Few contract provisions cause more last-minute confusion than who selects the closing agent and who pays for title. The answer lives in one set of checkboxes, Paragraph 9(c) of the FAR/BAR contract, and advisors who can explain it at the offer stage save their clients from unwelcome surprises at the closing table.
The Three Checkboxes in Paragraph 9(c)
Paragraph 9(c) determines who designates the Closing Agent and who pays the “Owner’s Policy and Charges”, defined in the contract as the owner’s title insurance premium, the title search, and closing services (the settlement fee).
Three options:
• 9(c)(i): Seller picks the closing agent and pays the Owner’s Policy and Charges. Buyer still pays the premium and closing charges for their lender’s policy.
• 9(c)(ii): Buyer picks the closing agent and pays the Owner’s Policy and Charges.
• 9(c)(iii): The Miami-Dade/Broward regional provision. Here on the Gulf Coast, your contracts will check (i) or (ii).
The municipal lien search follows the same checkbox: the seller pays for it under 9(c)(i) or (iii), and the buyer pays under 9(c)(ii).
What Title Insurance Actually Costs
Florida is a promulgated-rate state. The owner’s policy premium is set by state regulation — $5.75 per $1,000 of the purchase price up to $100,000, then $5.00 per $1,000 up to $1 million, with lower tiers above that. Every licensed title agency charges the identical premium, so there is no shopping the rate itself.
On a $500,000 purchase, the owner’s premium is $2,575. When a lender’s policy is issued simultaneously with the owner’s policy, it typically adds only a flat $25. Add the title search, municipal lien search, and settlement fee, and “picking and paying for title” is a four-figure line item on most transactions — which is exactly why your clients should know who bears it before they sign.
Custom Is Not Contract, Especially on the Gulf Coast
In most Florida counties, the seller customarily picks and pays for the owner’s policy. But in Sarasota and Manatee counties, the buyer typically does. If you work transactions in both Sarasota and Manatee counties, you cross that customary line all the time.
Here is the key point: custom is only a starting position. The checkbox in the contract controls, not what is “usually done” in the area. Who picks and pays for title is fully negotiable in every transaction, and in a competitive offer it can be a meaningful bargaining chip.
Why Picking Matters as Much as Paying
Most parties fixate on the cost side, but the right to choose the closing agent is genuinely valuable. The closing agent quarterbacks the transaction, ordering searches, clearing title, coordinating lenders, surveyors, and lien search vendors, and keeping communication moving toward the closing date. When a party selects Opus Title, they get a team with established underwriter and vendor relationships and a process built to keep deals on track. The party who picks has a say in who guides the deal, and that choice shapes the entire closing experience.
What to Tell Your Clients
• Raise Paragraph 9(c) when the offer is drafted, not the week of closing.
• Explain both sides of the checkbox: the cost being taken on, and the right to choose the closing agent that comes with it.
• Remind clients that local custom is negotiable, the contract controls.
• Give buyers a realistic premium estimate early using the promulgated rates, so the closing disclosure holds no surprises.
Advisors who handle this conversation early build trust, avoid uncomfortable eleventh-hour calls, and deliver clients to the closing table informed and at ease.
A Note from Opus Title
Title selection looks like a formality, but it has real consequences for both the client experience and the bottom line. If you have questions about Paragraph 9(c), what the Owner’s Policy and Charges include, or how Opus Title can support your next transaction, we would love to hear from you.
Opus Title, Your Trusted Title Partner on the Gulf Coast.
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