Who pays for the owner’s policy in St. Petersburg?
The seller customarily pays for the owner’s policy in St. Petersburg.
That is the custom in Pinellas County, and so in St. Petersburg. 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 a St. Petersburg 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 St. Petersburg 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 St. Petersburg address off the Pinellas 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 St. Petersburg sale
Taxed by the state, at the rate that applies in Pinellas 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 a St. Petersburg deed is recorded
St. Petersburg is in Pinellas County, so the deed records with the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court and 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).
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 though 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 St. Petersburg
A title search reads Pinellas County’s records. What the City of St. Petersburg 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 St. Petersburg publishes it: lien search, code enforcement and permit records.
- Lien search
- The City’s Lien Research Request covers outstanding balances for active utility accounts, special assessments and utility liens. It costs $55.00 per request, with results within 3 business days. Source: Lien search
- Code liens
- Code Enforcement Board liens and nuisance abatement liens are separate requests: the City refers them to Codes Compliance and to the Police Department. Source: Code liens
- New owners
- Under the City’s new owner lien release agreement, a buyer with a purchase contract agrees to correct all code violations in return for release of the requested liens, for a $250.00 non-refundable fee. It does not affect special assessment or utility liens. Source: New owners
- Utility liens
- The owner is responsible for water supplied to the property even when a tenant occupies it. A utility lien arises when a bill is past due, and once recorded it ranks with taxes and accrues interest at ten percent a year. Source: Utility liens
- Assessments
- The City says it cannot compromise or reduce sanitary sewer, area improvement, paving, sidewalk, drainage, dredging or seawall special assessments, and that these remain a lien on the property even after it is conveyed to a new owner. Source: Assessments
- Unity of title
- Lots joined to meet the City’s zoning or parking rules carry a recorded declaration of unity of title. No part can be sold off if that would leave the site noncompliant. The declaration binds later owners until the City releases it in writing. Source: Unity of title
- Chronic nuisance property
- A buyer of a property the City has declared a chronic nuisance must file a written action plan with the City within 45 days after closing. A buyer at a judicial sale has the same 45 days. Source: Chronic nuisance property
- Assessment rolls
- Capital improvement assessments are liens ranking with taxes from the day City Council confirms them. The final roll at the City Clerk’s office is evidence of the liens, and the City may also record a notice with the clerk of court. Source: Assessment rolls
- Demolition liens
- The cost of demolishing, securing or vacating an unsafe building is assessed against the land and ranks ahead of every lien but taxes. Left unpaid 30 days, it bears eight percent for the first year and 12 percent after that. Source: Demolition liens
- Legal premises agent
- An owner who doesn’t live in the building must name a legal premises agent living in Pinellas, Hillsborough or Manatee County, on the City’s form. That agent can bind the owner to code agreements, including fines and liens. Source: Legal premises agent
- Sewer laterals
- Owners are responsible for the private sewer line up to the City right-of-way. Once a licensed plumber’s inspection report finds it defective, the owner has 180 days to fix it, or the case goes to the Code Enforcement Board. Source: Sewer laterals
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 St. Petersburg
Wherever the signer is in St. Petersburg, or online.
We send a notary to a St. Petersburg signer — a kitchen table, an office, wherever they are. Remote online notarization is the third way, for a signer who is not in St. Petersburg 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.