Practice Florida titles and deeds with 9 free questions on deed warranties, recording, title insurance, easements, liens, and adverse possession. Get a score, an explanation of every choice, and six worked scenarios. No account needed.
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Quiz mode · Test yourself
9 practice questions on titles and deeds, scored, each with a full explanation after you answer. Every question is also written out below if you would rather study at your own pace.
All 9 questions and explanations are free. Titles, Deeds, and Ownership Restrictions carries 7% of the published sales associate exam outline, about 7 questions. This focused practice set does not predict your state-exam score.
01 / Compare the promises
A deed's title is a starting point. Its granting language, covenants, exceptions, and reservations determine what the grantor actually conveys and promises.
Broad title warranties from the grantor
The grantor's title covenants can reach defects from before the grantor's ownership. A statutory warranty deed carries full common-law covenants under F.S. 689.03.
Watch for this: Read the exceptions and covenants. The deed does not make defective title perfect or replace an insurer's separate promise to cover a loss.
A warranty limited to claims through the grantor
The usual warranty covers claims by, through, or under the grantor. It is narrower than a general warranty and does not ordinarily protect against a predecessor's unrelated title defect.
Watch for this: Do not decide coverage solely from when a defect surfaced. Read the actual limiting language and any other covenants in the deed.
A conveyance without express title warranties
For the course distinction, it implies that the grantor holds title but supplies no express warranty against defects. It transfers the stated interest without the protection of a general warranty.
Watch for this: The words grant, bargain, or sell can appear in other deeds too. Classify the whole instrument and its covenants, not one verb.
The grantor's interest, if any, with no title warranty
Releases or conveys whatever interest the grantor has. A person with good title can convey it by quitclaim; a person with no interest supplies no title to transfer.
Watch for this: A quitclaim from a particular claimant can help address a cloud. It does not automatically clear every lien, settle every boundary, or promise marketable title.
If a title defect breaches a deed covenant, the buyer may have a claim against the grantor. Whether that claim produces a recovery is a different question. An owner's title policy may cover a loss under its own terms. Neither the deed's name nor the insurance policy makes every possible problem disappear.
02 / Separate conveyance from recording
Work through these four checks. An ordinary conveyance can be valid between the parties before recording, while an unrecorded interest can still face competing third-party claims.
What is being conveyed, and by whom?
For an ordinary deed, identify the grantor and grantee, the interest granted, an adequate legal description, and the grantor's capacity and authority. The granting language performs the conveyance. A street address or parcel number alone should not be treated as a substitute for the required legal description.
Who must sign and witness?
An ordinary individual conveyance of a Florida freehold interest is in writing and signed by the conveying party in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The grantee ordinarily need not sign the deed to receive title. Entity conveyances and qualifying electronic execution have additional statutory rules.
Did the grantor intend a present transfer?
A properly executed deed must be delivered with intent to make it effective and accepted by the grantee. Signing a deed and keeping it with no intent to deliver does not complete the conveyance. Delivery is a legal act, not just the physical location of the paper.
How does the transfer affect third parties?
Recording is separate from validity between the parties. A recordable conveyance needs the acknowledgment or proof authorized by F.S. 695.03 and the applicable recording particulars. Recording gives notice and matters to the rights of creditors and later purchasers; it does not cure a forgery.
F.S. 695.03 requires an authorized acknowledgment, proof, or authentication of execution. A notarial acknowledgment is the common method. It serves a different function from a subscribing witness.
F.S. 695.26 includes printed names and addresses for specified parties, the preparer's information, witness names and post-office addresses, and recording space. The ordinary space requirement is 3 by 3 inches at the upper right of the first page and 1 by 3 inches at the upper right of later pages. Statutory exceptions apply.
A clerk's failure to follow those recording particulars does not, by itself, invalidate the recordation or its constructive notice. Do not infer that every formatting defect makes a recorded deed void. These checks explain exam concepts; the statute supplies the full requirements.
F.S. 695.03, acknowledgment and proof for recording · F.S. 695.26, names, addresses, and recording space
No. F.S. 689.01 expressly removes the subscribing-witness requirement for a lease of real property or an instrument pertaining to a lease. Do not turn the ordinary freehold-deed rule into a rule for every real estate document.
That exception does not erase other requirements for the particular agreement, such as a required writing or requirements for recording. Similarly, a grantee who need not sign a deed may still need to sign a separate contract or loan document.
