Florida title and closing terms: a glossary

A sale of real property held for business or investment followed by the purchase of like-kind property, so that no gain or loss is recognized. On the closing side, a qualified intermediary is in place before the sale closes, the proceeds go to it rather than to the seller, and the replacement is identified in writing within 45 days and received within 180. Whether to exchange is a decision for a tax adviser.

Sources26 U.S.C. § 1031 · Treas. Reg. § 1.1031(k)-1(b)

In fullThe 1031 exchange closing guide

See alsoQualified intermediary

The signer’s declaration before a notary, or another officer the law allows, that they signed. A Florida deed has to be acknowledged, proved by a witness or authenticated to be recorded. A deed in the chain recorded without it is a defect, which the statute treats as cured five years after recording unless there is fraud, adverse possession or pending litigation.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 695.03 · Fla. Stat. § 95.231(1)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 21

See alsoDeed · Remote online notarization

The American Land Title Association, which publishes the standard title insurance forms, among them the 2021 owner’s policy and commitment. Every policy issued in Florida is on a form the Office of Insurance Regulation has approved, and the policy in front of you, with its own schedules, is what governs.

SourcesALTA policy forms · Fla. Stat. § 627.777(1)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoEndorsement

The version of the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar residential contract on which the buyer may cancel during the Inspection Period, where the standard version has the seller repair up to set limits. The current revision of both is Rev. 2/26. On the “AS IS” form an open permit is the buyer’s to resolve.

In fullUnderstanding the FAR/BAR contract

See alsoInspection Period · Effective Date · Open permit

A condominium or homeowners’ association’s written approval of the buyer, where its own documents require one. It is a contract condition rather than a title defect, but it can stop a closing as effectively. Its clock is set by the association’s documents, not by statute, and most of the delay is an application sitting incomplete.

In fullWhen the HOA says approval takes 30 days

See alsoEstoppel certificate

In a sale from a bankruptcy estate, the court’s order authorizing the sale. It is a title document: the trustee’s authority, the terms approved, whether liens are stripped or ride through, and whether the appeal period has run all come from it, so the closing is scheduled around it.

In fullBuying from a bankruptcy estate

Each deadline counts days its own way. The lender’s disclosure periods and the estoppel statutes count business days, and for the right of rescission a business day is every day except Sundays and federal public holidays. The FAR/BAR contract counts calendar days, and moves a deadline that falls on a weekend or federal holiday to the next day that is neither.

Source12 C.F.R. § 1026.2(a)(6)

In fullHow long a Florida closing takes

See alsoClosing Disclosure · Right of rescission · Effective Date

The run of recorded documents by which title passed from owner to owner down to the seller. A wrong legal description, a misspelled name, or an owner with no deed out of them is a gap in it, cleared by a corrective instrument from whoever made the mistake or, where they are not available, by a court.

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 20

See alsoCorrective instrument · Quiet title action · Marketable record title

The agent who holds the closing money in trust, runs the signing, disburses the funds and sends the deed and mortgage to be recorded. On the FAR/BAR contract, whoever pays for the owner’s title policy designates the closing agent (Standard I).

In fullWho chooses the title company

See alsoEscrow · Title agent

The lender’s final statement of a loan’s terms and costs. The borrower must receive it no later than three business days before consummation, and an APR that becomes inaccurate, a changed loan product or an added prepayment penalty starts a new three business days. A cash sale has a closing statement but no Closing Disclosure.

Source12 C.F.R. § 1026.19(f)

In fullThe lender’s deadlines

See alsoLoan Estimate · Closing statement · Business day

An instrument a title insurer may give a prospective insured, in a form the Office of Insurance Regulation approves, under which it takes on liability for loss caused by its agent’s fraud, dishonesty or misappropriation of funds, or failure to follow written closing instructions.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.786(3)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoEscrow · Underwriter

The itemized account of a closing: the price, every charge and credit, and which side each falls on. The title premium is one line; the rule requires the search, examination and closing charges to be shown separately from it. On a financed purchase the lender’s Closing Disclosure sits beside it.

SourceFla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003(11)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoClosing Disclosure · Premium

A local government’s fine for a code violation, which becomes a lien on the land, and on the violator’s other property, once a certified copy of the order imposing it is recorded. The fine keeps accruing until the property complies, so last month’s figure is not a payoff. It cannot be foreclosed on a homestead, but it stays on the record.

