The Florida Title Problems Guide: 25 issues that can delay a closing

1. A mortgage paid off but never released

The seller paid off a loan, often years ago in a refinance, and the lender never recorded a release. The search still shows the mortgage, and until the record says otherwise the commitment treats it as open.

The duty is the lender's. Within 60 days after a mortgage is paid in full, the mortgagee or servicer must execute a release, have it acknowledged, send it for recording in the county's official records, and send the recorded release to the owner (Fla. Stat. § 701.04(2)(a)). The prevailing party in an action to enforce that is entitled to attorney fees and costs.

• Found by: the title search.
• Cleared by: the lender or servicer recording the release. Where the lender cannot be found, what else will do is the underwriter's decision on the file.
• What helps: anything showing the loan was paid — the payoff letter or the closing statement from the refinance.

2. The seller's mortgage payoff

Every mortgage being paid at the closing needs a written payoff, which Florida calls an estoppel letter. A mortgagee or servicer must send one within 10 days after receiving a written request from the mortgagor, a record title owner, or someone lawfully acting for either (Fla. Stat. § 701.04(1)(a)). The letter gives the unpaid balance as of a stated date, itemized into principal, interest and other charges, and the interest accruing each day after it (§ 701.04(1)(b)).

What moves a date is a payoff that expires before the closing, or a second loan nobody mentioned. Where the loan is a line of credit, we also ask the lender in writing to close it to further draws with the payoff, so that the balance cannot grow after the figure is sent.

• Found by: the title search, for every recorded mortgage, and the seller, for anything else.
• Cleared by: payment from the seller's proceeds at the closing, then the lender's release within the 60 days in entry 1.

3. A judgment against the seller

A money judgment is entered against a person, but once a certified copy is recorded in a county, with the creditor's address, it becomes a lien on real property the debtor owns there (Fla. Stat. § 55.10). 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 (§ 55.081). Three questions decide it: is this the same person, does it attach to this property, and what is the payoff today.

• Found by: the title search, on the seller's name.
• Cleared by: a written payoff paid from the proceeds and a recorded satisfaction, or an affidavit of identity where the judgment belongs to someone else.
• In full: There's a judgment against the seller. What happens to the closing?

4. A federal tax lien against the seller

A notice of federal tax lien recorded against the seller is a requirement on the commitment like any other lien: paid, or the property discharged from it. The IRS may issue a certificate discharging part of the property from the lien where what stays subject to the lien is worth at least double the unpaid liability plus any senior liens, where an amount no less than the government's interest in the discharged part is paid over, or where that interest has no value (26 U.S.C. § 6325(b)(1)–(2)).

The IRS decides the application on its own timeline, so it is the one to start the week the lien is found.

• Found by: the title search, on the seller's name.
• Cleared by: payment from the proceeds, or an IRS certificate of discharge. The seller's tax professional handles the application.

5. Code enforcement fines

A code enforcement fine becomes a lien when a certified copy of the order imposing it is recorded: a lien "against the land on which the violation exists and upon any other real or personal property owned by the violator" (Fla. Stat. § 162.09(3)). The fine continues to accrue until the violator comes into compliance or until judgment in a suit on it, whichever comes first, so last month's figure is not a payoff. The lien may not be foreclosed on a homestead, but a lien that cannot be foreclosed is still on the record.

• Found by: the municipal lien search, which reports open code cases as well as recorded liens.
• Cleared by: the violation brought into compliance and the lien paid, then a release or satisfaction, which the statute lets the local governing body execute.

6. Open or expired permits

An open permit is a building permit the municipality never closed out, usually because no final inspection was called. It is a municipal record: a municipal lien search finds it, and a title search does not. The contract decides who resolves it — on the standard Florida Realtors/Florida Bar form, the seller, up to a permit limit; on the "AS IS" form, the buyer.

• Found by: the municipal lien search.
• Cleared by: a final inspection and a closed permit from the building department, by whoever the contract makes responsible.
• In full: What happens if there's an open permit on the property before closing?

7. Recent work: construction liens and a notice of commencement

Contractors, subcontractors and suppliers can record a claim of lien at any time during the work and up to 90 days after their final furnishing of labor, services or materials (Fla. Stat. § 713.08(5)). So work finished last month can still produce a lien after the contract is signed.

