Starting on January 1, 2024, Florida Statutes Section 695.26(1)(c) will require recordable documents that include the names of witnesses to also include the post office address of each witness.
This new requirement applies to any “instrument by which the title to real property or any interest therein is conveyed, assigned, encumbered, or otherwise disposed of.” Documents that affect the ownership of real property and include witness lines will need to have the name and post office address of each witness printed under the witness signature line. Documents that don’t require witness lines but still includes them must also meet this new requirement or may be rejected by the county recording clerk. Documents that do not include witness lines are not subject to the address requirement.
Florida Statutes Section 626.26(3) provides a list of documents that are exempt from witness requirements, including instruments executed, acknowledged, or proved outside of Florida. Other exempt documents include wills, plats, instruments prepared by any public officer other than a notary, and a decree, order judgment or writ of any court.
Beginning January 1, 2024, DocMagic will be updating Florida recordable instruments to include a line labeled “address” under each witness signature line to indicate that the witness postal address should be printed in addition to the name of each witness. Borrower signature lines are not affected as they already show the printed borrower name and address.
It should be noted that DocMagic does not receive the data needed to populate witness information so the witness signature and postal address lines will be blank to allow for ink signatures.
