It is also available as a free ebook on Apple Books (Mac, iPhone, iPad), Google Books, Google Play Books (Android), Barnes and Noble Nook, and Amazon Kindle and as a $12 paperback on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

This is my fourth free ebook published this year. My first three ebooks “How To Form a Florida LLC or Limited Liability Company”, “How To Form a Florida Business Corporation”, “How To Form a Florida Nonprofit Corporation” were published earlier this year.

“Florida Real Estate Sales Contracts: A Collection of Forms for Lawyers” includes 192 pages of legal forms and checklists to provide an aid in drafting contracts for sale of Florida real estate and includes related forms such as contract addendum forms, amendment to contract forms, assignment of contract forms, and termination of contract forms.

These free ebooks are primarily directed to lawyers because Florida real estate sales contracts and the formation of legal entities are based on Florida Statutes and case law so having a law degree is really a starting point in drafting them. If you are not an attorney, please engage an attorney to review any contract before you sign it or use it.

Please note that these free ebooks are provided for educational purposes only and are not legal advice and do not create an attorney-client relationship.

A good way to see the difference is to consider the legal documents needed when changing the title. If you have a car and want to sell it to someone, you need two documents: your title certificate and a bill of sale. Your title certificate is proof that you own the car. The bill of sale is the legal document by which you transfer ownership (title) to the buyer.

But real estate is different; there is only one document: the deed. If you want to sell your house to someone, there is no title certificate proving you own it. All you have is the deed you got from the seller who sold it to you. That deed was recorded with the Clerk of Court in the Florida county where the land is located. In order to prove you are the owner of the house, the deed is just the starting point. You also need a title insurance company to search the Clerk’s records to be sure that your deed is the last one on record. The title insurance company will then issue a title insurance commitment agreeing to issue a title insurance policy to the buyer at the closing.

All of this is required because there is no title certificate or title registration process for real estate in Florida as there is for motor vehicles. (Some states have enacted laws that provide for real estate title certificates, but Florida has not.)

So, the next time you plan to sell your home, business, or other real estate in Florida, you’ll need the deed and title insurance policy you got when you bought it. Don’t look for a title certificate as you would to sell your car or truck.

For additional information, see the free ebook written by Florida lawyer James W. Martin on Florida Real Estate Sales Contracts.

Don’t agree to anything until you’re ready to sign a written contract. The last thing you need is someone claiming you agreed to sell them your Florida real estate and threatening to sue you if you try to sell it to someone else.

Don’t take a cash deposit from a buyer without a signed written contract. Part payment might be evidence that you had a contract to sell your real estate when you did not intend to be legally bound.

Don’t sign a listing agreement with a broker until your lawyer reviews it. Some brokers word their listing agreements to provide they are entitled to be paid a commission when a buyer is found rather than when there is a successful closing.

Don’t sign a contract until your lawyer reviews it. Contracts are complicated. You always need a lawyer.

Don’t make representations and warranties unless you intend to stand by them. Generally, the seller wants to avoid being sued by the buyer after the closing. Entering into an “as is” contract and allowing the buyer the right to perform due diligence before closing might be one way to limit risk to the seller of being sued after the closing for defects in the real property.

Don’t sign and deliver the deed until you’ve received a cashier’s check or wire transfer. If for any reason the buyer’s funds do not make it into the seller’s bank account, the seller might not ever get paid. In one Florida case, the buyer got to keep the deed even though the seller never got paid. Jones v. Lally, 511 So.2d 1014 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1987).

For additional information, see the free ebook written by Florida Bar Board Certified Real Estate Lawyer James W. Martin on Florida Real Estate Sales Contracts.

Some lenders choose not to file a claim in a probate estate, thinking that they can sue on the mortgage without filing a probate claim. Taking this approach might cost them the mortgage. A recent case provides some groundwork for defending against such a foreclosure.
In its 11/9/11 opinion Taylor v. Bayview Loan Servicing the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal held that if a promissory note is secured by a mortgage, and if the note is assigned, then the mortgage follows the note and is automatically assigned along with the note, even if no separate assignment of mortgage is recorded.

The court cited the 1938 Florida Supreme Court case of Johns v. Gillian, 184 So. 140 (Fla. 1938), which said that “the mortgage is but an incident to the debt, the payment of which it secures, and its ownership follows the assignment of the debt.”

Therefore, logically, if the note was not assigned but instead became unenforceable due to the Florida Probate Code’s statute of limitations, would not the mortgage that follows it also become unenforceable?

The mortgage follows the note. So, if the note becomes unenforceable, does the mortgage become unenforceable? The Florida Probate Code provides a 2-year statute of limitations on creditor claims, in addition to the 3-month statute of limitations on claims by reasonably ascertainable creditors. If a lender fails to file a claim within 2 years after the death of a borrower, does the mortgage become unenforceable?