The notice of commencement recorded when the work began is effective against a conveyance or mortgage for 1 year after it was recorded, unless it states another period (§ 713.13(6)). An owner can end it sooner with a sworn, recorded notice of termination stating that all lienors have been paid in full; it takes effect 30 days after recording, or on a later date it states (§ 713.132). A recorded claim of lien lasts 1 year unless an action to enforce it is started within that time (§ 713.22(1)).

The seller's own statement matters here too. Where the seller gives an affidavit that no labor, services or materials have gone unpaid in the 90 days before the closing, the title policy may not except an unrecorded lien for them (§ 627.7842(1)(c)) — which is why the question about recent work is asked on every file.

• Found by: the title search, which shows a recorded notice of commencement or claim of lien, and the seller's answer about recent work.
• Cleared by: final releases from whoever did the work, a notice of termination, or payment and satisfaction of a recorded lien. What the underwriter needs depends on what the record shows.

8. Unpaid property taxes and tax certificates

Florida property taxes are "a first lien, superior to all other liens" on the property from January 1 of the year they are levied until they are paid (Fla. Stat. § 197.122(1)). They are due November 1 and become delinquent on April 1 of the following year, or 60 days after the tax notice is mailed if that is later (§ 197.333).

Unpaid taxes lead to a tax certificate sale. Each certificate goes to the bidder who will pay the taxes and charges and demand the lowest rate of interest, and a certificate nobody buys is struck to the county (§ 197.432(6)). After that, the delinquent taxes, interest, costs and charges are paid by redeeming the certificate.

• Found by: the tax search, against the tax collector's records.
• Cleared by: redemption from the seller's proceeds at the closing. How the current year's taxes are divided between buyer and seller is the contract's to say.

9. Association dues and the estoppel certificate

In a condominium or a community with a homeowners' association, what the owner owes the association is stated in an estoppel certificate. The association must issue it within 10 business days after a written or electronic request (Fla. Stat. § 718.116(8) for condominiums; § 720.30851 for homeowners' associations). It is good for 30 days if delivered by hand or electronically, and 35 days if mailed.

The fee may not exceed $299, with $119 more for an expedited certificate delivered within 3 business days and up to $179 more where the owner is delinquent. Those are not the figures printed in the statutes, which say $250, $100 and $150 and direct the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to adjust them for inflation every five years; the adjusted amounts are the ones the Department publishes, next due for adjustment by 1 July 2027. No fee may be charged for a certificate delivered late. If the sale does not close, a payor other than the owner is refunded on a written request made no later than 30 days after the closing date, and the refund is the owner's obligation.

The certificate also protects the buyer: an association waives the right to collect anything above the amounts it states from a person who relies on it in good faith.

• Found by: the association, through the certificate.
• Cleared by: payment of the stated amounts at the closing. A certificate that lapses before the closing means a new one, so it is ordered to arrive in time to be used rather than as early as possible.

10. A lawsuit and a lis pendens

A lawsuit against the seller reaches the property through a notice of lis pendens. An action operates as a lis pendens on property only if the notice is recorded in the official records of the county and has not expired, been withdrawn or been discharged (Fla. Stat. § 48.23(1)(a)). A notice expires 1 year after the action began, unless the claim is founded on a duly recorded instrument or a construction lien, or the court extends it for good cause (§ 48.23(2)).

A live, recorded notice is a requirement on the commitment. Whether an underwriter will insure over one at all, and on what terms, is its decision on the file.

• Found by: the title search.
• Cleared by: a release or discharge of the notice, a dismissal, or a court order — all of it the parties' counsel's work.
• More: The seller is being sued and it's a flip. Does that stop the sale?

11. A seller in bankruptcy

In a bankruptcy sale, the court's order authorizing the sale is a title document. The trustee's authority, the terms the order approves, whether liens are stripped or ride through, and whether the appeal period has run all come from that order, so it is read as carefully as the deed and the closing is scheduled around it.

• Found by: the title search, and the seller.
• Cleared by: the entered sale order, read against the file.
• In full: We're buying from a bankruptcy estate. What does the title work need?

