Florida Property Records: How to Find Out Who Owns a Property (2026)

Florida's official real property records are recorded and archived at the county level by each of the state's 67 Clerks of the Circuit Court, but a free, association-run search tool lets you look up recorded deeds from any Florida county through one statewide interface.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Property Records Work in Florida

Each of Florida's 67 counties keeps its own official record of deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, and other recorded instruments through the Clerk of the Circuit Court, an elected county office that many counties now style "Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller" (Miami-Dade and Palm Beach are two examples). There is no single state agency that records real estate documents; recording remains a county function, as it does in most states.

Putting those records online is not left to each county's discretion. Fla. Stat. 28.2221(2)(a) requires the county recorder in each county to provide a current index of recorded documents, covering the period beginning no later than January 1, 1990, on a publicly available Internet website, and that site must also contain a document requisition point for obtaining images or copies of the indexed documents. Subsection (5)(e) of the same statute required each recorder or clerk to provide for electronic retrieval of images of those indexed documents by January 1, 2006.

What still varies by county is how far the index and images reach back before 1990 and whether a given county charges for online access, because s. 28.222(7)(b) permits the clerk to require the s. 28.24 service charges before performing any service in connection with inspecting or copying records. The statute also limits what may be posted at all: s. 28.2221(5)(a) bars a recorder from placing images of military discharges, death certificates, or court files governed by the Florida Rules of Family Law, Juvenile Procedure, or Probate Rules on a public website. Certified copies, needed for court filings, loan payoffs, or estate matters, require an added per-page and certification charge paid to the specific county Clerk that holds the document, since custody never left that office even though the record can often be found through a shared search screen.

What makes Florida distinctive is not the recording structure itself, which mirrors most of the country, but the search layer built on top of it. The Legislature contemplated that layer directly: s. 28.2221(2)(a) requires each county's index to have the capability of electronically providing its index data to a central statewide search site. It did not build that site itself. The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, the statewide association of the 67 elected Clerks, jointly operates MyFloridaCounty.com Official Records Search, a cross-county interface that lets a user search by county, judicial circuit, region, or the entire state from one screen (Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts, "Official Records"). Each Clerk remains the legal custodian of its own county's documents, but a researcher no longer needs to know in advance which county holds a document before starting a search.

How to Find Out Who Owns a Property in Florida

The fastest free way to find a Florida property's current owner of record is the county Property Appraiser's website, not the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Every county's Property Appraiser runs a public parcel search by owner name, situs address, or parcel and folio number, and most pair it with an interactive GIS map. Hillsborough County's Property Appraiser, for example, runs a free parcel search and map tool, and the Florida Department of Revenue compiles all 67 counties' appraiser data into one statewide aggregated parcel map for cross-county research (Florida Department of Revenue, "Florida Statewide Parcels"). A recent sale can show up in the Clerk's recorded-document index before the Property Appraiser's "current owner" field updates, so check both sources for a very recent transaction rather than relying on just one.

Three steps cover almost every research need:

• Search the county Property Appraiser by address, owner name, or parcel number for free ownership and assessed-value information. This is the right starting point for most people.
• Search MyFloridaCounty.com Official Records Search, or the specific county Clerk's own Official Records search, to find the actual recorded deed, mortgage, or lien and to trace prior owners through the grantor-grantee name index.
• Order a certified copy directly from the county Clerk that holds the document if you need one for a legal or financial purpose. What the Clerk may charge is capped statewide by Fla. Stat. 28.24, which says its charges "may not exceed those specified in this section": $1 per page for a photographic copy of an instrument in the public records, and $2 per page for certifying a copy of an instrument that is not a court record, which is the category a recorded deed falls into. Counties may set their charges below the ceiling. The Orange County Comptroller, for example, charges $1 per page plus a single $2 charge to certify the document, so a three-page deed costs $5 (Orange County Comptroller, "Recording Fees").

For how this compares to other states, see Property Records by State; Florida's decentralized custody paired with a shared search interface sits between the county-only model most states use and the true statewide indexes Georgia and Hawaii run.

Florida's Statewide Search Layer: MyFloridaCounty.com

Florida's Clerks built something most states have not: a shared, jointly funded statewide search front end, even though the underlying records stayed fully decentralized. MyFloridaCounty.com Official Records Search covers participating counties statewide, and a search can be scoped to one county, a judicial circuit, a region, or the whole state in a single query.

This does not make Florida a "statewide recording" state in the way Hawaii or Georgia are. Each of the 67 Clerks is still the sole legal custodian of the documents recorded in that county, and the site is a search convenience layer, not a merger of the underlying offices. Florida law anticipates a central statewide search site, in the sense that s. 28.2221(2)(a) makes every county index capable of feeding one, but the statute neither creates that site nor gives it custody of anything. For most practical research, though, it functions closer to a true statewide portal than the tools available in most other states, where a researcher normally has to know the correct county before beginning a search.

