In Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, it is customary for the Buyer to pay for title insurance in a real estate closing; however, in Palm Beach, and most other parts of the State, it is customary for the Seller to pay. Even though these are the customs, sometimes the answer depends on which Real Estate Contract is used for the transaction. Some Contracts offer the parties the option to choose who pays and others simply state who pays. 

There is, an exception to the custom in Broward and Miami-Dade, and that is where the Seller is a bank. In the case where the bank is selling a bank owned foreclosure, the Bank pays for the Title Policy and selects the closing agent. The reason for this probably relates to the bank’s desire to control the title agents with respect to potential title defects.

There are other considerations related to the question of who pays for the Title Insurance. In most cases, whoever pays for title insurance also pays for the title search and closing fee; therefore, it is important to review the Real Estate Contract before signing to make sure you are aware of who is paying the cost for title insurance because there are other expenses that are impacted by that decision. Unfortunately, it has been my experience, that most people simply breeze over these items and simply rely on their realtor to make these decisions for them. It is my job as a Real Estate attorney to make sure my clients are aware of these issues. This advice can save my clients a lot of money.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, you can either post a comment to this blog, contact me, a Broward Real Estate Lawyer, by email, or call me at (954) 458-8655 and I will be happy to answer your questions. I offer a free initial consultation.