Recording

One of the Clerk's primary responsibilities is to serve as Official Recorder of documents as defined by the state statutes. Original documents are brought in or mailed to the Recording Department. The Recording Department staff scans, records the date and time the document was filed, adds the document to the book of Official Records, and returns the original document by mail to the sender. Customers may also submit their documents electronically through an e-recording vendor. E-recorded documents are then processed and the images returned to the customer electronically. All imaged documents are indexed by name so that the recording data base can be searched.

Florida statutes section 28.222 states that the Clerk shall file the following documents:

a) Deeds, leases, bills of sale, agreements, mortgages, notices or claims of lien, notices of levy, tax warrants, tax executions, and other instruments relating to the ownership, transfer, or encumbrance of or claims against real or personal property or any interest in it; extensions, assignments, releases, cancellations, or satisfactions of mortgages and liens; and powers of attorney relating to any of the instruments.

(b) Notices of lis pendens, including notices of an action pending in a United States court having jurisdiction in this state.

(c) Judgments, including certified copies of judgments, entered by any court of this state or by a United States court having jurisdiction in this state and assignments, releases, and satisfactions of the judgments.

(d) That portion of a certificate of discharge, separation, or service which indicates the character of discharge, separation, or service of any citizen of this state with respect to the military, air, or naval forces of the United States. Each certificate shall be recorded without cost to the veteran, but the clerk shall receive from the board of county commissioners or other governing body of the county the service charge prescribed by law for the recording.

(e) Notices of liens for taxes payable to the United States and other liens in favor of the United States, and certificates discharging, partially discharging, or releasing the liens, in accordance with the laws of the United States.

(f) Certified copies of petitions, with schedules omitted, commencing proceedings under the Bankruptcy Act of the United States, decrees of adjudication in the proceedings, and orders approving the bonds of trustees appointed in the proceedings.

(g) Certified copies of death certificates authorized for issuance by the Department of Health which exclude the information that is confidential under s. 382.008, and certified copies of death certificates issued by another state whether or not they exclude the information described as confidential in s. 382.008.

(h) Any other instruments required or authorized by law to be recorded.

For questions about recording documents, please see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Indexing Guidelines