712.01

Definitions.

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712.01 Definitions.As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) “Community covenant or restriction” means any agreement or limitation contained in a document recorded in the public records of the county in which a parcel is located which:
(a) Subjects the parcel to any use restriction that may be enforced by a property owners’ association; or
(b) Authorizes a property owners’ association to impose a charge or assessment against the parcel or the parcel owner.
(2) “Covenant or restriction” means any agreement or limitation contained in a document recorded in the public records of the county in which a parcel is located which subjects the parcel to any use or other restriction or obligation.
(3) “Parcel” means any real property that is subject to any covenant or restriction of a property owners’ association.
(4) “Person” includes the singular or plural, natural or corporate, private or governmental, including the state and any political subdivision or agency thereof as the context for the use thereof requires or denotes and including any property owners’ association.
(5) “Property owners’ association” means a homeowners’ association as defined in s. 720.301, a corporation or other entity responsible for the operation of property in which the voting membership is made up of the owners of the property or their agents, or a combination thereof, and in which membership is a mandatory condition of property ownership, or an association of parcel owners which is authorized to enforce a community covenant or restriction that is imposed on the parcels.
(6) “Root of title” means any title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any person which is the last title transaction to have been recorded at least 30 years before the time when marketability is being determined. The effective date of the root of title is the date on which it was recorded.
(7) “Title transaction” means any recorded instrument or court proceeding that affects title to any estate or interest in land and that describes the land sufficiently to identify its location and boundaries.
History.s. 1, ch. 63-133; s. 11, ch. 65-420; s. 1, ch. 81-242; s. 1, ch. 97-202; s. 56, ch. 2000-258; s. 16, ch. 2000-317; s. 2, ch. 2018-55.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 45 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1969–2025 · leading case: Holland v. Hattaway
Holland v. Hattaway (1983) fladistctapp · cites it 12× “" § 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (1981). [9] We have carefully considered whether an easement for access appurtenant to a parcel of land is an "estate in land" as that term is used in section 712.”
Blanton v. City of Pinellas Park (2004) fla · cites it 2× “§ 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (2003). Stated differently, the root of title is "the most recent deed or other title transaction recorded in the unbroken chain of title at least [thirty years] in the past.”
Cirelli v. Ent (2004) fladistctapp · cites it 4× “" § 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (2002). The courts that have interpreted and applied section 712.”
Sara Watts v. Joggers Run Property Owners Association, Inc. (2025) ca11 · cites it 2× “in which member- ship is a mandatory condition of parcel ownership”), with Fla Stat. § 712.01(5) (defining a property owners’ association as “a homeowners’ association as de- fined in [Section] 702.”
City of Miami v. St. Joe Paper Co. (1978) fla · cites it 3× “The term agency (as contained in this section) does not include municipalities for Section 712.01(1) Florida Statutes, defining terms used in the act, contains the following: "The term person as used herein denotes singular or plural, natural or corporate, private or…”
Cunningham v. Haley (1986) fladistctapp · cites it 6× “NOTES [1] "Root of title" is defined by section 712.01(2) and "means any title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any person and which is the last title transaction to have been recorded at least 30 years prior to the time when marketability is…”
STATE, ETC. v. Contemporary Land Sales, Inc. (1981) fladistctapp · cites it 4× “This case involves the application of the Marketable Record Title Act (§ 712.01 et seq., Fla. Stat. (1963)) to the title to land exposed by the lowering of the water level of a freshwater lake by a state water control agency.”
Wilson v. Kelley (1969) fladistctapp · cites it 6× “[2] The Act defines a "root of title" as "any title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any person and which is the last title transaction to have been recorded at least thirty years prior to the time when marketability is being determined.”
Nourachi v. United States (2009) flmd · cites it 4× “The Marketable Record Title Act In the event the Court determines that the 1937 deed conveyed to the United States the property Nourachi purchased at the December 2002 tax sale, Nourachi alternatively argues that title should be divested from the United States pursuant to…”
Marshall v. Hollywood, Inc. (1969) fladistctapp · cites it 4× “The Florida Marketable Title Act, Section 712.01, F.S. 1967, F.S.A., was enacted in 1963 and became effective September 1, 1963.”
H & F Land v. Panama City-Bay Co. Airport (1999) fla · cites it 3× “For this exception to apply in the instant case, the 1947 deed from Bay County to the Panama City Airport Board would have had to disclose on its face the common law way of necessity, or the common law way of necessity would have had to constitute a defect in that title, which…”
Florida Department of Transportation v. Clipper Bay Investments, LLC (2015) fla · cites it 2× “The MRTA defines “root of title” as: any title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any person and which is the last title transaction to have been recorded at least 30 years prior to the time when marketability is being determined.”
— 712.01(1) — 1 case
City of Miami v. St. Joe Paper Co. (1978) fla “The term agency (as contained in this section) does not include municipalities for Section 712.01(1) Florida Statutes, defining terms used in the act, contains the following: "The term person as used herein denotes singular or plural, natural or corporate, private or…”
— 712.01(2) — 27 cases
Holland v. Hattaway (1983) fladistctapp “" § 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (1981). [9] We have carefully considered whether an easement for access appurtenant to a parcel of land is an "estate in land" as that term is used in section 712.”
Blanton v. City of Pinellas Park (2004) fla “§ 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (2003). Stated differently, the root of title is "the most recent deed or other title transaction recorded in the unbroken chain of title at least [thirty years] in the past.”
Cirelli v. Ent (2004) fladistctapp “" § 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (2002). The courts that have interpreted and applied section 712.”
H & F Land v. Panama City-Bay Co. Airport (1999) fla “For this exception to apply in the instant case, the 1947 deed from Bay County to the Panama City Airport Board would have had to disclose on its face the common law way of necessity, or the common law way of necessity would have had to constitute a defect in that title, which…”
Florida Department of Transportation v. Clipper Bay Investments, LLC (2015) fla “The MRTA defines “root of title” as: any title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any person and which is the last title transaction to have been recorded at least 30 years prior to the time when marketability is being determined.”
— 712.01(3) — 17 cases
Cunningham v. Haley (1986) fladistctapp “NOTES [1] "Root of title" is defined by section 712.01(2) and "means any title transaction purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any person and which is the last title transaction to have been recorded at least 30 years prior to the time when marketability is…”
City of Miami v. St. Joe Paper Co. (1978) fla “The term agency (as contained in this section) does not include municipalities for Section 712.01(1) Florida Statutes, defining terms used in the act, contains the following: "The term person as used herein denotes singular or plural, natural or corporate, private or…”
Kittrell v. Clark (1978) fladistctapp
Holland v. Hattaway (1983) fladistctapp “" § 712.01(2), Fla. Stat. (1981). [9] We have carefully considered whether an easement for access appurtenant to a parcel of land is an "estate in land" as that term is used in section 712.”
— 712.01(4) — 1 case
— 712.01(5) — 2 cases
Sara Watts v. Joggers Run Property Owners Association, Inc. (2025) ca11 “in which member- ship is a mandatory condition of parcel ownership”), with Fla Stat. § 712.01(5) (defining a property owners’ association as “a homeowners’ association as de- fined in [Section] 702.”
— 712.01(6) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

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