Who pays for the owner’s policy in Monroe County?
In Monroe County who pays for the owner’s policy depends on where in the Keys the property is. Islamorada and the Upper Keys follow the buyer-pay custom of the counties to the north, Marathon and the Middle Keys are a seller-pay area, and Key West and the Lower Keys are a mix of the two.
Owner’s policy The title policy that protects the buyer, issued for the full insurable value of the property, in a sale ordinarily the price. More in the glossary: Owner’s policy
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. In Monroe County who chooses the closing agent follows who pays for the owner’s policy, which depends on where in the Keys the property is: the buyer in Islamorada and the Upper Keys, the seller in Marathon and the Middle Keys, and either in Key West and the Lower Keys. 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 does title insurance cost in Monroe County?
The same as anywhere in Florida — the premium is promulgated.
Premium The price of a title insurance policy. In Florida it is set by rule, applies throughout the state, and no one may knowingly quote, charge or collect a different one; it runs per $1,000 of coverage, in bands. More in the glossary: Premium
- 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 the premium by rule under Fla. Stat. § 627.782, and an owner’s policy is written for the full insurable value of the property. The Florida title insurance rates, both schedules, are printed in full on the calculator; what each side pays is on the buyer closing costs and seller closing costs pages.
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 Monroe County sale
The deed is taxed by the state, not by the county.
Documentary stamp tax Florida’s tax on documents, paid at the closing. More in the glossary: Documentary stamp tax
The deed rate here 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 is decided by the contract, not the statute.
A cash closing 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.
Recording in Monroe County
Deeds and mortgages record with the Monroe County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller.
Recording Entering a document in the county’s official records, which makes it notice to everyone. More in the glossary: Recording
- 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
Set by statute and charged by the page — Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13) — so a Monroe County deed and a Levy County deed of the same length record for the same money.
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.
How Monroe County records, in its offices’ own words
What the office that records deeds and mortgages says about how it works.
- Where to record
- The Clerk takes documents for recording at its offices in Key West, Marathon and Plantation Key, open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Documents sent by mail go to the Key West office at 500 Whitehead Street. Source: Where to record
- Same-day recording
- The Clerk says e-recorded documents submitted between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. are typically recorded the same day, but it cannot guarantee that, and it recommends recording a time-sensitive document in person at one of its offices. Source: Same-day recording
- Online records
- The Clerk’s free online Official Records search has records starting February 15, 1954, and images starting December 31, 1986. Source: Online records
- Foreclosure sales
- The Clerk holds foreclosure auctions in person, Monday through Friday, on the front courthouse steps at 500 Whitehead Street in Key West. The balance is due in certified funds by 4:00 p.m. the same business day, at the Key West branch only. Source: Foreclosure sales
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 7, 2026: a page of one of the county’s own offices, or one 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.
All Monroe topicsNext Liens and charges that stay with the property
County liens, utility charges and assessments in Monroe County
What the county’s offices and its code say about charges and liens a buyer can inherit.
- Code liens
- A recorded code fine is a lien on the land in violation and on any other property the violator owns. After three months the County can foreclose, but never on a homestead. Source: Code liens
- Code lien settlements
- The County Attorney can settle a code lien for as little as 25 percent of the fines, but all of the costs. Nothing is settled before the property complies unless the County Commission approves. Source: Code lien settlements
- Lien reductions
- Nobody has a right to have a code lien reduced. The special magistrate weighs, among other things, whether the person asking owned the property when the lien was placed and whether the violations are fixed. Source: Lien reductions
- County housing mortgages
- Once a SHIP, CDBG or other County-issued mortgage has been repaid as its terms require, the County prepares the satisfaction on proof. The owner is the one who records it. Source: County housing mortgages
- Wastewater assessments
- Annual wastewater assessments rank with taxes. Until paid, they come ahead of every other lien and mortgage, even one recorded earlier. Source: Wastewater assessments
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 16, 2026: a page of one of the county’s own offices, or the county’s code. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
Law particular to Monroe County
What the county’s charter, its code or a Florida law sets for Monroe in particular.
- Vacation rental permits
- A vacation rental permit does not pass to a buyer. A new owner needs a new annual permit before renting the unit to vacationers. Source: Vacation rental permits
- Affordable housing covenants
- Affordable and employee housing carries a recorded covenant of at least 99 years that bars vacation rentals. Before any sale or other change of ownership, the owner must show the Planning Department the next household qualifies. Source: Affordable housing covenants
- PACE loans
- PACE programs must give owners a separate written notice that the assessment may have to be paid in full on a sale or refinance. Residential PACE financing can carry no prepayment fee. Source: PACE loans
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 16, 2026: the county’s charter or code, a page of the county government, or the Florida Constitution. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
How Bayit Title handles a Monroe County file
Opened by the same four people who close it.
We order the search, examine what comes back, and put anything that could hold up the closing in writing — with what it would take to clear it — rather than waiting for it to surface at the table.
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.