Owner's vs Lender's Title Policy in Florida: Transaction Step 17

At most financed closings in Winter Garden, Clermont or St. Cloud, two title insurance policies get issued on the same day. Buyers usually notice one line on the closing statement, see the words "title insurance," and assume they are covered. Which policy protects you, and who pays for it, depends on a few words in your contract and on which county the home sits in. This is Transaction Step 17 in the Bella Trae Realty series.

Two Policies, Two Different People Protected

The Florida Department of Financial Services describes the two policies plainly. An owner's policy protects the person buying the property. A lender's policy protects the lender that made the loan.

• The owner's policy. Under Standard A of the current Florida Realtors and Florida Bar AS IS contract (the ASIS-7x form, revised February 2026), the owner's policy is issued in the amount of the purchase price and insures your marketable title. DFS notes that it has no expiration date and stays in effect for as long as you or your heirs own the home.
• The lender's policy. This one covers the lender's interest in the loan and lasts until the loan is paid off. It does nothing to protect your equity.

If a defect from before your purchase surfaces years later, the lender's policy answers to the bank. The owner's policy is the one that answers to you.

What an Owner's Policy Is Built to Catch

DFS lists the kinds of title defects these policies address: a prior recorded mortgage, a judgment lien, a tax lien, a notice of pending legal action, an easement or a burdensome restriction. Most of these should surface in the title search before closing. The policy exists for the ones a search misses, such as a forged signature in an old transfer or a recording error at the county.

Policies also carry exclusions. DFS points out that problems you create after closing and government rules on how land can be used are common examples. Ask your closing agent for a copy of the policy form and read the exclusions before closing day.

Cash buyers in Davenport and ChampionsGate sometimes ask whether they need a policy at all, since there is no lender asking for one. The AS IS contract calls for an owner's policy to be delivered to the buyer after closing either way, and a cash buyer has the most money exposed if title turns out to be flawed.

Who Pays in Orange, Lake, Osceola and Polk

No Florida statute assigns the owner's policy to the buyer or the seller. It follows local custom, and your contract controls. As of October 2026, county guides published by Florida title agencies show the seller customarily paying for the owner's policy in Orange, Lake, Osceola and Polk counties, which covers Winter Garden, Horizon West, Windermere, Ocoee, Clermont, Minneola, Kissimmee, St. Cloud and Davenport. The same guides list Miami-Dade, Broward, Sarasota and Collier as counties where the buyer customarily pays.

The lender's policy is a separate matter. Where there is a loan, the buyer customarily pays for it in every Florida county.

This matters most for buyers relocating from South Florida. Someone moving from Broward to Minneola may expect to pick the title company and pay the owner's premium, because that is how it worked at home. In Central Florida the default usually runs the other way.

Paragraph 9(c): The Checkbox That Decides It

Custom sets expectations. The contract sets the result. Paragraph 9(c) of the ASIS-7x form gives three options, and the parties check one:

• Option (i). The seller designates the closing agent and pays the Owner's Policy and Charges. The buyer pays the premium for any lender's policy and endorsements.
• Option (ii). The buyer designates the closing agent and pays the Owner's Policy and Charges plus the lender's policy and endorsements.
• Option (iii). A regional provision written for Miami-Dade and Broward, where the buyer pays the premiums and the seller pays for set search items.

In the current form, "Owner's Policy and Charges" means the owner's policy premium and the title search. The 2026 revision also states that each party pays its own closing services fees to the closing agent or another provider it selects. Look at which party designates the closing agent in each option. Whoever pays for the owner's policy usually chooses the title company that runs your closing.

What You Can and Cannot Negotiate

The premium itself is not up for negotiation. Florida title insurance rates are set by state rule (Rule 69O-186.003, Florida Administrative Code), so every agency charges the same premium for the same coverage. Shopping title companies can change settlement and service fees, but not the base premium.

Two rate rules can still help you. When the owner's and lender's policies are issued together in the same transaction by the same insurer, the lender's policy is priced at a steep simultaneous-issue discount. When a prior owner's policy exists, a reissue rate can apply. The contract requires the seller to furnish a copy of any existing owner's policy within 5 days after the Effective Date, so sellers in Windermere or Clermont should dig theirs out early.

What you can negotiate is which box gets checked, and therefore who pays and who picks the closing agent. That conversation belongs in the offer, before anyone signs.

Talk It Through Before You Write the Offer

The Bella Trae Realty team reviews Paragraph 9(c) with every buyer and seller before an offer goes out, so nobody discovers a different assumption at the closing table. If you are buying or selling anywhere from Ocoee to Davenport, contact Bella Trae Realty today and we will walk through who pays what on your specific deal.

This post is general education, not legal, tax or lending advice. Confirm current figures and terms with a licensed Florida professional.

Up Next: On Friday, our Florida Real Estate, Defined series returns with the Florida closing cost glossary: the line items on a Central Florida closing statement and what each one pays for.