03 / Identify the insured interest
Start with whose interest is insured. The buyer may pay a premium for coverage that protects the lender alone.
For the insured owner
Protects the owner's insured interest against covered title risks. The amount of insurance and policy terms limit the protection. A title search, survey, and deed warranty are not substitutes for this policy.
Try the insurance question →For the insured lender
Protects the lender's insured interest in the loan security. It does not become an owner's policy because the borrower paid the premium. The owner's separate risk remains a different coverage question.
Work through the closing example →Use the declarations and schedules to identify the insured, land, amount, and exceptions. Then read the covered risks, exclusions, conditions, and endorsements. Florida DFS, title insurance overview
It mainly addresses title risks rather than future physical damage, but “never after the policy date” is too absolute. For example, the 2021 ALTA owner's policy with Florida modifications includes a defined period of coverage for specified matters arising after the policy date and before the deed is recorded.
This does not mean all future liens or fraud are covered. The issued form, exceptions, and endorsements control. Read the protection that was actually purchased.
Florida OIR, 2021 ALTA owner's policy with Florida modifications
04 / Follow the benefit and the burden
For an appurtenant easement, identify the parcel that benefits before naming the dominant and servient estates.
Receives the right to cross the defined driveway on Lot B.
Contains the driveway. Its owner retains the land subject to the easement.
7 years
A claim to ownership under Florida's adverse-possession statutes. The time period is only one requirement. With color of title, examine the recorded written instrument and qualifying possession. Without color, the separate possession, tax, and return requirements matter.
20 years
A claim to a defined use right based on qualifying adverse use. Continuous use, notice to the owner, a sufficiently defined area or route, and adversity must be established. Long use with permission is insufficient.
F.S. 95.18 requires qualifying actual, continued possession under a claim of title exclusive of other rights. It also requires payment of the specified outstanding taxes and matured improvement liens within one year of entry, a proper return to the property appraiser within 30 days after meeting that payment requirement, and continuing payment of the specified taxes and liens during the remaining years.
The statute defines what land counts as actually occupied or possessed. Filing a return alone does not create an enforceable ownership interest. For an exam scenario, verify all the supplied conditions instead of treating occupancy or tax payments alone as ownership.
If zoning permits a shop but an enforceable private covenant allows only a single-family residence, zoning approval alone is not enough. The property must comply with both. Recording a covenant does not prove that it is lawful, perpetual, or enforceable in every situation.
05 / Classify before ranking
General versus specific describes the property a lien can reach. Voluntary versus involuntary describes how the lien arises. These are two separate classifications.
Specific · Voluntary
The owner grants security against identified property.
Specific · Involuntary
The lien concerns the assessed property and has statutory priority.
Specific · Involuntary
A qualifying unpaid improvement claim; attachment and priority follow construction-lien law.
General · Involuntary
Can reach the debtor's nonexempt property when the required recording or filing steps are met.
A lien is a claim securing an obligation. An encumbrance is broader and can include a lien, easement, lease, or restriction. Every lien is an encumbrance, but an easement need not secure a debt. FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9
For real property, F.S. 55.10 requires recording a certified copy in the county where the property lies and satisfying the creditor-address requirement. Recording in one county does not automatically create a real-property lien in every other county.
Personal-property judgment liens follow a separate Department of State filing process under F.S. 55.202. Exemptions and excluded property still matter. Protected homestead can be outside an ordinary judgment lien, subject to the Constitution's exceptions, including specified taxes, purchase, improvement, repair, and labor obligations.
For priority, identify the lien type first. Ad valorem property taxes have statutory priority on the assessed property. Construction liens and other claims have their own rules; recording dates are not a universal answer.
F.S. 55.10, judgment liens on real property · F.S. 55.202, judgment liens on personal property · Florida Constitution, Article X, Sections 4 and 6 · F.S. 197.122, property-tax lien priority
06 / Apply the rule
Make your choice before opening the answer. Each example changes a fact that can change the result.
Worked scenario 01
A seller bought a property in 2022 and conveys it in 2026. A valid, undisclosed lien from a prior owner dates to 2019. Assume the lien is not excepted from the deed's covenants. Which ordinary deed warranty gives the buyer the broader claim against this seller?
The general warranty deed.
Its protection can reach an earlier owner's title defect. A usual special warranty concerns claims by, through, or under this grantor, so the date a buyer discovers the lien does not decide the issue. An owner's title policy is a separate source of possible protection, governed by its own terms.