Deed Scam Mailers and Florida's Recording Notification Service

Florida homeowners are a frequent target of a well-documented nationwide scam: companies mail official-looking solicitations offering to sell a "certified copy of your deed" for a fee that consumer-protection warnings have placed in the $82 to $95 range (Minnesota Attorney General, "Real Estate Deed Solicitation"). These mailers use words like "official" and "certified," pull the real property address, parcel number, and purchase date from public records to look legitimate, and add a manufactured deadline, while a disclaimer buried in small print admits it is not a government bill and there is no obligation to pay. Most homeowners already received their deed for free at closing, and an actual certified copy costs only a few dollars per page directly from the county Clerk (Orange County Comptroller, "Recording Fees"). Report one of these mailers to the Florida Attorney General's consumer protection division, the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint, or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

A separate, more serious risk is deed or title fraud, where someone records a forged deed to claim ownership of a property that is not theirs, often targeting vacant land, rental property, or homes without a mortgage. Florida's answer to that risk is now statutory rather than a patchwork of county pilot programs. Fla. Stat. 28.47(1) provides that, on or before July 1, 2024, each clerk of the circuit court "must create, maintain, and operate a free recording notification service which is open to all persons wishing to register for the service."

The statute sets the terms of that service rather than leaving them to each county. Registration must be reachable through a direct link on the clerk's official public website; a registrant must be able to monitor at least five names or parcel identification numbers per email address; there must be a way to unsubscribe; and when a land record is recorded for a monitored identity, the clerk must send an email notification within 24 hours giving the recording date, the official record book and page or instrument number, and instructions for viewing the record. What you supply in order to register, including your email address and the names or parcel numbers you monitor, is confidential and exempt from Florida's public records law under s. 28.47(5)(b), except upon court order.

Because the duty runs to each clerk individually, an owner with real estate in more than one county still registers separately with each county's clerk. Section 28.47(6) extends the same notification obligation to county property appraisers that had already adopted an electronic land record notification service before July 1, 2023. Registering does not stop a forged document from being recorded; it tells you quickly that something was recorded against your name or parcel, which is what gives you time to act.

A Property Records Search Is Not a Title Search

A free county records or Property Appraiser lookup is useful for identifying a current owner or signing up for a recording notification, but it is not a professional title search. A licensed title company or closing attorney searches recorded deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments, and relevant court records together and evaluates them for risk before a purchase closes, a materially more thorough process than a self-directed lookup. Anyone planning an actual purchase, sale, or refinance in Florida should engage a licensed title company or real estate attorney rather than relying on a DIY search alone.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how property records and deed lookups work in Florida as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for a licensed title company's title search or title insurance before a real estate purchase. Fees, tools, and program availability change and vary by county; verify current details directly with the relevant county Clerk or Property Appraiser before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and program details reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

More Florida Laws

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Florida's MyFloridaCounty.com search really free?

Yes. Searching participating counties' Official Records through MyFloridaCounty.com is free. Some counties charge extra for certified copies or added services, but the search itself carries no fee or login requirement.

How do I find out who owns a property in Florida for free?

Start with the county Property Appraiser's website and search by address, owner name, or parcel number. It is typically faster and more current for ownership purposes than the Clerk's recorded-documents index.

What does a certified copy of a Florida deed cost?

Fla. Stat. 28.24 sets a statewide ceiling and says clerk charges may not exceed it: $1 per page for a copy of a recorded instrument, and $2 per page for certifying a copy of a non-court record such as a deed. Counties may charge less. The Orange County Comptroller, for example, charges $1 per page plus a single $2 charge to certify the document, so a three-page deed comes to $5. Check the fee schedule of the county clerk that actually holds the document.

Does Florida have one central deed database?

Not legally. Each county's Clerk of the Circuit Court remains the official custodian of its own recorded documents, and Fla. Stat. 28.2221(2)(a) places the online index duty on each county recorder rather than on a state office. That statute does require every county index to be capable of electronically feeding a central statewide search site, and MyFloridaCounty.com, built by the Clerks' association, is the shared front end that resulted. It is a search interface, not a single legal record.

Does every Florida county offer a free property fraud alert?

Yes. Since July 1, 2024, Fla. Stat. 28.47 has required every clerk of the circuit court in Florida to create, maintain, and operate a free recording notification service open to anyone who registers. You sign up through a link on the clerk's official website, monitor at least five names or parcel numbers per email address, and the clerk emails you within 24 hours after a deed, mortgage, or similar land record is recorded against a monitored identity. Because each clerk runs its own service, register separately in every county where you own property.

Is a mailer offering to sell me a copy of my deed for $85 legitimate?

No. This is a documented solicitation scam. A genuine certified copy costs only a few dollars per page directly from the county Clerk, and most homeowners already received their original deed for free at closing.

Can I use a property records search instead of a title search before buying a home in Florida?

No. A free county lookup is useful for general research, but it does not replace a licensed title company's full title search and title insurance, which cover risks a public records search alone cannot rule out.