What is the Marketable Title Act?

The Florida Marketable Title Act (MTA) is a law designed to protect owners of real estate from any potential defects in the title to a property. The law states that any party who has owned a piece of land for a period of 30 years or more can obtain a “marketable title” for the property, which makes the title free from any known doubts or defects. The purpose of the law is to provide assurance of a clear title so that it can be bought and sold with confidence. Under the law, the title of the property and the characters associated with it are extended “back” to the original owner who obtained the property, or to anyone who has owned it for the past 30 years. This is done by providing “title insurance,” which is a policy of insurance issued by a title company that pays out if there are any defects in the title. The MTA also requires that all title searches must be conducted by a qualified attorney or a title abstractor. This is to ensure that any issues with the title are addressed before a title is transferred. Additionally, the law requires that any title to real property in Florida must contain a statement indicating that the title meets the requirements of the act. The MTA is an important law to protect buyers, sellers, and lenders of real estate in Florida. It protects them by providing assurance that the property is free of any potential defects in the title so that it can be bought and sold with confidence.

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