Florida mortgage law: what the state adds to the federal rules

Federal law sets the floor everywhere; Florida sets the rest. Florida taxes the promissory note with doc stamps and an intangible tax, protects an unlimited-value homestead that a spouse must join to mortgage, and forecloses only in court under the 2013 Fair Foreclosure Act.

How a Florida closing is conducted

Florida closings are conducted by title agents — title companies or attorneys acting as title agents — with no attorney requirement; closings are wet-funded and the closing agent records the mortgage with the county clerk. Title insurance premiums are promulgated by the state, and who pays for the owner’s policy follows county custom: the seller in most of Florida, the buyer in Miami-Dade, Broward, Sarasota and Collier counties. Attorneys are more common at closings in South Florida than elsewhere.

Spouses, community property and the homestead

Florida is a separate-property state, but Article X, Section 4(c) of the Florida Constitution bars the owner of a homestead from mortgaging or selling it without the joinder of the spouse, so a non-titled spouse must sign the mortgage on the family home or the lien is void. Married couples are presumed to hold as tenants by the entirety. The constitution also restricts how a homestead can be devised when a spouse or minor child survives, which matters for estate-planning refinances.

Florida’s homestead protection from creditors (Art. X, § 4) is unlimited in value and limited only in size — half an acre inside a municipality, 160 acres outside — and is why judgment creditors rarely reach a Florida home; it does not block a mortgage the owner signed, property taxes, or liens for labor and materials on the property. The separate homestead tax exemption (Fla. Stat. § 196.031) removes $25,000 of assessed value from all taxes and a further $25,000 (applied to value between $50,000 and $75,000) from non-school taxes, with the second amount indexed to inflation since 2025; the Save Our Homes cap limits assessed-value growth to 3% or CPI, whichever is lower, and up to $500,000 of that benefit is portable to a new Florida homestead.

Taxes and fees at recording

Florida taxes the loan itself twice: documentary stamp tax on the promissory note at $0.35 per $100 of the amount (Fla. Stat. § 201.08) and a nonrecurring intangible tax on the mortgage at 2 mills, or $0.002 per dollar (§ 199.133). On a $300,000 mortgage that is $1,050 plus $600, paid by the borrower at recording. A separate documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 applies to the deed ($0.60 plus a surtax in Miami-Dade) and is customarily paid by the seller.

Florida charges documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 on the deed (0.7%; Miami-Dade uses $0.60 plus a surtax on non-single-family property), customarily paid by the seller, plus buyer-side doc stamps of $0.35 per $100 on the mortgage and a 0.2% intangible tax on the loan amount.

Can a Florida lender charge a prepayment penalty?

Fla. Stat. § 697.06 lets any note secured by a mortgage be prepaid at any time without penalty unless the note itself expressly provides for one, so a penalty must be written into the note to be enforced. The Florida Fair Lending Act limits prepayment penalties on high-cost home loans (§ 494.00791), and federal qualified-mortgage rules cap them on most other loans at three years. Most Florida notes today contain no penalty clause.

Interest caps and high-cost loan rules

The Florida Fair Lending Act (Fla. Stat. §§ 494.0078-494.00797, enacted in 2002) defines high-cost home loans with APR and points-and-fees triggers matching HOEPA and prohibits, on those loans, balloon payments in the first ten years, negative amortization, increased interest on default, advance payments and flipping without a reasonable benefit. It requires lenders to verify ability to repay and to give the borrower a notice recommending counseling. The Office of Financial Regulation and the Attorney General enforce it.

Florida caps interest at 18% per year on loans up to $500,000 and at 25% on larger loans; rates above 25% are criminal usury regardless of purpose, and the caps apply to business-purpose loans. Hard money lenders stay under 18% (or 25%) on the stated rate and price the balance in points and fees, which Florida courts have scrutinized as disguised interest.

Who regulates mortgage lenders in Florida

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) licenses mortgage lenders, mortgage lender servicers, mortgage brokers and loan originators under Chapter 494, Florida Statutes, with applications, renewals and public lookups through NMLS. Banks, credit unions and certain government entities are exempt, and Chapter 494 exempts an individual who makes or brokers only a small number of loans with their own funds — verify the exemption language before relying on it. OFR also handles complaints against licensees.

State disclosures beyond TRID

Florida’s additions to TRID sit mostly in foreclosure law. Foreclosure is judicial; since the 2013 Fair Foreclosure Act, the complaint must be verified and the lender must plead its right to enforce the note (Fla. Stat. § 702.015), while § 702.10 allows an expedited order to show cause. The borrower may redeem by paying the judgment until the clerk issues the certificate of sale (§ 45.0315), and a deficiency action must be filed within one year of the sale (§ 95.11). Lenders must provide a payoff estoppel letter within 10 days of request (§ 701.041) and record a satisfaction within 60 days of payoff (§ 701.04); since October 2024 sellers must also give buyers a written flood disclosure (§ 689.302).

If the loan defaults

Default in Florida leads to a judicial foreclosure, usually 6 to 14 months from the first notice or filing to the sale. Florida allows deficiency judgments, either within the foreclosure case or in a separate action. A Florida homeowner may redeem by paying the full judgment amount up until the clerk files the certificate of sale (or a later time set by the judgment). The full timeline, redemption and mediation rules are on foreclosure in Florida; the investor view — usury, licensing exemptions, recovery speed — on hard money in Florida.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a lawyer to close a mortgage in Florida?

Florida closings are conducted by title agents — title companies or attorneys acting as title agents — with no attorney requirement; closings are wet-funded and the closing agent records the mortgage with the county clerk. Whatever the local custom, the federal Closing Disclosure still has to arrive three business days before signing, and the borrower may bring their own attorney.

Does Florida allow prepayment penalties on home loans?

Fla. Stat. § 697.06 lets any note secured by a mortgage be prepaid at any time without penalty unless the note itself expressly provides for one, so a penalty must be written into the note to be enforced. Federal rules add their own limits: a qualified mortgage may carry a penalty only in the first three years, capped at 2% then 1%, and never on an adjustable-rate or higher-priced loan.

What does Florida charge to record a mortgage?

Florida taxes the loan itself twice: documentary stamp tax on the promissory note at $0.35 per $100 of the amount (Fla. Stat. § 201.08) and a nonrecurring intangible tax on the mortgage at 2 mills, or $0.002 per dollar (§ 199.133). Florida charges documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 on the deed (0.7%; Miami-Dade uses $0.60 plus a surtax on non-single-family property), customarily paid by the seller, plus buyer-side doc stamps of $0.35 per $100 on the mortgage and a 0.2% intangible tax on the loan amount.

Who licenses mortgage lenders in Florida?

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) licenses mortgage lenders, mortgage lender servicers, mortgage brokers and loan originators under Chapter 494, Florida Statutes, with applications, renewals and public lookups through NMLS. The originator’s NMLS number appears on the loan documents and can be looked up on NMLS Consumer Access, which shows licensing history and public actions.

Federal layer: TILA / Reg Z · RESPA · TRID disclosures · ECOA · Fair Housing Act · all federal regulations. Buying here: first-time buyer programs in Florida.