Worked scenario 02
A seller properly conveys land to Maya, who does not record. The seller then purports to sell the same land to Ben. Ben pays value but actually knows about Maya's deed. Does recording first automatically give Ben protection as a purchaser without notice?
No. Ben's actual knowledge defeats the no-notice premise.
Florida's recording rule is not simply a race to the clerk. F.S. 695.01 protects the specified creditors and subsequent purchasers for value without notice. A different scenario involving a later purchaser who truly lacks notice requires its own analysis; Maya should not assume leaving her deed unrecorded is harmless.
Worked scenario 03
At closing, a buyer pays the premium for a lender's title policy but buys no owner's policy. A covered type of old title defect later threatens the property. Does the buyer's payment make the lender's policy insure the buyer's ownership interest?
No. The insured interest matters, not who paid the premium.
The loan policy protects the lender's insured interest. An owner's policy protects the insured owner's interest, within its amount and terms. Paying for the lender's coverage does not create a second policy for the buyer. A deed warranty may provide a separate claim against the grantor.
Worked scenario 04
A recorded appurtenant easement lets Lot A's owner cross a defined driveway on Lot B to reach the road. Lot A is sold. Assume the easement's terms do not limit transfer. Who has the benefit, and who owns the driveway land?
Lot A's new owner receives the benefit; Lot B's owner keeps the land.
Lot A is the dominant estate, and Lot B is the servient estate. The appurtenant benefit generally passes with the dominant land. An easement supplies a defined use right rather than fee ownership of the driveway. Neither side may disregard the scope of the easement.
Worked scenario 05
A neighbor lets Elena use a path across his land. Elena uses it openly for seven years, always with permission. She says seven years gives her ownership by adverse possession or a permanent easement by prescription. Is either conclusion justified by these facts?
No. Permitted use is not adverse, and the two doctrines have different tests.
Florida's adverse-possession statutes require more than seven years on a calendar. A prescriptive easement generally requires 20 years of qualifying adverse use, not seven. The Second DCA's March 2026 Lincolnshire Maximo decision stresses the claimant's burden to prove adversity despite long use. Permission does not become adverse merely because it lasts.
Worked scenario 06
A parcel has an ordinary mortgage recorded in 2020 and unpaid Florida ad valorem property taxes for 2025. Comparing these two liens under F.S. 197.122, does the mortgage take priority just because its recording date is earlier?
No. The property-tax lien has statutory priority.
The statute gives the property-tax lien first priority on the assessed property. Earlier recording does not beat this priority rule. For other competing liens, identify the lien type and its governing law before applying a recording-date shortcut. This comparison is not a complete foreclosure distribution calculation.
07 / Fill the gaps around the questions
The published outline includes more than deed names. Use these short references for title evidence, conveyance clauses, lease terms, and other ownership limits.
Title describes ownership rights, not a particular piece of paper. A deed is an instrument used to transfer an interest. Under an enforceable purchase contract, a buyer may have equitable title while the seller retains legal title pending conveyance. An accepted offer and a delivered deed are different stages.
Alienation means transfer of title. A sale or gift by deed and a devise by will are voluntary methods in the course classification. Descent under intestacy law, escheat when legally entitled heirs are absent, condemnation, and qualifying adverse possession are involuntary methods. Eminent domain is the power; condemnation is the legal process. A taking must satisfy constitutional requirements, including full compensation in Florida.
The granting clause conveys the interest. The habendum describes the estate or interest to be held. Seisin concerns the grantor's ownership of the stated estate; the right-to-convey covenant concerns authority to transfer it. Other title covenants address encumbrances, quiet enjoyment against superior title claims, further assurances, and defense of title. Exceptions and reservations can limit what passes or what is warranted. Florida does not require the literal words fee simple or heirs to convey the grantor's whole transferable estate when no contrary intent appears.
The chain is the succession of transfers. An abstract summarizes recorded instruments and proceedings affecting title. An attorney's opinion evaluates title; insurance promises protection under a policy. Marketable title is reasonably free from doubt that would expose the buyer to litigation, not a promise that no claim could ever be made. A licensee should not give an independent legal title opinion: F.S. 475.25(1)(j) governs merchantability statements and the advice to consult counsel or obtain title insurance.
