Esquire Land Title handles residential and commercial closings for Venice and the rest of Sarasota County. We do not keep a storefront in Venice. The work is run out of our Sarasota County office at 866 S Tamiami Trail, Unit 1, Port Charlotte, about twenty minutes down the Trail, and most of a closing never required you to sit in an office anyway.
How a Venice Closing Actually Works
The search, the examination, the commitment, the payoff ordering, the lien and estoppel work, the lender reconciliation and the Closing Disclosure all happen without anyone driving anywhere. What is left is signing, and that can be done at our Port Charlotte office, by mobile notary at your home or your agent’s office in Venice, by mail-away package, or by remote online notarization for documents that qualify. You choose; we arrange it.
In Sarasota County, the Buyer Customarily Pays and Chooses
This catches people moving within Florida. Nothing in the Florida Statutes says who pays for the owner’s title policy — it is negotiable in the contract. But when the contract is silent, county custom decides, and Sarasota County is not like most of the state:
- Sarasota County (Venice, Nokomis, Osprey, North Port): the buyer customarily pays for the owner’s policy — and therefore customarily picks the title company.
- Charlotte County (Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda): the seller customarily pays and picks.
- Lee County (Cape Coral, Fort Myers): the seller customarily pays and picks.
- Collier County (Naples): the buyer customarily pays and picks.
If you are buying in Venice, that choice is usually yours. Under RESPA Section 9 a seller in a residential transaction cannot require you to use a particular title company as a condition of the sale, and Florida promulgates title insurance rates — so the premium is identical wherever the policy is issued. What differs is who does the work.
What Turns Up on Sarasota County Title
- Construction liens from storm repair. Florida’s construction lien law gives a claimant 90 days from last furnishing to record, and the lien attaches to the property, not to whoever hired the contractor.
- Unreleased mortgages paid off years ago whose satisfaction was never recorded.
- Probate gaps in long-held family property — common in an area with this many long-term and seasonal owners.
- Association estoppels and condo disclosures, including milestone inspection and structural reserve items.
- Older platted subdivisions where lots were sold decades ago and the chain has gaps.
A Real Estate Attorney Inside the Firm
When the search turns up one of the above, most title agencies send the file to outside counsel and wait. Irina Prell is a licensed Florida real estate attorney and a Florida Certified General Contractor, and she is inside the firm — so curative work starts the day the defect is found. Where a matter needs formal legal representation, it goes to Prell Spearing Law Firm, a separate law firm.
Who We Work With
Buyers, sellers, realtors, lenders, builders on new construction, and commercial transactions.
Start a Venice Closing
Send us the contract and we will open the file and put your figures in writing. Call (941) 799-4800, email Info@esquirelandtitle.com, or use the contact page. Our nearest offices are Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.