy, $500,000
- $2,575
- Original rate, R. 69O-186.003(1)(a)
- At the reissue rate
- $1,530
- Where the prior title was insured and conditions are met
- Lender’s policy alongside
- $125
- Our charge; the rule’s minimum is $25
The Office of Insurance Regulation sets it by rule under Fla. Stat. § 627.782, so the premium on a Deerfield Beach policy is the figure it would be anywhere in the state. The Florida title insurance calculator, set to Broward County, works the premium out, Florida title insurance rates prints the schedule in full with the rule beside it, and the closing cost calculator for a Deerfield Beach address prices a specific one off the Broward County property appraiser’s record.
More detail on what title insurance costs
The reissue rate applies where the owner’s or the seller’s own title was insured and the rule’s conditions are met. The rule sets $25 as the least a lender’s policy issued at the same time can be. That $25 is a minimum, not a price: Bayit Title charges $125 to issue the policy alongside the owner’s, and that is the figure the estimate prints. Where the loan is larger than the owner’s amount, the coverage above it adds the difference between the original rate at the loan amount and at the owner’s amount.
Read from Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003 on September 14, 2026. The rule was last amended January 27, 2002. Tell us if a figure here does not match what you are quoted and we will check it against the rule again.
Documentary stamp tax on a Deerfield Beach sale
Taxed by the state, at the rate that applies in Broward County.
This is the rate in 66 of the 67 counties; Miami-Dade is the exception. The stamps are charged on each part of $100, so they round up. Which side pays each is decided by the purchase contract.
A cash purchase carries neither mortgage tax. The Florida doc stamp tax calculator, set to Broward County, works it out for a specific price and loan.
More detail on documentary stamp tax
Deed stamps. 70¢ per $100 of consideration, or part of $100. Charged on each part of $100, so the figure rounds up, not down.
Mortgage stamps. 35¢ per $100 of the amount secured, or part of $100. The $2,450 cap in § 201.08(1)(a) is on the tax on a note or other written obligation to pay money. There is no cap on the tax on a mortgage recorded against Florida property.
Intangible tax. 2 mills on each dollar secured — $2 per $1,000. One time, on the obligation the mortgage secures.
Each figure was read from the statute that sets it on September 14, 2026 and is linked to its section. Which county ch. 83-220 describes comes from the Department of Revenue’s documentary stamp tax guidance. Rates change by act of the Legislature — if one of these no longer matches what you are being charged, tell us and we will correct it.
Where a Deerfield Beach deed is recorded
Deerfield Beach is in Broward County, so the deed records with the Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division, not with the city.
- First page
- $10.00
- Then $8.50 a page
- A 3-page deed
- $27
- Same at every office
- A 25-page mortgage
- $214
- Same at every office
Charged by the page, at a rate the statute sets for every office in Florida — Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13).
This office does not publish a statement about how long recording takes, so we do not print one. On a file with a tight timeline, ask us what the office is doing that week.
More detail on recording
Recording, first page: $10.00. $5.00 service charge, plus $1.00 to the Public Records Modernization Trust Fund, plus $4.00. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13)(a), (d)1., (e)
Recording, each page after the first: $8.50. $4.00 service charge, plus 50¢ to the trust fund, plus $4.00. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13)(b), (d)2., (e)
Indexing, per name over four: $1.00. Reached by a deed with several grantors, or by a mortgage naming a trust. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13)(c)
The office’s own fee schedule covers the other things it does — certified copies, searches, its own e-recording arrangements — and a third-party e-recording vendor may add a fee of its own, which is not the office’s charge and not this.
Read from the statute on September 14, 2026. If a charge here no longer matches what you are being charged, tell us and we will correct it.
The municipal lien search in Deerfield Beach
A title search reads Broward County’s records. What the City of Deerfield Beach knows takes a search of its own.
None of these is in the official records. They are found by a separate municipal lien search directed to the city itself, and we order one on every file. What it turns up goes to you in writing, with what clearing it would take, as soon as it comes back.
Where the City of Deerfield Beach publishes it: lien search, code enforcement and permit records.