Actual notice comes from knowledge of a claim or interest. Constructive notice is notice the law attributes to a person, commonly through properly recorded instruments in the chain of title. Visible possession or other warning facts can require further inquiry. Do not assume a buyer is without notice merely because the buyer did not search the records. A recorded lis pendens concerns pending litigation affecting property; it is not an automatic judgment for the claimant.
A personal representative's deed or guardian's deed identifies the capacity in which a person conveys. A tax deed arises through the statutory tax-sale process. The label alone does not establish broad title warranties or prove that every adverse interest is gone. To address a cloud, the remedy may involve a release, a corrective instrument, or a quiet-title action, depending on the defect and the parties' rights.
An easement in gross benefits a person or entity, such as a utility, rather than another parcel; transferability depends on its terms and the law. A common-law way of necessity involves severance from common ownership and the statutory access conditions. Florida also has a separate statutory way of necessity with its own criteria. A license is permission to use land, generally revocable. An encroachment is a physical intrusion, such as a fence over a boundary; naming it does not establish a lawful easement.
In a gross lease, the landlord generally pays the property's operating expenses from the rent. A net lease shifts specified expenses to the tenant; read which ones. Percentage rent uses an agreed percentage of business sales, sometimes with a base rent. Variable or index leases adjust rent under a stated formula. A ground lease rents the land, often with tenant improvements. These terms describe the agreement and do not themselves transfer fee title.
For the course distinction, a lease assignment transfers the tenant's entire remaining leasehold interest; a sublease leaves the original tenant a reversionary interest. Consent requirements and restrictions depend on the lease and applicable law. An assignment does not, by itself, release the original tenant from contractual liability. A leasehold can burden ownership even though it is not a fee estate.
08 / Review every answer
Open the concept you want to review. Every question, answer, wrong-choice explanation, and source is available without completing the quiz or signing in.
Try each question before opening its answer. These are original practice items, not actual or recalled Pearson VUE exam questions.
Question 1 · ttl-1 · General versus special warranty
Answer C. General warranty deed
A general warranty deed provides the broadest customary title covenants among these choices. Its protection can reach defects from earlier owners, subject to the deed’s actual covenants and exceptions. F.S. 689.03 gives a statutory warranty deed full common-law covenants. These are promises from the grantor; the deed does not itself make title defect-free or create title insurance.
Remember: A special warranty usually concerns claims by, through, or under the grantor. The date a defect is discovered is not the test.
A. Quitclaim deed
A quitclaim conveys the grantor’s interest, if any, without a title warranty. It supplies no broad promise about earlier defects.
B. Special warranty deed
A usual special warranty limits protection to claims by, through, or under the grantor rather than unrelated defects from previous owners.
D. Bargain and sale deed without express warranties
Without express warranties, a bargain and sale deed does not supply the general warranty protection the buyer wants.
Sources: F.S. 689.03, statutory warranty covenants · Harris v. Sklarew (1964), scope of a special warranty
Report a problem with ttl-1Question 2 · ttl-2 · What a quitclaim conveys
Answer A. Quitclaim deed
A quitclaim conveys or releases the grantor’s existing interest, if any, without title warranties. It can help remove a claim held by that grantor. It does not guarantee that she has an interest, extinguish unrelated liens, or resolve every possible cloud on title. Florida provides a statutory quitclaim form in F.S. 689.025.
Remember: No warranty does not mean no title can pass. A grantor who owns the property can convey that interest by quitclaim.
B. General warranty deed
A general warranty deed includes title promises, contrary to the stated intention to give none.
C. Special warranty deed
A special warranty is limited, but it still ordinarily includes a warranty against claims through the grantor.
D. Personal representative’s deed with full title warranties
No estate-administration role is stated, and full title warranties contradict the requested release without promises.
Sources: F.S. 689.025, statutory quitclaim deed
Report a problem with ttl-2Question 3 · ttl-3 · Deed execution requirements
Answer D. The grantee’s signature on the deed
The grantee ordinarily does not sign the deed to receive title. For this individual freehold conveyance, F.S. 689.01 requires a writing signed by the conveying party in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The other requirements, including proper delivery and acceptance, still matter. Acknowledgment or authorized proof for recording is a separate issue. Entity conveyances and qualifying electronic execution have their own statutory provisions.
Remember: Grantor gives; grantee receives. Do not copy the signature requirements of a purchase contract onto the deed.
A. A written instrument adequately identifying the property and the interest conveyed
A deed needs a legally sufficient written conveyance. This is not the unnecessary requirement.
