Who pays for the owner’s policy in Fort Myers?
The seller customarily pays for the owner’s policy in Fort Myers.
That is the custom in Lee County, and so in Fort Myers. 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.
That is the custom as we see it on our own files, confirmed on September 24, 2026. It is a report of what is usual, not a rule, and not a promise about your contract.
Who chooses the title company. The seller customarily chooses the closing agent, the title company, in Lee County, and so in Fort Myers. 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 Fort Myers 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 Fort Myers policy is the figure it would be anywhere in the state. The Florida title insurance calculator, set to Lee 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 Fort Myers address prices a specific one off the Lee 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 Fort Myers sale
Taxed by the state, at the rate that applies in Lee 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 Lee 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 Fort Myers deed is recorded
Fort Myers is in Lee County, so the deed records with the Lee County Clerk of Court, 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).
While in most cases, the Clerk processes all documents received for recording within 2 business days; the Clerk cannot guarantee same or next-day recording for documents received by mail, drop-box, or through eRecording.
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.
The turnaround above is the office’s own published statement, not a commitment it makes to us or a time we can promise you. Offices change these pages without notice. On a file where the recording date matters, ask us and we will check what the office is actually doing that week.
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 Fort Myers
A title search reads Lee County’s records. What the City of Fort Myers 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 Fort Myers publishes it: lien search, code enforcement and permit records.
- Code liens
- Code liens sit with the City’s Code Enforcement Division, which also runs the Code Board. The City lets anyone search its code cases online. Source: Code liens
- Capped daily fines
- When a violation is not fixed by the date it sets, the Code Enforcement Board orders a fine for every day after, and its order either caps the total or says there is no cap. Source: Capped daily fines
- Lien reductions
- An owner can ask the Board to mitigate a code fine. Those requests are heard after the new cases, and an owner who is not there when called may lose the hearing. A reduced fine not paid by its deadline reverts to the original lien. Source: Lien reductions
- Foreclosure registration
- Owners, mortgagees and trustees of a property in default or foreclosure must register it online with the registry the City uses and pay a registration fee. Source: Foreclosure registration
- Permit status
- Permit status, inspection scheduling and permit fees are online through the City’s self-service portal. Fees can also be paid in person at 1825 Hendry Street. Source: Permit status
- FEMA 50% rule
- Once repairs or improvements cost 50 percent of a building’s market value, the City requires it to meet its flood rules, including raising it to base flood elevation. The City starts from the Property Appraiser’s value of the structure, without the land. Source: FEMA 50% rule
- Twelve months of work
- For the 50 percent test the City adds together every repair and improvement made to a building over a 12-month period. Once a building is substantially damaged, any repair counts as a substantial improvement. Source: Twelve months of work
- Historic districts
- Fort Myers has four historic districts: Downtown, Edison Park, Dean Park and Seminole Park. Altering, moving or demolishing a structure in one, or on a site the City has designated, needs a certificate of review before a permit is issued. Source: Historic districts
- Stormwater fee
- The City’s stormwater fee is billed once a year on the property tax bill, as a non-ad valorem assessment. It runs $2.16 a month for every 500 square feet of hard surface on the parcel. Source: Stormwater fee
- Water accounts
- A new residential water account with the City takes a $175.00 deposit and a $30.00 service fee. Source: Water accounts
- Outside the city limits
- A property in unincorporated Lee County is not the City’s to permit or zone. Lee County Community Development handles permitting, planning and zoning there, from 1500 Monroe Street. Source: Outside the city limits
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on November 6, 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 Fort Myers
Wherever the signer is in Fort Myers, or online.
We send a notary to a Fort Myers signer — a kitchen table, an office, wherever they are. Remote online notarization is the third way, for a signer who is not in Fort Myers on the day. The closer who prepared the file is reachable during the signing whichever way it happens.
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 on a Fort Myers purchase
What tends to hold up a closing anywhere in Florida, and what it takes to clear.
- The contract isn't the standard form. What does that change at closing?
- The contract was cancelled and both sides want the deposit. What does the title agent do?
- The HOA says approval takes 30 days and we close in two weeks. Now what?
- The seller is overseas. How do they sign a Florida closing?
- The survey shows a driveway, but the title work says no legal access. What's the difference?
- There's a judgment against the seller. What happens to the closing?
- We're buying from a bankruptcy estate. What does the title work need?
- What happens if there's an open permit on the property before closing?