Reference

Florida property glossary

These are the 95 terms that behave differently in Florida, or that only exist here. Each is defined in a sentence or two, and 88 of them link to the page that carries the full answer, the figures and the statute they come from.

A thin page competing with a national encyclopaedia on its own ground helps nobody.

The selection is measured rather than assumed. Of nearly two hundred terms tested, about half returned search demand in a Florida-qualified form — notice of commencement, portability, tax certificate, wind mitigation credit. The other half had demand only in a national form, and those are explained inside the relevant process pages instead, where the context is what makes them useful.

1

1031 exchange: Deferring capital gains tax by rolling the proceeds of an investment property into another one, within strict deadlines. It does not apply to a home you live in.

A

Addendum: A document added to a contract that changes or extends it. In Florida the as-is addendum and the early termination addendum both decide rights that the main contract does not.
Assessed value: What the property appraiser assesses your property at for tax, after any cap is applied. It is not market value and it is not what you paid.
Assignment of benefits: A document transferring your rights under an insurance policy to a contractor, so they deal with the insurer and are paid directly. Florida has since prohibited these on newly issued residential property policies.
Assignment of lease: A tenant transferring the whole remaining lease to somebody else. Distinct from subletting, and almost always requires the landlord’s written consent.

B

Base flood elevation: The height floodwater is expected to reach in a one-percent-annual-chance flood. Your elevation relative to it is what an elevation certificate measures and what flood pricing responds to.
Boot: Cash or non-like-kind property received in a 1031 exchange. It is the part that becomes immediately taxable, and it is where exchanges most often go wrong.

C

Capital gains: Tax on the profit when you sell. Florida levies no state income tax on it, but the federal position still applies — and a second home is treated differently from a primary residence.
Cast iron pipe: Drain plumbing common in older Florida houses. It corrodes considerably faster here than the national life expectancy suggests, and insurers treat it accordingly.
Certificate of occupancy: The local building department’s confirmation that a structure may lawfully be occupied. New construction and changes of use need one; its absence is a real obstacle at sale.
Citizens depopulation: The process by which private insurers take policies out of Citizens. Receiving a takeout offer can end your Citizens eligibility, which is why the letter is not junk mail.
Civil remedy notice: A formal notice filed with the state regulator alleging an insurer has acted in bad faith, giving it a window to cure. A procedural step, not a lawsuit.
Construction lien: A claim recorded against your property by a contractor, subcontractor or supplier who was not paid. In Florida it can be recorded by someone you never hired and never met.
Constructive eviction: Where a landlord’s failure to maintain the property makes it effectively uninhabitable, so the tenant is treated as having been evicted. It requires written notice first, not just a bad situation.
Contingency: A condition in a contract that lets a party withdraw if it is not satisfied. Inspection, financing and appraisal contingencies are separate clauses — having one does not give you another.

D

Deed restriction: A limitation recorded against the land itself, binding every future owner. It survives the sale, and it is why a declaration matters more than what an agent told you.
Doc stamps: Documentary stamp tax, charged on the deed and again on any promissory note. Two separate charges, customarily paid by different parties.
Dual agency: One agent representing both sides with full fiduciary duty to each. Not authorised in Florida — the state uses transaction brokerage instead.
Dwelling coverage: The limit your policy will pay to rebuild the structure. It should reflect rebuilding cost, which is a different number from market value and from what you paid.

E

Easement: A recorded right for someone else to use part of your land — a utility, a neighbour, a drainage district. It binds you whether or not anyone mentioned it.
Effective date: The date a contract or policy actually begins, which is frequently not the date it was signed. Almost every deadline in a Florida transaction counts from it.
Elevation certificate: A surveyor’s measurement of your building’s height relative to the base flood elevation. It replaces the map’s assumption with a measurement of your actual house.
Emotional support animal: An animal supporting a person with a disability, which is not a pet and not a service animal. Florida sets specific requirements for the documentation a landlord may ask for.
Encroachment: A structure crossing a boundary — a fence, a shed, a driveway. A standard title policy excepts it unless you order a survey and pay to have that exception removed.
Escrow: Funds held by a neutral party until a condition is met. When a Florida deal collapses, the broker holding the deposit is forbidden to decide who is right.
Estoppel letter: An association’s written statement of what an owner owes as at a date. The fee is capped by statute, and it tells you only about today, not about a coming assessment.
Exposure category: A building code classification for how exposed a site is to wind, based on surrounding terrain. It changes what a structure must be engineered to withstand.

F

Flood zone: FEMA’s classification of flood risk for an area. It decides whether a lender requires flood insurance — but a substantial share of flood claims come from outside the high-risk zones.
Four point inspection: An insurer’s inspection of roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC, typically required on older Florida homes. It decides whether a policy can be written at all.

