Frequently asked Questions
FLORIDA TITLE ESCROW & CLOSINGS
We know that the process of buying or selling a real-estate property can be confusing. We are here to answer any questions you may have.
Title questions
Title is the evidence that an owner has a legal right to own, use, and dispose of a property. Title should include all previous ownership, uses, and transfers.
A Title Search is a review and evaluation of court recorded documents to identify any possible limitations or adverse matters and ensure the title is free of any liens, easements and/or encumbrances.
An owner’s title insurance policy protects real-estate owners against different possible title defects due to liens, encumbrances and other possible title defects limiting the marketability of the title.
The default payer of the title insurance premium varies by county. It can also be negotiated under the terms of your contract.
In most Florida counties, the seller generally pays for the title insurance and chooses the title agency/closing company.
In Miami-Dade, Broward, Sarasota, and Collier counties, the buyer generally pays for title insurance and chooses the title agency/closing company.
Your title insurance premium cost is a little less than one percent (1%) of the purchase price of
your home and less than ten percent of your total closing costs. The title policy is good for as long
as you and your heirs own the property with the one time payment only of premium, at closing.
A title commitment is a report prepared prior to
issuing a policy of title insurance that shows the
ownership of a specific parcel of land, together
with the liens and encumbrances thereon which
will not be covered under a subsequent title
insurance policy. The commitment lists, in advance
of purchase, title defects, liens and encumbrances
which would be excluded from coverage if the
requested title insurance policy were to be issued
as of the date of the commitment. The report may
then be reviewed and discussed by the parties to
a real estate transaction and their agents. Thus, a
commitment provides the opportunity to seek the
removal of items referenced in the report which
are objectionable to the buyer prior to purchase.
Escrow / Settlement
Escrow is a trust account held by a third party (a trusted licensed individual or attorney), containing the funds that are needed to close on the property. This allows both the Buyer and the Seller to be sure that all the conditions of the sale under the contract have been met prior to the property and money changing hands.
An Escrow Agent is a trusted third party entity that holds a sum of money in a trust account for buyers and sellers while a transaction on a property is being finalized or a disagreement is resolved. The Escrow Agent is usually an actively licensed title agent or attorney.
An escrow account is a trust account held by a third party (a trusted licensed individual or attorney) containing the funds needed to complete a transaction on a property. This account allows both the buyer and seller to be sure that all conditions of the sale under the contract have been met prior to the property and money exchanging hands.
Settlement is the final stage in the process of buying/selling a property. During the settlement, the buyer completes the payment of the contract price to the seller via the escrow agent and takes legal possession of the property while the Seller receives the sales contract purchase price amount, less any of the seller’s expenses according to the contract and current title on the property (such as realtor commissions, insurance premiums, mortgage payoffs, etc.)
Company Questions
We maintain all customer information in accordance with the Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices issued by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) so you can rest assured you are in good hands and all precautions have been made to ensure your privacy is protected.
Our headquarters is located in Plantation. Most of the transaction will be handled online through our system. We are available to answer any questions you may have along the way via phone, or email. On closing day, we also give the option of signing as a mail-away, in which a mobile notary will meet you to handle the signing at the location of your convenience (within the state of Florida). Just let us know a little in advance so we can coordinate this.