SourceFla. Stat. § 162.09(3)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 5

See alsoMunicipal lien search · Lien

A lien a contractor, subcontractor or supplier records for unpaid work on the property. It can be recorded during the work and up to 90 days after the lienor last furnished labor, services or materials, so work finished last month can still produce one, and it lasts 1 year unless a suit to enforce it is started in that time.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 713.08(5) · Fla. Stat. § 713.22(1)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 7

See alsoNotice of commencement · Seller’s affidavit

A document recorded to fix a mistake in an earlier one, such as a wrong legal description, a misspelled name or a deed signed without its witnesses, signed by whoever signed the original. Where that person is not available, the fix may need a court.

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 20

See alsoChain of title · Quiet title action

The document that conveys title from seller to buyer. A Florida deed is signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, acknowledged (or proved by a witness, or authenticated) to be recorded, and carries each signer’s name printed beneath the signature. The deed is what is recorded; the purchase contract is not.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 689.01(1) · Fla. Stat. § 695.26(1)(a)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 21

See alsoAcknowledgment · Recording · Spousal joinder

Florida’s tax on documents, paid at the closing. On the deed it is 70¢ per $100 of the price; in Miami-Dade, 60¢, plus a 45¢ surtax unless the property conveyed is only a single-family residence. On the mortgage it is 35¢ per $100.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 201.02(1)(a) · Fla. Stat. § 201.08(1)(b)

In fullThe doc stamp calculator

See alsoIntangible tax

A right to use land someone else owns for a described purpose, such as access or utilities. Recorded, it binds future owners of the land it crosses, and it is the clean way to give a parcel legal access across a neighbor’s land. Recorded easements usually appear as exceptions in Schedule B, Part II.

In fullPhysical access and legal access

See alsoLegal access · Exceptions

On the FAR/BAR contract, the day the last of the buyer and seller signs or initials the offer or final counter-offer and delivers it (paragraph 3(b)). Most of the contract’s deadlines count from it, in calendar days.

In fullUnderstanding the FAR/BAR contract

See alsoInspection Period · Business day

A structure over a boundary: a fence, a driveway or a pool deck onto a neighbor’s land, or a neighbor’s onto this parcel. A survey shows it. With a certified survey made within 90 days before closing, the policy may except only the matters it actually shows; a boundary dispute is a lawyer’s question.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.7842(1)(a)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 23

See alsoSurvey · Exceptions

Anything that burdens title without taking it away: a mortgage or another lien, an easement, a restriction. Florida defines title insurance as insurance against loss “by encumbrance, or defective titles, or invalidity, or adverse claim to title.”

SourceFla. Stat. § 624.608(1)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoLien · Easement · Title insurance

An addition to a title policy that extends its coverage on a stated point, such as access, zoning or the survey. A lender’s closing instructions name the ones it requires; each is issued only where the facts of the file support it, which the underwriter decides, and each is charged on top of the premium.

In fullCommercial title in Florida

See alsoLender’s policy · Underwriter

The money a title agency holds for a closing: deposits, loan funds, payoffs and the price. Florida law makes it trust money, held in a fiduciary capacity and belonging to the people entitled to it, kept in an insured Florida institution, used only under the instructions it was accepted on, and never subject to the agency’s own debts.

SourceFla. Stat. § 626.8473

In fullWhere your money sits

See alsoEscrow deposit · Closing protection letter · Wire fraud

The buyer’s deposit under the purchase contract, held by the escrow agent it names. When a contract ends and buyer and seller both claim it, a title agency holding it pays it out on one instruction both sign, or on a court’s decision; a real estate broker holding it follows a separate procedure, which starts with notice to the Florida Real Estate Commission.

SourceFla. Stat. § 475.25(1)(d)

In fullWhen both sides claim the deposit

See alsoInterpleader · Escrow

A condominium or homeowners’ association’s signed statement of what is owed on a unit or parcel on the day it is issued. It is due within 10 business days of a request, is good for 30 days (35 if mailed), and binds the association: it cannot collect more than it states from a buyer who relied on it in good faith. The fee is capped at $299, plus $119 if expedited and up to $179 if the owner is delinquent.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 718.116(8) · Fla. Stat. § 720.30851 · DBPR fee notice

In fullThe estoppel certificate fees guide

See alsoEstoppel letter · Association approval

Florida’s name for a mortgage payoff: the lender’s or servicer’s written statement of the unpaid balance as of a stated date, itemized into principal, interest and other charges, with the interest accruing each day after. It is due within 10 days of a written request from the borrower, a record owner, or someone acting for either.

