Who pays for the owner’s policy in Polk County?
The seller customarily pays for the owner’s title policy in Polk County.
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.
How the custom runs in the other counties is on who pays for title insurance in Florida.
What does title insurance cost in Polk 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 Polk 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 Polk County
Deeds and mortgages record with the Polk County Clerk of the Circuit Court.
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 Polk 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 Polk County records, in its offices’ own words
What the office that records deeds and mortgages says about how it works.
- Quiet title forms
- The Clerk’s forms page offers fillable quiet title complaint forms for a forged deed and for a wild deed. Source: Quiet title forms
- Title search redactions
- The Clerk’s Official Records forms include a fillable Request to Release Redacted Information for Title Search. Source: Title search redactions
- Where to record
- Documents can be recorded at any of the Clerk’s three offices: Bartow, Lakeland and the Northeast Government Center in Lake Alfred. Source: Where to record
- Online records
- The Clerk’s online database shows county records back to 1957, and historical deeds back to 1861 are also online; older records can be requested through the Clerk’s online system. Source: Online records
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 Polk topicsNext Liens and charges that stay with the property
County liens, utility charges and assessments in Polk County
What the county’s offices and its code say about charges and liens a buyer can inherit.
- Limits on fine reductions
- A Polk special magistrate can reduce a code fine for good cause, but not by more than half without the County Commission’s approval, shown in its minutes. Source: Limits on fine reductions
- Water liens and tenants
- Polk County Utilities can record a lien for water or sewer charges 30 days in default only when the account holder owns the property served. Once recorded, the lien is constructive notice and carries statutory interest from the recording date. Source: Water liens and tenants
- Workforce housing fee break
- A home built under Polk’s workforce housing impact fee break carries a recorded lien for the waived fees. If it stops qualifying within seven years of the certificate of occupancy, the full amount comes due. Source: Workforce housing fee break
- Demolition liens
- Polk records a claim of lien for demolition costs left unpaid 30 days, and the special magistrate can’t cut them. If a new home built on the lot under a conditional release houses only income-qualified households for ten years after its certificate of occupancy, the lien is released. Source: Demolition liens
- Property upkeep liens
- When Polk abates a property maintenance violation and the cost sits unpaid 30 days after notice, it records a claim of lien that is a first lien equal to taxes. Interest runs at the judgment rate until the cost moves onto the non-ad valorem roll. Source: Property upkeep liens
- Garbage assessment
- Polk’s residential waste assessment is a lien equal to taxes and, unless a law says otherwise, ahead of earlier mortgages until paid. When it is billed with taxes it attaches as of January first. Source: Garbage assessment
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.
How Bayit Title handles a Polk 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.