B. The grantor’s signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses
The stated individual freehold conveyance falls under the ordinary two-subscribing-witness rule.
C. Delivery with intent to convey and acceptance by the grantee
Signing alone is not enough; the conveyance also needs legally effective delivery and acceptance.
Sources: F.S. 689.01, conveyance and witness requirements · FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9 · F.S. 695.03, acknowledgment and proof for recording
Report a problem with ttl-3Question 4 · ttl-4 · Validity versus recording protection
Answer B. The deed can be valid between the parties, although failure to record creates third-party risks
Recording is not ordinarily a condition of validity between the grantor and grantee when the conveyance is otherwise valid, delivered, and accepted. F.S. 695.01 addresses protection against the specified creditors and subsequent purchasers for value without notice. Leaving a deed unrecorded can therefore create serious priority risks. Recording does not cure a forged or otherwise invalid conveyance.
Remember: A valid deed and a recorded deed answer different questions. Neither “unrecorded means void” nor “recording first always wins” is reliable.
A. No title can pass until the county clerk records the deed
This confuses recording protection with a valid conveyance between the parties.
C. The deed becomes a mortgage until recording
A deed does not turn into a mortgage because the buyer has not recorded it. The instruments serve different purposes.
D. The buyer loses all rights if the deed is not recorded within seven days
There is no general seven-day forfeiture rule in the cited recording statute. A buyer should record promptly without inventing this deadline.
Sources: F.S. 695.01, recording and purchasers without notice · FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9
Report a problem with ttl-4Question 5 · ttl-5 · Owner’s versus lender’s title insurance
Answer A. An owner’s title insurance policy
An owner’s policy insures the named owner’s interest against covered title risks, subject to the amount of insurance, exclusions, exceptions, and conditions. A lender’s policy protects the lender’s insured interest, even if the buyer pays its premium. Title insurance commonly addresses existing title problems; the specific form and endorsements control, so saying it never covers any post-policy matter is too broad.
Remember: Ask whose interest is insured. The person paying the premium is not necessarily the insured owner.
B. A lender’s title insurance policy alone
A lender’s policy does not become an owner’s policy merely because the buyer paid for it.
C. A homeowners hazard policy alone
Hazard insurance addresses covered physical losses and liability, not the title protection requested here.
D. A survey with no insurance policy
A survey can identify boundaries and physical conditions, but it is not a contract of title insurance.
Sources: Florida DFS, title insurance overview · Florida OIR, 2021 ALTA owner's policy with Florida modifications
Report a problem with ttl-5Question 6 · ttl-6 · Public zoning and private restrictions
Answer C. The owner must comply with both; zoning permission alone does not remove the enforceable covenant
Public zoning and enforceable private restrictions can apply to the same parcel. Permission under zoning does not by itself extinguish a valid private covenant. In Riviera-Fort Myers Master Association v. GFH Investments, the Second DCA recognized that private restrictions may be more stringent than municipal zoning. The question expressly supplies enforceability; recording alone would not prove that every covenant is lawful or still enforceable.
Remember: Check both systems. Private permission also cannot authorize a use that public law forbids.
A. The zoning permission automatically cancels the private covenant
A zoning permission concerns public land-use regulation. It does not automatically erase an enforceable private restriction.
B. Recording any covenant makes it superior to all laws
Recording is notice, not a guarantee of legality or perpetual enforceability. A private covenant cannot override controlling law.
D. The owner may choose whichever rule allows the most profitable use
An owner cannot choose away an applicable public rule or enforceable private covenant because another use is more profitable.
Sources: Riviera-Fort Myers Master Association v. GFH Investments (2d DCA, 2020) · FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9
Report a problem with ttl-6Question 7 · ttl-7 · Adverse possession is more than elapsed time
Answer B. Adverse possession
Adverse possession can support a claim to ownership only when the governing requirements are met. F.S. 95.16 addresses possession under color of title; F.S. 95.18 addresses possession without it and adds tax-payment, return-filing, and possession requirements. Seven years alone does not establish title. A prescriptive easement concerns a use right and generally requires 20 years of qualifying adverse use in Florida.
Remember: Distinguish ownership by adverse possession from a prescriptive right to use land. Permission defeats the adverse character of the use while it continues.
A. An easement created by the owner’s permission
The owner’s permission does not supply adverse possession. The question describes a claim to ownership under adverse-possession statutes.
