Residential title and closings in Florida

How does a home closing run?

1. The file opens when the contract reaches us. The title search and the municipal lien search are ordered that day, and one processor and one closer are assigned to the file through recording.
2. The search is read by a person, and anything that could hold up the closing goes to the buyer, the seller and their agents in writing, with what clearing it takes.
3. The commitment issues: what will be insured, what has to happen first, and what is excepted. Payoffs and association estoppels are ordered.
4. The closing statement is prepared from the contract, the payoffs, the lender's figures and the estoppels, and sent for review before the signing.
5. The signing, in our office, wherever the signer is, or by remote online notarization.
6. Recording and disbursement. The deed and any mortgage are recorded, funds go out from our trust account on instructions confirmed by voice, and the policies issue.

What does the search cover?

The record of the property: the chain of title, mortgages and their releases, judgments and liens against the owners, easements and restrictions, and taxes. A municipal lien search adds what the record does not show: open permits, code violations and unpaid utility charges.

The problems that turn up most often, and what each takes, have their own pages:

• What happens if there's an open permit on the property before closing?
• There's a judgment against the seller. What happens to the closing?
• The HOA says approval takes 30 days and we close in two weeks. Now what?

What does it cost, and who pays?

The title insurance premium is set by rule for the whole state (Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003): $2,575 for the owner's policy on a $500,000 purchase, or $1,530 where the reissue rate applies. The documentary stamp tax on the deed is $3,500 on the same sale outside Miami-Dade (Fla. Stat. § 201.02).

Who pays for the owner's policy is a local custom that differs by county, and the contract can change it; who pays for title insurance has every county. The full bill, line by line, is on buyer closing costs and seller closing costs, and the closing cost calculator works it out for a property address.

What changes in a condominium or an HOA?

Two things the association controls. Most condominiums and many HOAs approve a buyer before the sale, under their own documents, and the closing waits for it. And the association states what the owner owes in an estoppel certificate, which it must issue within 10 business days of a request (Fla. Stat. § 718.116(8); § 720.30851). We order the estoppel when the file opens, and the buyer should apply for approval as soon as the contract is signed.

What should a seller tell us at the start?

Anything that changes who has to sign or what has to be paid: a co-owner who has died or divorced, a mortgage or credit line still open, work done in the last few months, a seller who will be out of the country at closing, or a seller who is not a US person, which raises FIRPTA withholding. Each is simpler found on the first day than the last.

Common questions

Do I need an owner's title policy as a buyer?

The lender requires a lender's policy; the owner's policy is the buyer's choice, and it is the one that protects the buyer. Who pays for it depends on the county and the contract.

Can the buyer and the seller sign at different times or places?

Yes. A buyer signing in our office and a seller signing elsewhere, or remotely, is common.

How do I open a file?

Open an order with the contract, or request a quote first.