House Deed
 

Please bear with me...

I have an 'Original recorded Warranty Deed' from Peninsula Land & Title company.

Would that document be the deed to my house proving that I own it?

thank you!

I would call the county property records department and ask for a copy of your recorded deed. You can also do a search on the county property website to see when the last transfer of ownership was made, and who the current owner is.

Sure, I use it for proof I "live" here, car title change etc.

Just because the title company says it has been recorded, doesn't mean that it was. It should have a stamped receipt from the county, and it should be available in the county records office. During the housing boom in 2006 or so, a lot of mortgages were bought and sold very quickly, and the mortgage holders never bothered to actually record the deed at the county office. When they tried to foreclose on the mortgage, some of them couldn't because the county records showed another mortgage holder, that was often a bank that was no longer in business. The official owner of a property is who the county says it is.

sumter county property website
 

I think this is the website 'retiredguy" is referring to:

Record Search : Sumter County Property Appraiser

Once there, in the top bar, click on "Record Search/GIS Map" and enter your street address in the corresponding white box. Then click enter.

Another window opens. When your record displays, scroll down the page and find the sale date on the left side that corresponds to your purchase. Click on the red numbers in the "OR Book/Page" next to sale date. Another window opens. On the right side, in small type, find "View Document" That's the deed that Sumter County has for you. Good luck.

Thanks. That's correct, assuming the OP lives in Sumter County. There are similar websites for Lake and Marion counties.

Thank you, everyone!!

Not correct. You should consult a lawyer before giving legal advice.

What is not correct? I'm not a lawyer. But, if I asked a lawyer who owned a property, I think the first place they would go would be to the county records. Where else would they go? The county maintains the official property ownership records. I guess someone could challenge the county records in court, but, if they won, the county would just change their records.

You said: "whoever the county says owns the land, is who owns it". That is simply wrong.

There is no obligation to "Record" a Deed in Florida or in any other state that I know of. Ownership transfers upon execution of a deed, not the recording of a deed.

Obviously you're not a lawyer, because any 1st Year Law Student would know better.

Why get an attorney when all that is needed is checking the county record? If that doesn’t match then the phone call

Deed
 

Yes

The problem is that, if the county records show a recorded deed with a later date than your unrecorded deed, you may no longer own the property because the unrecorded deed may be void. So, I think that verifying that the deed has been recorded is a good thing for the OP to do.

:popcorn::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Prove it to who? This is the key question for proof.
In a court of law that has rules of evidence, you need an ‘official copy’ of the deed marked by the local government in many cases. If you want to prove it to me, a photocopy would be good enough to convince me. Perhaps the same to prove residency to get a library card. Context matters.