C. A general warranty covenant
A warranty is a promise about title from a grantor. It is not a method of acquiring title through possession.
D. An automatic prescriptive easement after seven years
The Florida prescriptive-easement period is generally 20 years, with additional elements. It is not an automatic ownership rule at seven years.
Sources: F.S. 95.16, adverse possession with color of title · F.S. 95.18, adverse possession without color of title · Lincolnshire Maximo v. Marina Walk (2d DCA, March 25, 2026)
Report a problem with ttl-7Question 8 · ttl-8 · Dominant and servient estates
Answer D. An appurtenant easement, with Lot A dominant and Lot B servient
An appurtenant easement benefits another parcel. Lot A receives the benefit and is the dominant estate; Lot B bears the burden and is the servient estate. The benefit generally passes with Lot A unless the creating terms provide otherwise. Lot B’s owner retains ownership subject to the defined use right. The easement does not authorize uses beyond its scope.
Remember: Dominant receives the benefit. Servient supplies the burdened land. Do not reverse them just because the driveway is on Lot B.
A. An easement in gross, with Lot B as the dominant estate
An easement in gross benefits a person or entity rather than a dominant parcel. Lot A is the benefiting parcel here.
B. A license that necessarily ends when Lot A is sold
The facts describe a deeded right benefiting land, not merely personal permission that necessarily ends with the owner.
C. A transfer of fee ownership of the driveway to Lot A’s owner
An easement grants a use right. It does not by itself convey fee ownership of the driveway strip.
Sources: SHM Cape Harbour v. Realmark META (2d DCA, 2022) · FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9
Report a problem with ttl-8Question 9 · ttl-9 · General and involuntary judgment liens
Answer A. General and involuntary
A judgment lien is classified as general and involuntary because it can reach qualifying property of the debtor and is imposed without a consensual security grant. F.S. 55.10 requires the prescribed recording in the county for a real-property lien, including the creditor-address requirement. Personal-property judgment liens follow separate filing rules under F.S. 55.202. General does not mean every asset: exemptions, including protected homestead, can prevent attachment.
Remember: General describes the potential property reached, not automatic attachment to all assets statewide. One debt can support a general lien.
B. Specific and voluntary
A consensual mortgage against identified property is the usual specific-and-voluntary example. A judgment lien is imposed through law.
C. General and voluntary
The debtor did not voluntarily give a security interest simply because a court entered a judgment.
D. Specific and involuntary in every case because the lawsuit concerns one debt
The number of debts does not determine general versus specific. The classification concerns the property the lien can reach.
Sources: F.S. 55.10, judgment liens on real property · F.S. 55.202, judgment liens on personal property · Florida Constitution, Article X, Sections 4 and 6 · FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9
Report a problem with ttl-9Your next step toward exam day
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09 / Check the full exam outline
The published Titles, Deeds, and Ownership Restrictions outline has four main headings. This map separates the scored questions and supporting references from topics that deserve more practice.
In this resource: The title-versus-deed explanation and legal-versus-equitable-title reference.
Also review: Connect ownership rights with the interest actually described in the conveyance.
In this resource: Voluntary and involuntary transfer, notice, title evidence, insurance, and the adverse-possession comparison.
Also review: Review descent, wills, escheat, condemnation, and methods of addressing a cloud on title. These nine questions are a focused sample.
In this resource: Four deed types, execution and delivery, deed clauses, statutory deeds, and special-purpose conveyances.
Also review: Practice reading the actual grant, retained interests, warranty limits, exceptions, and reservations.
In this resource: Easements, leases, general and specific liens, public controls, and enforceable private restrictions.
Also review: Review lien priority exceptions, lease terms, and how more than one restriction can affect the same parcel.
DBPR sales associate exam outline, Section IX supplies the 7% exam weight and four headings. FREC Course I syllabus, Section 9 supplies the course objectives, including title evidence, deed clauses, leases, liens, and restrictions.
First name the issue. A deed conveys an interest, recording affects notice and third-party rights, a warranty defines the grantor’s promises, and title insurance covers specified risks. An answer can describe a true rule while answering the wrong question.
Check the scope before applying a shortcut. A general warranty can reach earlier title defects but remains subject to its covenants and exceptions. A special warranty ordinarily concerns claims by, through, or under the grantor. A quitclaim makes no title warranty.
