State of Florida Makes Short Sales A Little Easier

Real Estate News

For the past few weeks there has been confusion about how much should be paid by the home seller in deed stamps on a short sale. A new Florida Dept of Revenue ruling has clarified the matter and saved Floridians money.

In Northeast Florida, the seller typically pays deed stamps. These are calculated at .007 of the sales price. However, Florida law did not specify in full detail how to handle deed stamps on a Short Sale. So local governments and title companies were making their own rules. So instead of charging deed stamps on the sales price of a Short Sale, they were charging it on the higher price of the mortgage value or previous sales price.

Sellers who were struggling to make deals with their lender about payoffs in order to get the short sale approved were having to struggle a little bit more because of the higher deed stamps.

Thankfully the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) has moved swiftly and justly to rule that deed stamps should be charged on the sales price; which is the lowest value in a short sale transaction.

If you sold your home in a short sale recently you should check your closing statement to see if excess deed stamps were changed and alert the appropriate party. In most cases the money will go to the lender and will help pay down any monies still owed.