Official records and deeds — Sebastian, Florida

Every deed, mortgage and lien on Sebastian property is recorded in the Official Records of the Indian River County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, not at Sebastian City Hall.

The Clerk's Official Records page lists what goes in: mortgages, deeds, assignments, leases, agreements, notices, claims of liens, satisfactions and other instruments relating to the ownership, transfer, encumbrance of or claims against real or personal property (Indian River County Clerk). Court documents, declarations of domicile and certain federal instruments are recorded as well. The list has a hard edge. The recording of documents is limited to the types of documents that are authorized by statute, and the Clerk states that a person's desire to have a paper appear in the Official Records is not a sufficient legal basis for recording it.

Two county offices share one Sebastian address. The Indian River County Property Appraiser runs a Sebastian Office at 1921 U.S. 1, open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, phone (772) 226-1133, and its home page states that property deeds are available at the Clerk of the Court (Property Appraiser). The Clerk keeps a Sebastian Office at 1921 U.S. Highway 1, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30 am to 5 pm, phone (772) 226-1147 (Clerk Official Records). The Clerk's pages list that Sebastian Office as a contact location; the Records Service Center for copies is at the Indian River County Courthouse, 2000 16th Avenue, Vero Beach (Copies and Records Research).

Recording order matters. Under Florida law, a recorded instrument is notice to all persons from the time the Clerk affixes its official register number, and an instrument bearing the lower number has priority over an instrument bearing a higher number (F.S. 695.11). For two mortgages on the same Sebastian Highlands lot, for example, the sequence of those numbers determines the priority of recordation.

Sebastian deeds, mortgages and liens can be searched free online in the Indian River County Official Records Search, and certified copies come from the Clerk's Records Service Center in Vero Beach.

The online system, hosted at ori.indian-river.org, offers name search, document search, case number search, book and page search, consideration, parcel id search, record date, instrument number and legal search (Indian River County Official Records Search). A parcel id search is one way to look up recorded instruments tied to a single Sebastian parcel, such as a house off Barber Street or Roseland Road, before a purchase.

Viewing is free. The Clerk states that many records can be searched and viewed online, and uncertified copies printed for free (Clerk). For a mailed or counter request, the Clerk asks for the CFN (Clerk File Number) or book and page number. In-person payment can be made by cash, check, money order or credit card, and mail orders by check or money order. A certified copy is a separate product: the Indian River County fee schedule lists eCertifying copies of any instrument in official records at $9.00, and copies of public records not more than 14 by 8 1/2 inches at $1.00 per page (Clerk Fee Schedule).

Owners should read property mailers with care. On October 11, 2026, the Indian River County Property Appraiser home page told property owners to use caution because a mailer advertisement is being received by property owners, next to its note that property deeds are available at the Clerk of the Court (ircpa.org). A Sebastian owner can also sign up for the Clerk's free Property Fraud Alert, an electronic notification service that alerts a subscriber via email every time a document is recorded with a requested name at the Indian River County Clerk of Court Recording Office (Property Fraud Alert).

Recording a Sebastian deed costs $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, plus documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 of the consideration.

The Indian River County Clerk sets out the charges on its Official Records page: the recording fee for recording a document is $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional, with a $1.00 fee for each name over 4 to be indexed (Clerk Official Records). The Clerk also serves as a collection agent for the Florida Department of Revenue. The current documentary stamp tax fee for a deed is .70 cents per $100.00 based on the consideration, and for a mortgage .35 cents per $100.00 based on the mortgage amount, always rounded up to the next hundred. A mortgage also owes intangible tax at 2 mills (.002) of the actual mortgage amount.