12. A foreclosure or a short sale

A foreclosure is a lawsuit, so it usually arrives on the search as a recorded lis pendens (entry 10). A short sale — a payoff for less than the balance — needs the lender's written approval, and that letter is a closing condition in its own right: the figure the lender will accept, 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. A second mortgage, or an association or code lien, is dealt with separately; one lender's approval does not bind another lienholder.

• Found by: the title search, and the seller.
• Cleared by: the lender's approval letter and payment in line with it, or a dismissal of the foreclosure.

13. An owner who has died

When an owner on the deed has died, someone else has to be able to convey their interest, and who that is depends on how title was held and on what the probate court has done. Where the will gives no usable power of sale, the personal representative may sell, but "No title shall pass until the court authorizes or confirms the sale" (Fla. Stat. § 733.613(1)). Where the will does give the power, no court order is needed.

Homestead has its own rule. Homestead that was not validly devised descends like other intestate property, and where the owner leaves a spouse and descendants, the spouse takes a life estate and the descendants the remainder (Fla. Stat. § 732.401(1)) — so the descendants are part of the sale. That section does not apply to property held as tenants by the entireties or in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.

• Found by: the title search and the seller's answers at opening.
• Cleared by: the will's power of sale or the court's order, and the personal representative's authority as the court has granted it. This is probate counsel's work.

14. Homestead and a spouse who is not on the deed

The owner of homestead real estate may sell or mortgage it "joined by the spouse if married" (Fla. Const. art. X, § 4(c)) — including a spouse whose name is not on the deed. Out-of-state deed forms often have no marital status question and no place for a joining spouse to sign, which is why we ask marital status when the file opens rather than at the signing.

• Found by: the questions at opening.
• Cleared by: the spouse joining in the deed, in person or through a power of attorney (entry 15).
• More: The contract isn't the standard form. What does that change at closing?

15. A seller signing by power of attorney

A deed or mortgage of homestead may be signed under a power of attorney executed "in the same manner as a deed", and a spouse's joinder can be given through one (Fla. Stat. § 689.111). What delays a closing is a power of attorney nobody has checked: whether it is properly executed, still in force and broad enough for this sale is settled before the signing, not at it. We send it to the underwriter for approval in advance.

• Found by: the seller, who tells us they will not sign in person.
• Cleared by: the underwriter's approval of the instrument before the signing, and the original for recording with the deed.

16. An owner that is a company or a trust

The question is who has authority to sign. For a company — an LLC, a corporation, a partnership — that means the company's own documents and its status with the Florida Division of Corporations, and what the underwriter asks for depends on the entity and what those documents say.

For a trust, where the recorded deed names someone "trustee" and gives the trustee power to sell, that power vests in the named trustee (Fla. Stat. § 689.073(1)), and a buyer dealing with the trustee is not obliged to inquire into the beneficiaries, into the trustee's authority to exercise the recorded powers, or into any unrecorded trust agreement (§ 689.073(2)). Where the recorded deed does not give the power, or the trustee has changed, the file needs more.

• Found by: the title search, from how title is vested.
• Cleared by: the entity's or the trustee's authority documents, in the form the underwriter accepts.

17. A seller abroad

A seller abroad has three routes: remote online notarization with a Florida-commissioned online notary, signing before a U.S. consular officer, or signing before a local notary whose authority is evidenced in a form Florida will accept. Which one works depends on the country, the lender and the underwriter, and it should be settled early rather than the week of closing. Where the seller is a foreign person, federal withholding under FIRPTA applies as well, and the buyer, not the seller or the closing agent, is the withholding agent.

• Found by: the seller.
• Cleared by: a signing route agreed with the lender and the underwriter in advance, and the seller's own tax adviser on FIRPTA.
• In full: The seller is overseas. How do they sign a Florida closing?

18. A name that no longer matches the deed

A seller who took title under one name and now uses another — after a marriage, a divorce or a court-ordered change — has to sign in a way that ties the two together, and the record may need to show why. Florida also requires each signer's name to be printed beneath their signature for the deed to be recorded (Fla. Stat. § 695.26(1)(a)), so the deed carries both names where both are needed. We ask at opening whether any owner's name has changed since they took title.

• Found by: the title search and the seller's answers.
• Cleared by: the deed signed in both names where needed, and whatever evidence of the change the underwriter asks for.