G

Gable roof: A roof with two sloping sides meeting at a ridge, leaving vertical end walls. It scores worse than a hip roof for wind mitigation credits because it presents a flat face to the wind.

H

Hip roof: A roof sloping on all four sides. It sheds wind in every direction and earns a meaningful wind mitigation credit that a gable roof does not.
Holdover tenant: A tenant remaining after the lease ends. Without the landlord’s consent this exposes them to double rent; if the landlord accepts rent, a new month-to-month tenancy has usually been created instead.
Homestead exemption: A reduction in the taxable value of your permanent Florida residence, applied in two tranches — only one of which reaches the school levy.
Housing choice voucher: The federal rental subsidy commonly called Section 8. Florida has no statewide source-of-income protection, so a landlord here may lawfully decline one.
Hurricane deductible: A deductible expressed as a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat sum, applying only within a defined storm window — and only once per calendar year.

I

Impact fee: A one-off charge by a local government on new development, to fund the roads, schools and utilities it will use. It falls on new construction rather than resale.
Intangible tax: A Florida tax on new mortgages, charged on the loan amount. Separate from the documentary stamp tax on the note, and customarily paid by the borrower.

J

Just value: The property appraiser’s estimate of market value before any cap or exemption. Assessed value derives from it, and the two diverge sharply on long-held homestead property.

K

Kick out clause: A term letting a seller continue marketing while under contract with a contingent buyer, and displace them if a better offer arrives unless the contingency is waived.

L

Lien: A recorded claim against property securing a debt. Florida has many kinds — construction, association, code enforcement, tax — and they do not rank equally.
Listing agreement: The contract appointing a broker to market your property, setting the term, the compensation and how it is earned. Since 2024 the buyer-side element is negotiated separately.
Loss of use: Insurance cover paying for somewhere to live while your home is uninhabitable. It is the part of a renters policy that actually matters in Florida, because no landlord is obliged to rehouse anyone.

M

Mechanics lien: The older name for what Florida calls a construction lien. Same instrument, and the same rule that paying your contractor does not by itself prevent one.
Milestone inspection: A mandatory structural inspection of older Florida condominium buildings above a defined height. Passing it does not mean no assessment is coming — that is what the reserve study decides.
Millage rate: The tax rate per thousand dollars of taxable value, set by each taxing authority. Your bill is the sum of several millages, not one.
Municipal lien search: A search for unrecorded municipal debts — code violations, utility arrears, open permits — that a title search does not cover but which follow the property.

N

Non ad valorem assessment: A charge on your tax bill not based on value — commonly a CDD, refuse or fire assessment. The homestead exemption does not reduce it.
Notice of commencement: A document recorded before construction begins, identifying the job and the parties. Failing to record and post one properly undermines your protection against liens.
Notice to cure: Written notice giving the other side a defined period to fix a breach before you act on it. In a Florida tenancy this is the seven-day notice.
Notice to owner: A warning served on a property owner by a subcontractor or supplier, preserving their right to lien later. Receiving one is not an accusation — ignoring it is the mistake.

O

Opening protection: Shutters, impact glazing or approved coverings protecting windows and doors from wind-borne debris. Required in defined zones, and one of the wind mitigation credits.
Ordinance and law coverage: Insurance paying for code upgrades triggered when you rebuild after a loss. In Florida, where codes have tightened repeatedly, the gap without it is larger than it sounds.

P

Parcel: A distinct piece of land as identified in the public records, with its own parcel identification number. It is the unit everything official attaches to.
Payment standard: The maximum subsidy a housing authority will pay for a unit of a given size in a given area. It caps the assistance, not the rent.
Portability: Transferring your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to a new Florida homestead. The window runs from the year you last held the exemption, not from the closing.
Public adjuster: A licensed professional who negotiates an insurance claim on your behalf for a percentage. Florida caps that percentage, and caps it lower after a declared emergency.

Q

Quiet title: A court action to resolve competing claims and establish clear ownership. It is the usual route after a tax deed sale or a fraudulent conveyance.
Quit claim deed: A deed transferring whatever interest the grantor has, with no warranty that they have any. Useful between people who trust each other, dangerous in a purchase.

R

Reasonable accommodation: A change to a rule or policy that a housing provider must make so a person with a disability can use a home equally. Different from a physical modification, and assessed differently.
Recording fee: What the clerk charges to record a document in the official records. Small, unavoidable, and separate from the taxes charged on the same instrument.
Replacement cost: Settling a claim at what it costs to replace, rather than at depreciated value. On an older Florida roof this single setting is frequently the largest real difference between two policies.
Rider: An amendment attached to a policy or contract altering its terms. In insurance it is often where the exclusion you care about actually lives.
Right of first refusal: A recorded right requiring an owner to offer the property to a named party before selling to anyone else. Common in some Florida associations and easily missed.