For restrictions, separate ownership from use. An easement need not transfer fee title. A private covenant and public zoning can both apply. For a lien, identify the affected property, whether it is voluntary, and the rule that determines its priority.
Questions about titles and deeds practice
Titles, Deeds, and Ownership Restrictions accounts for 7% of the published DBPR sales associate exam outline, about 7 questions on a 100-question exam. This page has 9 original practice questions plus six worked scenarios. The topic also includes notice, title evidence, leases, liens, and ownership restrictions.
Title describes ownership rights in real property. A deed is a legal instrument used to transfer an interest from a grantor to a grantee. Signing a deed is only part of the conveyance: legal sufficiency, execution, delivery, and acceptance matter. Recording serves the separate function of notice and protection against certain third-party claims.
A general warranty deed provides broad title covenants that can reach defects from before the grantor’s ownership. A usual special warranty limits protection to claims by, through, or under the grantor. A quitclaim conveys the grantor’s interest, if any, without title warranties. Read the actual covenants and exceptions instead of assuming a deed guarantees perfect title.
An ordinary individual conveyance of a Florida freehold interest requires a writing signed by the conveying party in the presence of two subscribing witnesses under F.S. 689.01. The grantee ordinarily need not sign the deed to receive title. The statute has provisions for entity conveyances and qualifying electronic execution. The two-witness requirement does not apply to leases or instruments pertaining to a lease.
A valid conveyance between the parties is separate from recordability. Proper delivery and acceptance of an otherwise valid deed can transfer title without recording. F.S. 695.03 requires authorized acknowledgment, proof, or authentication for recording; notarization is the common route. Leaving a deed unrecorded can expose the grantee to competing third-party rights.
No. F.S. 695.01 concerns specified creditors and subsequent purchasers for value without notice. A later buyer who actually knows about an earlier conveyance cannot simply ignore that knowledge and claim protection by recording first. Properly recorded instruments and facts requiring inquiry also matter. Recording cannot cure a forged deed.
An owner’s policy protects the insured owner’s interest against covered title risks. A lender’s policy protects the lender’s insured interest, even if the buyer pays the premium. Coverage depends on the amount, exclusions, exceptions, conditions, and endorsements. Neither policy should be described as covering every title problem.
A chain of title is the succession of ownership transfers. An abstract summarizes recorded instruments and proceedings affecting the property. A legal opinion evaluates title, while title insurance supplies coverage under an insurance contract. A title search or abstract is not itself a policy or a guarantee that the land is free of every claim.
Yes. An owner may need to comply with both public zoning and enforceable private restrictions. Zoning permission does not automatically cancel a private residential-use covenant, and a private covenant cannot authorize a use forbidden by public law. Whether a particular covenant is enforceable remains a separate legal question.
The dominant estate receives the benefit. The servient estate bears the burden. If Lot A has a right to cross Lot B, Lot A is dominant and Lot B is servient. An appurtenant benefit generally passes with the dominant land unless its terms provide otherwise. The servient owner retains the land subject to the easement.
Florida’s adverse-possession statutes use a seven-year period plus additional requirements, with separate provisions for possession with and without color of title. A prescriptive easement generally requires 20 years of qualifying adverse use. Adverse possession concerns ownership; prescription concerns a use right. Neither arises automatically from elapsed time, and permissive use is not adverse.
A judgment lien is generally classified as general and involuntary. Attachment still depends on the required recording or filing and the debtor’s property interests. Florida’s constitutional homestead protection can prevent ordinary judgment-lien attachment, subject to constitutional exceptions. General does not mean every asset is reachable.
No. F.S. 197.122 gives the ad valorem property-tax lien first priority on the assessed property. An earlier mortgage recording date does not overcome that statutory priority. For other liens, check the lien type, governing statute, and relevant recording or filing facts instead of assuming one universal priority rule.
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Sources and editorial review
Published by Pass Florida. Reviewed on for rules in effect through .
This review checked the questions, explanations, and scenarios against the published DBPR sales associate outline, FREC Course I syllabus, cited Florida Statutes, Florida appellate decisions, and state insurance references for rules effective by the stated cutoff.
The exam weight comes from the January 2025 candidate booklet, and the course objectives come from the published Course I syllabus effective January 1, 2023. A later calendar year does not by itself create a new syllabus. The March 2026 prescriptive-easement decision is included as a legal reference, not presented as a newly added exam topic.
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