- Lien search
- The City’s Code Compliance page sends lien searches to an online lien portal run by a private company, which searches municipal liens and takes payment of them. Source: Lien search
- Partial release for a sale
- Where a seller’s title shows a City code lien that attached from a violation on another of the owner’s properties, the City can partially release it. The request needs a $250 non-refundable deposit per folio and a lien search report from the last 30 days. Source: Partial release for a sale
- Condominium liens
- A code lien placed on an association’s common elements, for the association’s own violations, affects the title to the individual units. The City has a condominium partial release for that case. Source: Condominium liens
- Release terms
- A partial release can come with pro-rata payment of what the owner or association owes the City, such as utilities, special assessments and cost recovery fees, plus preparation and recording fees. The Code Compliance Manager sets the amount or denies the request. Source: Release terms
- Fine relief after foreclosure
- A request to the Special Magistrate to reduce code liens on a property that went through foreclosure must attach the recorded lis pendens, the complaint, the final judgment, the certificate of title and the City’s recorded order imposing the fine. Source: Fine relief after foreclosure
- Abandoned property
- A lender that finds a defaulted home vacant must register it with the City within 10 days, at $150 a year, for as long as it stays vacant. The City sends no reminder when a registration lapses. Source: Abandoned property
- Expired permits
- Renewing an expired permit costs 50% of the original permit fee, under the building fee schedule adopted 17 December 2024. Work done without a permit pays double the permit fee. Source: Expired permits
- Who runs permitting
- The Building Division names an outside firm as responsible for all Florida Building Code work, from permit applications and inspections to permit close-out. New applications have gone in online since 15 December 2025, and can still be made in person at City Hall. Source: Who runs permitting
- Owner’s signature
- Every permit application in Deerfield Beach needs the owner’s signature, and every residential permit an affidavit on whether the property is in a homeowners’ association. Source: Owner’s signature
- Condo unit work
- A condominium owner cannot do permitted work on the unit personally. A licensed contractor and a permit are needed for almost any work but painting and flooring, and the permit card stays posted on the unit until the permit is closed. Source: Condo unit work
- Two water providers
- The City and Broward County each provide water and sewer inside the city limits, so a closing may involve either utility. The City’s utility service area map shows which one serves a property. Source: Two water providers
- Opening a water account
- A new owner opens a City water account with the signed closing statement and ID, and pays a deposit set by meter size, from $185.00, before service starts. Source: Opening a water account
- Closing a water account
- A seller closes a City water account by written notice from the account holder, giving the account number, the date service ends and a forwarding address. Source: Closing a water account
- Stormwater rate
- The stormwater rate for fiscal year 2027 is $5.95 a month per equivalent residential unit. A detached house counts as 1.00 unit, a townhouse 0.67 and a condominium 0.43. Source: Stormwater rate
- New flood zones
- FEMA flood maps that took effect on 31 July 2024 moved over 1,327 Deerfield Beach properties from Zone X into the AE or AH flood zones. An owner whose elevation certificate shows every elevation at or above base flood elevation may qualify for a removal letter. Source: New flood zones
- Elevation certificates
- The City keeps the elevation certificates owners have filed for work that needed one, viewable by address on its map. Its Floodplain Administrator, at 954-250-4313, will say whether a property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, in writing at no charge. Source: Elevation certificates
- Flood insurance
- Through the City’s place in FEMA’s Community Rating System, flood policies carry a 10% discount in Zones AE and AH and 5% in Zone X. A new policy has a 30-day wait. Source: Flood insurance
- Vacation rentals
- A home rented to transient guests more than three times a year, for under 30 days at a time, must be registered with the City as a vacation rental, at $100. Source: Vacation rentals
- Rental renewals
- A vacation rental registration is renewed by 1 October each year, and any change in it reported within 30 days. A violation can bring fines of up to $250 a day for a first offense and revocation of the registration. Source: Rental renewals
- PACE assessments
- The City opted in to the countywide PACE program, so owners can finance solar, impact windows and similar work through a private provider and repay it as a non-ad valorem assessment on the property tax bill. Source: PACE assessments
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on November 9, 2026: the City’s own page, a portal it links to, or its code. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
What an open permit does to a closing: What happens if there's an open permit on the property before closing?
How a signing happens in Deerfield Beach
Wherever the signer is in Deerfield Beach, or online.
We send a notary to a Deerfield Beach signer — a kitchen table, an office, wherever they are. Remote online notarization is the third way, for a signer who is not in Deerfield Beach on the day. The closer who prepared the file is reachable during the signing whichever way it happens.
Closing room in Plantation
261 N University Drive, Suite 500, Plantation.
By appointment, booked for your signing.
Directions →Wherever the signer is
We send a notary to the signer, including outside office hours.
About mobile notary signings →Remote online
Signed online with a Florida-commissioned online notary.
How remote online notarization works →
Each kind of file has a page of its own: home purchases and sales, refinances and commercial title. Everything we handle is on title, escrow and closing services in Florida.
Title problems we have written about in Broward County
What tends to hold up a Broward closing, and what it takes to clear.