Who pays for the owner’s policy in West Palm Beach?
The seller customarily pays for the owner’s policy in West Palm Beach.
That is the custom in Palm Beach County, and so in West Palm 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.
How the custom runs in the other counties is on who pays for title insurance in Florida.
What title insurance costs on a West Palm 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 West Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach address off the Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach sale
Taxed by the state, at the rate that applies in Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach deed is recorded
West Palm Beach is in Palm Beach County, so the deed records with the Palm Beach 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).
"We cannot guarantee documents will be recorded on the same day that we receive them." "Notices of Commencement are normally recorded within one business day when submitted electronically." Walk-in recording appears under the heading "Same Day Recording": "Except for designated holidays. Present documents in person at the following locations, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m." (five locations listed).
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 West Palm Beach
A title search reads Palm Beach County’s records. What the City of West Palm 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 West Palm Beach publishes it: lien search, code enforcement and permit records.
- Lien search
- The city’s online lien portal charges $120 for each report, paid in advance by credit card. Source: Lien search
- Lien reductions
- Under the City Code, the special magistrate cannot reduce a lien that is insured by a title insurance policy. When a prospective owner applies, any reduction granted is conditioned on title passing to an unrelated third party. Source: Lien reductions
- Utility liens
- Under the City Code, unpaid utility charges become a lien on the property served, ahead of all other liens except taxes. The city clerk records the resolution levying them in the county’s public records. Source: Utility liens
- Before a sale
- Under the City Code, an owner who transfers property during a code enforcement proceeding must file a notice of the transfer with the code enforcement official within five days, naming the new owner and attaching copies of the disclosures made to them. Source: Before a sale
- New owners
- Under the City Code, an arm’s-length buyer of a property already under a chronic nuisance service order has 45 days from closing, or from the order’s recording if later, to give the city an action plan and carry it out. Source: New owners
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 7, 2026: the City’s own page, or a portal it links to. 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 West Palm Beach
In a closing room here in West Palm Beach, at our office, wherever the signer is, or online.
We book a private conference room at 1501 Belvedere Road, Suite 500 for the signing, by appointment, so a West Palm Beach signer does not have to drive to Coral Springs. They can still come to our office, or we send a notary to them. Remote online notarization is the third way, for a signer who is not in West Palm Beach on the day. The closer who prepared the file is reachable during the signing whichever way it happens.
In our office
3301 N University Drive, Suite 100, Coral Springs.
Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Closing room in West Palm Beach
1501 Belvedere Road, Suite 500, West Palm Beach.
By appointment, booked for your signing.
Directions →Closing room in Boca Raton
7284 W Palmetto Park Road, Suite 101, Boca Raton.
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 →
Everything we handle is on title, escrow and closing services in Florida.
Title problems we have written about in Palm Beach County
What tends to hold up a Palm Beach closing, and what it takes to clear.