SourceFla. Stat. § 701.04(1)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 2

See alsoSatisfaction · Estoppel certificate · Short sale

What the policy will not cover unless it is cleared: recorded easements and restrictions, the standard survey and possession exceptions, and anything else the search found that is not being removed. Read them as a list of what you are accepting. Florida narrows the standard ones where there is a recent certified survey or the seller’s affidavit.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.7842(1)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoRequirements · Exclusions · Survey · Seller’s affidavit

What the policy form itself never covers, whatever the search shows. On the standard owner’s form they include zoning, building and other land-use law, eminent domain, problems the insured created or knew of and did not disclose, problems arising after the policy date, and the quantity of area or square footage.

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoExceptions · Open permit

A recorded notice of federal tax lien against the seller is a requirement on the commitment like any other lien: paid from the proceeds, or the property discharged from it by a certificate the IRS issues. The IRS decides a discharge on its own timeline, so the application starts the week the lien is found, with the seller’s tax professional.

Source26 U.S.C. § 6325(b)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 4

See alsoLien · Requirements

The federal rule that when a foreign person sells US real estate, the buyer withholds 15% of the amount realized, generally the gross price, and pays it to the IRS within 20 days, unless an exception applies. The buyer, not the seller or the closing agent, is the withholding agent. A seller who expects to owe less applies to the IRS for a withholding certificate before the closing.

Source26 U.S.C. § 1445(a)

In fullFIRPTA closings in Florida

A lawsuit to have the property sold to pay a debt secured by it, most often a mortgage. Because it is a lawsuit, it usually reaches the title search as a recorded lis pendens. A sale before it ends is often a short sale, which needs the lender’s written approval.

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 12

See alsoLis pendens · Short sale

Under the Florida Constitution, an owner’s residence, protected from forced sale up to 160 contiguous acres outside a municipality or half an acre inside one, and from judgment liens other than for taxes and assessments on it, its purchase, improvement or repair, and labor on it. A married owner sells or mortgages it joined by the spouse, even one who is not on the deed. It does not clear a judgment from the record.

SourceFla. Const. art. X, § 4(a), (c)

In fullA judgment against the seller

See alsoSpousal joinder · Judgment lien · Probate

On the FAR/BAR contract, the days the buyer has to inspect: the number written into paragraph 12(a), or 15 days after the Effective Date if it is left blank, on both versions. On the “AS IS” form the buyer’s written notice cancelling the contract must reach the seller before it ends.

In fullUnderstanding the FAR/BAR contract

See also“AS IS” contract · Effective Date

Florida’s tax on a new mortgage, 2 mills: $2 for every $1,000 of the loan. It is paid at the closing with the documentary stamp tax on the mortgage.

SourceFla. Stat. § 199.133(1)

In fullThe doc stamp calculator

See alsoDocumentary stamp tax

A court case that makes competing claimants argue with each other rather than with the party holding the money. For a disputed deposit, it is the escrow agent asking the court to decide whether the buyer or the seller gets it.

SourceFla. R. Civ. P. 1.240

In fullWhen both sides claim the deposit

See alsoEscrow deposit

Once a certified copy of a money judgment, with the creditor’s address, is recorded in a county, it is a lien on real property the debtor owns there. It runs for 10 years, can be extended once for 10 more, and is never a lien more than 20 years after the judgment was entered. One that belongs to someone else with the same name is cleared with an affidavit of identity.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 55.10 · Fla. Stat. § 55.081

In fullA judgment against the seller

See alsoLien · Homestead · Tenancy by the entireties

A legally enforceable right to get to a public road, usually by fronting one or by a recorded easement across the land between. A paved driveway is physical access; without a recorded right behind it the parcel has no legal access, which is a title problem rather than a survey problem.

