All Forum Posts by: Peter Walther

The title company insuring the loan probably has a form you can use.

What I meant to write is that you collect the value of the property up to the amount of the policy. If your policy amt is $100k but the property is worth $50k and there is a total failure of title you collect $50k, not $100k. The flip side is if the property is worth $150k you collect $100k.

The Complaint will list the Defendants, what interest they may have in the property and the allegations against them. It will not list anyone whose possible interest the Plaintiff is not trying to eliminate or anyone who's possible interest was missed in the foreclosure search. Its those interests, if any, a buyer will be taking subject to.

The real trick is not finding the instruments but knowing what they mean and how they impact the title.

How long is a judgment good for, what are the requirements for a valid conveyance, what affect does a divorce have on the title and judgments that may attach to the property? What does the legal really describe? Do you know how to run out a metes & bounds description?

Then there is the problem with forged instruments, incompetents and mis indexed instruments. Unless you get a title policy you're self insuring against these things that you cannot find in a search but can cause a failure of title.

People spend a lot of time learning these things and keeping up with changes in the law. What is true today may not be true tomorrow so unless you have some way to keep up, you're taking a big risk trying to do it yourself.

Do yourself a favor, find a good title company to work with and pay the fee. It's well worth it.

From the Florida statutes:

Documentary stamp tax is imposed under section 201.02, Florida Statutes (F.S.), on documents that transfer interest in Florida real property. The tax rate is $.70 per $100 (or portion thereof) of the total consideration paid, given, or to be paid or given, for the transfer. Miami-Dade County is an exception, where the rate is $.60 per $100 of consideration (or portion thereof) when the property is a single-family dwelling. If the Miami-Dade property is anything other than a single-family dwelling, the tax rate is $.60 plus $.45 surtax per $100 of consideration (or portion thereof).
Examples of documents that may transfer an interest in real property include:
• Warranty deeds
• Quit claim deeds
• Contracts for timber, gas, oil, or mineral rights
• Easements
• Contracts or agreements for deed
• Assignments of contract or agreement for deed
• Assignments of leasehold interest
• Assignments of beneficial interest in a trust
• Deeds in lieu of foreclosure
Consideration generally includes, but is not limited to:
• Money paid or to be paid
• Discharge of an obligation
• Mortgage or other lien encumbering the property
• Exchange of property
• Any other consideration which has value
When the consideration for real property includes property other than money, the consideration is presumed to be equal to the fair market value of the real property.
Tax is due on the total consideration for the transfer regardless of the consideration shown on the face of the deed or other document that transfers the property.

If there is a right of redemption the lien was subordinate to the mortgage and was wiped out. The IRS has 120 days to take the property off your hands. If there is no equity over what you paid the IRS won't.

I'd say you're paying for the pictures and getting the opinion free.

I'd call around and see if you can find someone to issue a policy and I think you might get them to insure it for what its worth not what you paid for it. You'll probably need to show something to support what you claim as the value. Keep in mind if you suffer a loss you only get paid the up to the value of the policy, not the amount of insurance.

Searching title is not the same as examining title. The first, you're just looking to see what's there, the second you want to know what it means. The first is not to dificult but can be tricky. The second takes lots of experience.

There are lots of title companys that search Orange County and depending on what you're looking for you may or may not need a title company and the costs will vary.

Here's a link to the Orange County Comptrollers web site. to do it yourself you'll want to search the Official Records.

http://www.occompt.com/

Hope that helps.

Tim, Franklin Raines made $91 million in six years. That is private company compensation not government.

Jimmy, as soon as mortgage interest deductions, government student loan and farm subsidies and the like are done away I'll start believing the calls to do away with socialism.