Question 1

What is recording in Florida real estate?

Accepted Answer

Recording is the process of filing documents with the county clerk’s office (Clerk of the Circuit Court) to create a public record. In Florida: recorded documents include: deeds, mortgages, satisfactions of mortgage, liens, lis pendens, easements, and covenants. Recording provides: constructive notice (the public is deemed to know about the recorded document, whether or not they actually read it), and priority (the first document recorded generally has priority over later-recorded documents).

Question 2

How does recording affect priority in Florida?

Accepted Answer

Priority: Florida follows the "race-notice" recording statute (Section 695.11): a subsequent purchaser or lienor who: records first, and had no notice of the prior unrecorded interest, takes priority over the prior interest holder. This means: if A sells to B (unrecorded) and then A sells to C (who records and had no notice of B’s interest): C has priority over B. The recording system incentivizes: prompt recording to protect one’s interest.

Question 3

What are the recording requirements in Florida?

Accepted Answer

Requirements: the document must be: an original or certified copy, signed by the parties, witnessed by two witnesses (for deeds and mortgages), notarized, and accompanied by the required fees (recording fee, documentary stamp tax, and intangible tax for mortgages). The clerk records the document: assigns it a book and page number (or instrument number), indexes it by grantor and grantee names, and the document becomes part of the official records. The clerk does NOT verify the document’s legal validity.

Recording

Recording in Florida Real Estate

What Is Recorded

Priority

Requirements

Related Terms

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