In fullPhysical access and legal access

See alsoEasement · Exceptions

The description that identifies the land in the record, rather than its street address. Schedule A of the commitment carries it and it is among the first things to check there, because a wrong one in the chain is a gap that has to be corrected.

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoSchedule A · Chain of title · Survey

The title policy that protects the lender, usually up to the loan amount, and nobody else. A lender requires one as a condition of the loan, and Florida requires a buyer who borrows to be told that the lender’s policy does not protect them.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.798

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoOwner’s policy · Simultaneous issue · Endorsement

A claim against property for a debt, which stays with the property until it is paid, satisfied or released. The title search looks for every lien recorded against the property and the seller; most are the seller’s to clear, paid from the seller’s proceeds at closing and released afterwards.

In fullThe title problems guide

See alsoJudgment lien · Construction lien · Code enforcement lien · Federal tax lien · Property taxes · Satisfaction · Encumbrance

A recorded notice that a lawsuit concerns the property. A suit reaches the property only through a notice recorded in the county’s official records that has not expired, been withdrawn or been discharged, and a notice expires a year after the action began unless the claim rests on a recorded instrument or a construction lien, or a court extends it. A live one is a requirement on the commitment.

SourceFla. Stat. § 48.23

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 10

See alsoForeclosure · Requirements

The lender’s first statement of a loan’s terms and estimated costs, delivered or mailed no later than the third business day after it receives the application. It runs at the start of a file and rarely touches the closing date.

Source12 C.F.R. § 1026.19(e)

In fullThe lender’s deadlines

See alsoClosing Disclosure

Under Florida’s marketable record title act, a person vested with an estate of record for 30 years or more has a marketable record title, free of claims except those the act preserves. It is why a Florida title search is measured in decades.

SourceFla. Stat. § 712.02

In fullHow long the title search takes

See alsoChain of title · Title search

A search directed to the city or county for what its own records hold against the property: open permits, code cases, unpaid utility balances and special assessments. A title search reads the county’s official records and does not see these. Each city prices and times its answer as it likes.

In fullWhat each city publishes

See alsoOpen permit · Code enforcement lien · Title search

The notice recorded when improvement work on the property begins. It is effective against a sale or mortgage for 1 year after it is recorded unless it states another period. An owner can end it sooner with a sworn, recorded notice of termination stating that every lienor has been paid in full, which takes effect 30 days after recording.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 713.13(6) · Fla. Stat. § 713.132

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 7

See alsoConstruction lien

A building permit the municipality never closed out, usually because no final inspection was called. It is a municipal record, found by a municipal lien search rather than a title search, and the policy’s building-and-zoning exclusion sits over it. On the standard FAR/BAR form the seller resolves it up to a permit limit; on the “AS IS” form, the buyer.

In fullAn open permit before closing

See alsoMunicipal lien search · Exclusions · “AS IS” contract

The title policy that protects the buyer, issued for the full insurable value of the property, in a sale ordinarily the price. On the standard form it lasts as long as the insured owns the property, continues for heirs who take title by operation of law, and ends on a sale. Who pays for it is local custom, county by county, and the contract decides.

SourceFla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003(1)(a)2.

In fullWho pays in every Florida county

See alsoLender’s policy · Premium · Reissue rate

The person who administers a deceased owner’s estate under the probate court. Where the will gives a power of sale, the personal representative can sell without a court order; where it does not, no title passes until the court authorizes or confirms the sale.

SourceFla. Stat. § 733.613(1)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 13

See alsoProbate · Homestead

A document authorizing someone else to sign for the owner. A deed or mortgage of Florida homestead can be signed under one executed in the same manner as a deed, and a spouse’s joinder can be given through one. Whether it is properly executed, still in force and broad enough for the sale is settled with the underwriter before the signing, not at it.

SourceFla. Stat. § 689.111

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 15

See alsoSpousal joinder · Underwriter

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. The search, examination and closing are separate charges.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 627.782(1) · Fla. Stat. § 627.780(1) · Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003

In fullThe title insurance calculator

See alsoReissue rate · Simultaneous issue · Owner’s policy

The court process that administers a deceased person’s estate. When an owner on the deed has died, who can convey their interest depends on how title was held and on what the probate court has done, and homestead passes by its own rule. It is probate counsel’s work.