The arithmetic is simple for a Sebastian sale. A deed reciting $300,000 of consideration is 3,000 units of $100, and at the rate of 70 cents on each $100 of consideration set in section 201.02 (F.S. 201.02), 3,000 times $0.70 is $2,100 in documentary stamps, before the page fees. Underpaying is costly: the Clerk notes that failure to pay the full amount of documentary stamps due results in a penalty equal to 10 percent of any unpaid tax that may escalate to 50 percent, plus interest of one percent per month from recordation (Indian River County Clerk). Because consideration can be technical, the Clerk refers questions to Florida Department of Revenue Taxpayer Services at 800-352-3671.

A deed for Sebastian property must show the printed name and post-office address of each signer, each witness and the preparer, plus blank margins reserved for the Indian River County Clerk.

Section 695.26 of the Florida Statutes bars the Indian River County Clerk, like every Florida clerk, from recording a Sebastian instrument that conveys, assigns or encumbers real property unless several items appear on it (F.S. 695.26). The name of each person who executed it must be legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped beneath the signature, with that person's post-office address. The name and post-office address of the natural person who prepared the instrument must appear. Each witness needs a printed name and post office address, and any notary public needs a printed name beneath the signature. A 3-inch by 3-inch space at the top right-hand corner on the first page and a 1-inch by 3-inch space on each later page are reserved for the clerk. Any instrument other than a mortgage that conveys an interest in real property must also print the name and post-office address of each grantee.

The witness address rule is recent. The Indian River County Clerk posts a notice that effective January 1, 2024, all instruments that convey, assign, encumber, or otherwise dispose of any interest in real property must contain the post office address of each witness to the instrument (Clerk Official Records). The Clerk adds that either a physical address or a post office box meets the requirement, and that the rule covers leases and agreements for deed but not notices of commencement.

Some papers are outside section 695.26: instruments executed before July 1, 1991, court decrees and orders, wills, plats, and instruments executed outside Florida (F.S. 695.26). A deed that a Sebastian seller signs and acknowledges in another state is therefore outside these section 695.26 format rules.

An unrecorded deed or mortgage on Sebastian property is not effective against later buyers or creditors who lack notice, which is why title work in Indian River County starts with the Official Records.

Section 695.01 states that no conveyance, transfer, or mortgage of real property, nor any lease for a term of 1 year or longer, is good and effectual against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration and without notice unless it is recorded according to law (F.S. 695.01). The same section reaches public liens. A lien by a governmental entity for an improvement, service, fine, or penalty, other than taxes, assessments or utilities, is effective against buyers only if recorded in the official records of the county, so a fine-based lien from a city such as Sebastian has to appear in the Indian River County records to bind a later purchaser.

Documents can also reach the Indian River County Clerk electronically. The Clerk accepts e-recording through CSC (Corporation Service Company), ePN (eRecording Partners Network) and Simplifile, and lists the Recording Department at 772-226-3100, Option 2, Option 6 (Clerk E-Recording). The same Recording Department handles questions about the January 2024 witness address rule for Sebastian deeds.

A Sebastian improvement valued at more than $5,000 needs a Notice of Commencement recorded with the Clerk of Courts before work starts, whether or not the city requires a permit.

A City of Sebastian building permit page states that, to avoid paying twice for improvements, Florida Statute 713.13 requires any work that is valued more than $5000 to file a Notice of Commencement and have it recorded with the clerk of courts prior to starting the work (City of Sebastian). The notice is recorded in the clerk's office and a certified copy or notarized statement is posted at the job site (F.S. 713.13). If work does not begin within 90 days after recording, the notice is void, and the standard form sets an expiration date 1 year after the date of recording unless a different date is specified.

The permit side ties back to the record. Florida law directs a permitting authority such as the Sebastian Building Department to require a copy of the notice of commencement before the first inspection if the direct contract is greater than $5,000 (F.S. 713.135). Claims of liens are among the instruments the Clerk lists as recorded, and the mechanic's lien entries on the Indian River County fee schedule list $20.00 for issuance of a certificate by the Clerk (Clerk Fee Schedule).

Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the Indian River County Clerk of the Circuit Court website, Official Records and fee schedule pages.