S

Save our homes: The constitutional cap limiting how fast the assessed value of a Florida homestead can rise each year. It is why two identical neighbouring houses pay very different tax.
Secondary water barrier: A sealed layer under the roof covering, so a roof that loses tiles does not immediately become a flooded house. The same thing as secondary water resistance.
Secondary water resistance: One of the wind mitigation credits, and one of the few worth specifying in a re-roof contract because it is invisible once the covering is on.
Security deposit: Money held by a landlord against damage or unpaid rent. Florida sets short, strict clocks for returning it and for notifying a claim against it.
Senior exemption: An additional homestead exemption for qualifying older owners. It exists only where a county or city has adopted it, and the income limit is adjusted every year.
Setback: The minimum distance a structure must sit from a boundary. It applies to sheds, pools, enclosures and additions, not only to the house.
Sheathing: The structural panels forming the roof deck under the covering. How it is nailed down is one of the largest wind mitigation credits available.
Short sale: Selling for less than the mortgage balance, with the lender’s agreement to release its lien. It is a negotiation with a lender, not a type of listing.
Single agent: A Florida brokerage relationship carrying full fiduciary duty. It is not the default — you get it only if it is agreed in writing.
Special assessment: A one-off charge levied by an association for a cost reserves do not cover. Since structural reserves stopped being waivable, these have become the defining condominium risk.
Special flood hazard area: The high-risk flood zone where a federally regulated lender must require flood insurance. Being outside it lowers the price, not the risk.
Special warranty deed: A deed warranting title only against defects arising during the grantor’s ownership. Narrower than a general warranty deed, broader than a quit claim.
Stem wall: A short foundation wall raising a structure above grade, common in Florida coastal and flood-prone construction. It affects both elevation and how a slab is inspected.
Stepped up basis: The reset of an asset’s tax basis to its value at the owner’s death, which can eliminate most of the capital gain for heirs. It is the reason inherited property is taxed differently.
Structural integrity reserve study: A mandatory study costing out the structural components of an older Florida condominium and setting the reserves that must be funded for them. Funding it may no longer be waived.
Survey: A licensed surveyor’s measurement of boundaries, improvements and encroachments. It is also what removes the standard survey exception from a title policy.

T

Tangible personal property: Business equipment and furnishings taxed separately from real estate. Relevant to short-term rentals and to any property let furnished as a business.
Tax certificate: An interest-bearing certificate sold against a parcel when property tax goes unpaid. It is the first step on the road that ends in a tax deed.
Tax deed: The deed issued after a tax certificate holder applies and the property is sold at auction. Title from one is generally uninsurable until it is cured.
Tenancy at will: A tenancy with no fixed end date, continuing period to period. Florida sets the notice required to end one by how often rent is paid.
Three day notice: The written notice a Florida landlord must give for unpaid rent before filing, counted excluding weekends and legal holidays. Getting the count wrong restarts the process.
Title search: An examination of the public record for the chain of ownership and anything recorded against the property. It finds what is in the record — the policy covers what the record failed to show.
Transaction broker: Florida’s default brokerage relationship. It provides limited representation and owes no fiduciary duty, and every licensee is presumed to be one unless agreed otherwise in writing.

U

Uplift: The upward force wind exerts on a roof or enclosure. Nearly every wind failure in Florida is an uplift failure at a connection rather than a material failure.

W

Walk through: The buyer’s final inspection shortly before closing, confirming condition and that agreed repairs were done. It is not a second inspection period.
Warranty deed: A deed in which the grantor warrants they own the property and will defend the title. The ordinary instrument in a Florida purchase, and the one you want.
Warranty of habitability: A landlord’s duty to keep a dwelling fit to live in. In Florida it is set by statute, and a tenant must give written notice before any remedy becomes available.
Wind mitigation: An inspection documenting the features that make a house resist wind. It changes no part of the building and is generally the cheapest way to reduce a Florida premium.
Wind mitigation credit: The premium discount an insurer applies for a documented wind-resistant feature. The credits come from fastening and roof shape far more than from the covering material.
Wind zone: The design wind speed assigned to a location by the building code, which decides what structures there must withstand. It varies within a single county.
Wood destroying organism: Termites, beetles and fungi damaging structural timber. The report on them requires a separate licence from a home inspection, so two people are involved whether or not you were told.
Writ of possession: The court order directing the sheriff to remove a tenant after an eviction judgment. Only the sheriff executes it — a landlord who acts personally is the one breaking the law.

Lovely suburban houses with blue garage doors under cloudy sky, surrounded by greenery.Photograph: Thomas P / Pexels

Terms defined here are drawn from the Florida Statutes, the Florida Building Code and the agencies that administer them; the full compilation is published by the Florida Legislature. Where a term has an owning page, that page carries the section and the figures.

Definitions are deliberately short and carry no figures. Every number on this site is rendered through a component that cannot display it without its source, and those live on the page each term links to — not here, where they could not be cited properly.