19. A seller who cannot be verified, and wiring instructions that change

Someone posing as the owner of a property they do not own, most often land with no mortgage on it and an owner who does not live nearby, is a fraud title agents look for rather than wait for. We verify the seller's identity against the record and against documents we obtain ourselves, and where it does not hold, the closing does not happen until it does.

The same care applies to money. We never send wiring instructions by email and never email a change to instructions already given. Anyone on the file who receives a change should call us, on a number they already have, before sending anything.

• Found by: our identity checks.
• Cleared by: identity established to the underwriter's satisfaction. Where it cannot be, there is no closing.

20. A mistake or a missing link in the recorded chain

A wrong legal description, a misspelled name, or an owner in the chain with no deed out of them: each is a gap between what the record says and what it has to say for title to pass. A mistake by someone who is still available is usually corrected by a corrective instrument from them. A gap where they are not may need a court, in a quiet title action — a real estate attorney's work, and the entry on this list most likely to move a date by more than days.

• Found by: the title search and examination.
• Cleared by: a corrective instrument, or a court order where one is needed, in the form the underwriter accepts.

21. A deed in the chain signed without its witnesses or acknowledgment

A Florida deed has to be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses (Fla. Stat. § 689.01(1)) and acknowledged, proved by a witness, or authenticated to be recorded (§ 695.03). A deed in the chain that was recorded without them is a defect, for a time. Five years after it was recorded, Florida treats it as having its intended effect "as if there had been no lack of seal or seals, witness or witnesses, defect in, failure of, or absence of acknowledgment", unless there is fraud, adverse possession or pending litigation (§ 95.231(1)).

So a recent defective deed usually needs correcting, and an older one may already be cured by the statute. Which applies is decided on the file.

• Found by: the examination of the chain.
• Cleared by: a corrective deed from the original signer where it is recent, or the underwriter's acceptance of the statutory cure where it is not.

22. No legal access

Physical access is a road you can drive on. Legal access is a recorded right to use it. A parcel can have a paved driveway to a public street and still have no recorded easement supporting it, which is a title problem rather than a survey problem, and it usually surfaces as an exception on Schedule B-II of the commitment.

• Found by: the title search, and sometimes the survey.
• Cleared by: most cleanly, a recorded easement from the owner of the land being crossed.
• In full: The survey shows a driveway, but the title work says no legal access. What's the difference?

23. A survey that shows an encroachment

A survey can show a fence, a driveway or a pool deck over the boundary, or a neighbor's structure on this parcel. Without one, the commitment carries a standard exception for what a survey would have shown. With a certified survey made within 90 days before the closing, Florida narrows that: the policy may except only the encroachments, overlays, boundary line disputes and other matters actually shown on it (Fla. Stat. § 627.7842(1)(a)). Whatever it does show is then weighed on the file: how much, onto what, and whether the neighbor will sign an agreement. A boundary dispute is a lawyer's question.

• Found by: the survey.
• Cleared by: an agreement with the neighbor, a removal, or the buyer's informed acceptance, depending on what it is and what the underwriter will insure.

24. Association approval

Association approval is a contract condition, not a title defect, but it can stop a closing just as effectively. The stated turnaround is usually the maximum the association is entitled to take, not the time it needs, and most of the delay is the application sitting incomplete. The fix is a complete package in on day one.

• Found by: the contract and the association's documents.
• Cleared by: the association's written approval, delivered before the closing.
• In full: The HOA says approval takes 30 days and we close in two weeks. Now what?

25. A non-standard contract

A non-standard contract changes the closing because the closing follows the contract. Deadlines, who pays which cost, what happens on default, and which conditions must be met before funds move are all read from the document itself, so a bespoke contract has to be read line by line rather than assumed.

• Found by: reading the contract when the file opens.
• Cleared by: a closing built from what the contract actually says.
• In full: The contract isn't the standard form. What does that change at closing?

When it is contested, or when a court has to act. An estate that has not been through probate, a lawsuit or a lis pendens, a quiet title action, a boundary dispute, a judgment the seller disputes, a homestead question that is genuinely in doubt: each belongs with a Florida real estate attorney or the party's own counsel. We close alongside them and read what the court orders.