SourceFla. Stat. § 732.401(1)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 13

See alsoPersonal representative · Homestead · Tenancy by the entireties

Florida property taxes are a first lien, superior to all other liens, from January 1 of the year they are levied until they are paid. They are due November 1 and delinquent the following April 1, or 60 days after the tax notice is mailed if that is later. How the current year’s taxes are divided between buyer and seller is the contract’s to say.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 197.122(1) · Fla. Stat. § 197.333

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 8

See alsoTax certificate · Lien

In a 1031 exchange, the party that holds the sale proceeds between the two closings so the investor never receives them. It is not treated as the investor’s agent if the exchange agreement limits the investor’s rights to the money, and the investor’s own Realtor, CPA or attorney of the last two years cannot act as one. The investor may use any qualified intermediary they choose.

SourceTreas. Reg. § 1.1031(k)-1(g), (k)

In fullWhy the intermediary comes first

See also1031 exchange

A lawsuit asking a court to settle the title, used where a gap or defect in the chain cannot be fixed by a corrective instrument because whoever would sign it is not available. It is a real estate attorney’s work, and the title problem most likely to move a closing date by more than days.

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 20

See alsoChain of title · Corrective instrument

Entering a document in the county’s official records, which makes it notice to everyone. A Florida document is recorded the moment the clerk affixes its official register number, and the order of those numbers decides priority, so a slow office delays when a deed appears in the index, not its place in line.

SourceFla. Stat. § 695.11

In fullHow long recording takes, county by county

See alsoDeed · Chain of title

The lower premium schedule the rule applies where the seller’s title, or the borrower’s on a refinance, was insured before and both the agent and the underwriter keep a copy of the earlier owner’s policy; most often, on a policy effective less than 3 years after the one that insured the seller. Coverage above the earlier policy’s amount is charged at the original rate.

SourceFla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003(2)(b)–(c)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoPremium · Owner’s policy

A notarization in which the signer appears before a Florida online notary by audio-video link, with identity verification and a recorded session. The notary must hold a current Florida commission and be separately registered with the Department of State as an online notary; a standard commission on its own does not authorize it. The lender and the underwriter both have to accept it before it is booked.

SourceFla. Stat. § 117.225

In fullMobile and remote signings

See alsoAcknowledgment

What has to happen before the policy issues: payoffs and releases, estoppel certificates, a spouse’s joinder, a corrective deed, an affidavit. Each is a task with someone responsible for it, and the list is what a closing is cleared against. Most title problems are requirements: cleared, not insured over.

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoExceptions · Title commitment · Schedule A

On a refinance of the borrower’s home by a new lender, each owner may cancel until midnight of the third business day after the latest of signing, receiving the notice of the right, and receiving the required disclosures. Until it expires, no money may be disbursed other than in escrow. It does not apply to a loan to buy the property, or to investment property that is not the borrower’s home.

Source12 C.F.R. § 1026.23

In fullRefinance closings in Florida

See alsoBusiness day

The recorded document showing that a mortgage or lien has been paid. Within 60 days after a mortgage is paid in full, the lender or servicer must execute a release, have it acknowledged, send it for recording and send the recorded release to the owner; a lienholder or judgment creditor has the same 60 days. Until one is recorded, a paid loan still shows as open.

SourceFla. Stat. § 701.04(2)–(3)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 1

See alsoEstoppel letter · Lien

The first part of the commitment: its date, the policy to be issued, the proposed insured and the amount, who holds title now, and the legal description of the land. Check the names and the description first.

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoTitle commitment · Requirements · Exceptions · Vesting

A sworn statement from the seller about what the record cannot show. Where the seller swears that no one else is in possession, the policy may not except the rights of parties in possession; where the seller swears that nothing furnished in the 90 days before closing is unpaid, it may not except unrecorded construction liens.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.7842(1)(b)–(c)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 7

See alsoExceptions · Construction lien

A sale on which the lender accepts a payoff for less than the balance. Its written approval is a closing condition: the figure it accepts, the date the approval expires and what it lets the seller receive are read as closely as any payoff, and the closing statement has to match it. One lender’s approval does not bind another lienholder.

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 12

See alsoForeclosure · Estoppel letter

An owner’s and a lender’s policy on the same land issued together. The rule then sets a minimum charge for the lender’s policy up to the owner’s amount, and charges any lender’s coverage above that at the original rate. The minimum is a floor, not a price.

