Who pays for the owner’s policy in Orlando?
The seller customarily pays for the owner’s policy in Orlando.
That is the custom in Orange County, and so in Orlando. 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.
How the custom runs in the other counties is on who pays for title insurance in Florida.
What title insurance costs on an Orlando 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 an Orlando policy is the figure it would be anywhere in the state. The Florida title insurance rates are printed in full on the calculator, with the rule beside them, and the closing cost calculator prices a specific Orlando address off the Orange 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 an Orlando sale
Taxed by the state, at the rate that applies in Orange 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 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 an Orlando deed is recorded
Orlando is in Orange County, so the deed records with the Orange County Comptroller, 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 Orlando
A title search reads Orange County’s records. What the City of Orlando 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 Orlando publishes it: lien search, code enforcement and permit records.
- Lien search
- The City says to check for a City lien with its Code Enforcement Division, and for all other liens with the Orange County Comptroller’s Office. Source: Lien search
- Open permits
- For a title search, the City answers requests on the status of an open or expired permit in 3-5 business days. Only cases starting with BLD, ELE, PLM, MEC, GAS, FIR, ENG or ROW count as permits. Source: Open permits
- Expired permits
- The City says to renew an expired permit to avoid delays with future inspections, title searches and sale of the property. Within six months of expiration, renewal costs the minimum permit fee or 25% of the original fee, whichever is greater, up to $1,000. Source: Expired permits
- Code liens
- The City does not take payment on a Code Enforcement Board lien while its case is still open. After payment clears, a Satisfaction of Lien is processed within 1-2 weeks. Source: Code liens
- Lien reductions
- The Code Enforcement Board considers a request to reduce a penalty only once for each case, and only after the property complies with its order. Any amount paid before the hearing cannot be reduced or refunded. Source: Lien reductions
- Unplatted land
- Orlando won’t approve a permit for a new principal building unless it stands on whole lots in a recorded plat. One exception is a one-family house in certain residential districts on a lot of record before February 4, 1959, shown by a deed from before that date. Source: Unplatted land
- Short-term rentals
- Home sharing must be a hosted stay, with the owner or tenant living there and present, one booking at a time. A whole home can’t be rented short term unless it’s a commercial dwelling unit, a hotel, or half of an owner-occupied duplex. Source: Short-term rentals
- Directly billed assessments
- When the City bills a special assessment directly instead of on the tax bill, only a general notice of the lien goes in the Official Records. Individual liens and releases don’t have to be recorded. Source: Directly billed assessments
- Postponed assessments
- An owner with a financial hardship can have special assessment payments put off, but a lien for the full amount is recorded. Payments come due again on a change of ownership, and interest runs the whole time. Source: Postponed assessments
- Parks fee credits
- Demolishing, moving or abandoning a home earns a credit against the parks impact fee on what is built next. The credit passes to later owners of that land, must be used within 10 years, and can’t move to another property. Source: Parks fee credits
- Lot-clearing liens
- A lot the City has to clean ends up with a special assessment lien if the bill goes unpaid 30 days, at 8 percent interest. The lien is enforced like a tax lien, and the City may record a notice of it. Source: Lot-clearing liens
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 7, 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 Orlando
Wherever the signer is in Orlando, or online.
We send a notary to an Orlando signer — a kitchen table, an office, wherever they are. Remote online notarization is the third way, for a signer who is not in Orlando 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.