Florida Title Insurance Who Pays

The two policies and what each one protects

Title insurance covers losses from problems with ownership that existed before you bought: a forged deed in the chain, an unknown heir, a recording error, an unpaid lien that the title search missed. It is paid once at closing and lasts as long as you or your heirs own the property.

• Owner's policy. Protects you, the buyer, up to the purchase price. This is the policy the who-pays question is about.
• Lender's policy. Protects the mortgage lender up to the loan amount. Any lender will require it, and the borrower pays for it in every Florida county.

When both policies are issued together, the lender's policy is priced as a simultaneous issue at a much lower charge than buying it alone. That is one reason buyers in seller-pays counties still see a title line on their own Closing Disclosure.

The premium is set by the state, the fees are not

Florida is a promulgated-rate state for title insurance. The state sets the premium for the owner's and lender's policies, so the base premium for the same price is the same whichever title company or attorney issues it. Shopping around does not change that number.

What does vary is everything around it:

• Settlement or closing fee charged by the title agent.
• Title search and examination fees.
• Lien and permit searches, municipal estoppels, courier and e-recording charges.
• Endorsements the lender requires, which add coverage for specific risks and carry their own state-set charges.

If the seller picks the title company, the buyer still pays some of these line items. Ask for a fee sheet from the title agent named in the contract early in the deal, and compare it with a quote from one you know.

County custom across Florida

The split is a habit of each local market, which is why buyers moving between counties are often surprised. In most of the state, including much of Central Florida, Tampa Bay, the Panhandle and Northeast Florida, the seller pays the owner's policy and chooses the title agent. In Miami-Dade and Broward, the buyer typically pays the owner's policy and chooses the agent. A few other counties also lean toward the buyer paying or have mixed habits, so I always check the most recent local practice before writing an offer.

The custom shows up in the standard contract. The Florida Realtors and Florida Bar contracts have a paragraph where the parties mark who designates the closing agent and who pays the owner's policy. If nothing is changed, a default choice applies. Read that paragraph on the offer itself, because it overrides whatever the county usually does.

What the choice means in dollars

The owner's premium scales with the price, so who pays matters more in higher-priced counties. Zillow's index puts the typical home at $523,240 in Miami-Dade and $422,344 in Broward, the two largest buyer-pays markets. Next door in Palm Beach County, typical value $475,754, the usual custom puts that premium on the seller.

The owner's premium is one of a buyer's larger closing costs, alongside the 0.2% intangible tax and the $0.35 per $100 note stamp tax on a mortgage. On a $523,240 purchase financed at 80%, the loan is $418,592, so the intangible tax is about $837 and the note stamps about $1,465. In Miami-Dade, the buyer also pays the owner's policy premium on top of those. In a seller-pays county, the buyer's title cost drops to the simultaneous lender's policy and fees.

The seller pays the deed stamps, $0.70 per $100 in most counties and $0.60 in Miami-Dade, in addition to whatever title cost local custom puts on that side.

What the title commitment does not cover

Before closing, the title agent issues a commitment: a preview of the policy that lists requirements to clear and exceptions the policy will not insure. Buyers rarely read it, and they should. Standard exceptions include easements, recorded restrictions and HOA covenants, and matters a survey would reveal if no survey was done.

Some Florida-specific problems sit outside a typical owner's policy unless they are searched separately:

• Open or expired building permits. A city can require them closed before the new owner gets new permits. A permit search is a separate service.
• Code enforcement liens and utility balances owed to the city or county.
• Association dues and assessments, which the estoppel certificate from the HOA or condo association confirms.

Ask the title agent which of these searches are included in the fee and which you need to order.

Negotiating it in your offer

Who pays title is negotiable, and it is a quieter lever than price. In a slow market a buyer in Miami-Dade can ask the seller to pay the owner's policy. In a competitive market a buyer in a seller-pays county can offer to cover it, which sometimes beats a slightly higher price because it costs the buyer less than the seller nets.

Two practical notes from writing these offers:

• The party who pays usually picks the title company. If you want your own attorney or title agent, offering to pay for the policy is the cleanest way to get that.
• If the seller bought recently and has their own owner's policy, ask the title agent whether a reissue credit applies. It can reduce the premium for whoever pays.

Cash buyers and new construction

A cash buyer has no lender policy to buy, and the owner's policy is optional. I still recommend it. A title defect does not care how you paid, and a cash buyer has no lender's title team reviewing the file for them.

On new construction, builders usually use their own title company and their contract often specifies who pays, sometimes charging the buyer for the owner's policy even in seller-pays counties. Read the builder's purchase agreement closely, compare the title charges with a promulgated-rate quote, and ask what the builder's incentive covers. Builder contracts are written by the builder, so your own agent and, if needed, a real estate attorney should review them.

This isn't legal advice. Title coverage, exceptions and endorsements vary by property, so read the title commitment line by line before closing. If you want a breakdown of title and other costs for homes on your shortlist, I can run it county by county.