SourceFla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003(5)(a)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoOwner’s policy · Lender’s policy · Premium

A spouse’s signature on a deed or mortgage of homestead. The Florida Constitution lets the owner sell or mortgage homestead “joined by the spouse if married”, including a spouse whose name is not on the deed, which is why marital status is asked when the file opens rather than at the signing.

SourceFla. Const. art. X, § 4(c)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 14

See alsoHomestead · Power of attorney

A surveyor’s drawing of the parcel’s boundaries and what sits on them. Without one, the commitment carries a standard exception for what a survey would have shown; with a certified survey made within 90 days before closing, the policy may except only what the survey actually shows.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.7842(1)(a)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 23

See alsoEncroachment · Exceptions · Legal description

What the county sells when property taxes go unpaid. Each goes to the bidder who will pay the taxes and charges and demand the lowest rate of interest, and one nobody buys is struck to the county. A seller’s unpaid taxes are then paid by redeeming the certificate, from the proceeds at closing.

SourceFla. Stat. § 197.432(6)

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 8

See alsoProperty taxes

A married couple’s ownership in which each spouse holds the whole, as a unit, rather than a share. Generally, a judgment lien against one spouse alone does not attach to it, though a federal tax lien is a different question. A deed to two people as spouses creates it unless the deed expressly shows another intent.

In fullA judgment against the seller

See alsoJudgment lien · Vesting · Homestead

Ownership of real property as the public record shows it: who holds it, and the liens, easements and claims against it. A buyer takes the title the seller has, which is why it is searched, cleared and insured before the money moves.

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoTitle search · Title insurance · Vesting

A person or agency the Florida Department of Financial Services has licensed to act as a title insurance agent, appointed in writing by each insurer whose policies it issues. The license and the appointments are both on the Department’s public Licensee Search.

SourcesFla. Stat. § 626.8417(1) · Fla. Stat. § 626.841(1)

In fullHow to verify a Florida title company

See alsoUnderwriter · Closing agent

The insurer’s offer to issue the policy, which Florida allows only after insurability has been determined from a reasonable title search. Schedule A says what will be insured and to whom; Schedule B, Part I lists the requirements to be met before closing, and Part II the exceptions the policy will not cover.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.7845(1)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoSchedule A · Requirements · Exceptions

Insurance against loss from a problem with title that already existed on the policy date and was not found, or was found and not excepted: a forged deed, an unreleased lien, an heir nobody knew about. It looks backward, which is why the work is done before the closing. The premium is paid at the closing.

SourceFla. Stat. § 624.608(1)

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoOwner’s policy · Lender’s policy · Exclusions · Underwriter

The reading of the county’s official records on the property and the people who own it. A Florida insurer may not issue a commitment until it has determined insurability from a reasonable search and whatever else is needed. It does not see the city’s own records, which need a municipal lien search.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.7845(1)

In fullHow long the title search takes

See alsoMunicipal lien search · Marketable record title · Title commitment

The person who holds and manages property for a trust. Where the recorded deed names someone trustee and gives the power to sell, that power vests in the named trustee, and a buyer need not look into the beneficiaries, the trustee’s authority or any unrecorded trust agreement. Where it does not, or the trustee has changed, the file needs more.

SourceFla. Stat. § 689.073

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 16

See alsoVesting

The title insurance company that issues the policy through the agent. It decides what it will insure on a given file, and it is liable for an agent’s misappropriation of funds held in trust. Bayit Title’s policies are underwritten by First American Title Insurance Company.

SourceFla. Stat. § 627.792

In fullThe Florida title insurance guide

See alsoTitle agent · Closing protection letter · Endorsement

How title is held, and in whose name: one owner or several, a married couple, a company or a trustee. Schedule A states who holds title now, and the vesting decides who has to sign and what the underwriter asks for.

In fullThe title problems guide, entry 16

See alsoSchedule A · Tenancy by the entireties · Trustee

A criminal’s email, made to look as if it comes from someone on the file, with changed wiring instructions for the closing money. We never send wiring instructions by email and never email a change to instructions already given. Verify any instruction by phone, on a number you found yourself, before sending anything.

SourceCFPB, Mortgage closing scams

In fullHow closing wire fraud works

See alsoEscrow