Highlands County Notice of Termination of Commencement Form

The Florida Notice of Termination is a creature of Florida's construction lien statute and has no real equivalent in most other states. Florida is one of the few jurisdictions that requires property owners to record a Notice of Commencement before most private construction projects begin (Fla. Stat. § 713.13). Once that notice hits the public record, it stays there until it expires by statute — 90 days if work has not begun, or one year from recording (or the alternative date stated in the notice) — or until the owner affirmatively cancels it. The Florida Notice of Termination is the cancellation mechanism. If you have a Notice of Commencement on file in a Florida county clerk's office and you need to clear it before its automatic expiration, this is the form Florida law provides for that purpose.

When to use a Florida Notice of Termination

Owners typically file a Notice of Termination when a project finishes earlier than the date contemplated in the original Notice of Commencement, when construction has ceased before completion and all lienors have been paid, when a project is being rebid or restructured under a new contractor, or before a sale or refinance where a stale Notice of Commencement is clouding title. Florida law conditions the right to terminate on payment status — an owner may not record a Notice of Termination until construction is complete or has ceased and all lienors have been paid in full or pro rata in accordance with Fla. Stat. § 713.06(4). The contractor's final payment affidavit attesting to that payment status must accompany the filing.

Statutory contents under Fla. Stat. § 713.132

Section 713.132 controls what a Florida Notice of Termination must contain. The notice must include:

• The same information as the original Notice of Commencement (owner, contractor, lender, property description, surety, designated person to receive notices, and any other items required by § 713.13)
• The book and page reference and the recording date of the original Notice of Commencement
• A stated termination date that is not earlier than 30 days after the Notice of Termination is recorded
• A statement specifying whether the termination applies to all of the real property covered by the Notice of Commencement or only a defined portion
• A statement that all lienors have been paid in full
• A statement that, before recording, the owner served a copy on the contractor and on each lienor who has a direct contract with the owner or who has served a notice to owner

The contractor's final affidavit is part of the filing. An owner is not required to serve the termination on a lienor who has already executed a waiver and release of lien upon final payment under Fla. Stat. § 713.20(2).

Execution and recording

The owner signs the Notice of Termination and the signature is acknowledged before a notary public. The completed instrument is then recorded with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property is located — the same office that holds the original Notice of Commencement. Because the Notice of Termination is a statutory notice and not a conveyance of real property, Florida documentary stamp tax under Chapter 201 does not apply to its recording. Recording fees follow the standard county schedule.

Florida-specific traps that cause problems

The Notice of Termination is one of the more procedurally exact instruments in Florida real estate practice. The recurring failures cluster around timing, service, and accuracy:

• The delayed effective date. Under Fla. Stat. § 713.132(4), the Notice of Commencement does not terminate on the day the Notice of Termination is recorded. It terminates 30 days after recording, or on the expiration date stated in the recorded Notice of Termination, whichever is later. A lienor served with a Notice of Termination can still record a claim of lien up to that effective date — owners and title agents who treat the recording date as the cutoff have the rule wrong.
• Service before recording, not after. The owner must serve the contractor and each direct-contract or notice-to-owner lienor with a copy of the Notice of Termination before the document is recorded, and the recorded notice must affirmatively state that this service occurred. Recording first and serving second does not satisfy the statute.
• Premature filing. A Notice of Termination filed while the project is ongoing, or while any lienor remains unpaid, is defective. The statute conditions the right to terminate on completion or cessation plus payment in full or pro rata distribution under § 713.06(4). The Notice of Termination is not a strategic tool against unpaid lienors.
• Fraud exposure under § 713.132(3). Any lienor damaged by a fraudulent or collusive statement in a Notice of Termination or accompanying affidavit has a private right of action for the resulting damages. Misstating that all lienors have been paid is not a paperwork problem — it creates personal exposure for the owner or contractor who signed.
• Book and page precision. The cross-reference to the original Notice of Commencement must be exact. A wrong book number, page number, or recording date defeats the cross-reference and leaves the original notice arguably uncancelled in the chain.
• Partial terminations need a clear scope. If the termination applies only to part of the property covered by the original Notice of Commencement, the affected portion must be specified clearly. Vague descriptions of which parcels remain encumbered create exactly the title cloud the termination is supposed to clear.
• Final affidavit attachment. The contractor's final payment affidavit travels with the Notice of Termination. Recording without it leaves the filing open to challenge by any lienor who relies on its absence.

Why prompt and accurate recording matters

Until the Notice of Termination becomes effective, the underlying Notice of Commencement continues to function as constructive notice to lienors and title examiners. A buyer's title agent reviewing the public record will treat an active Notice of Commencement as an open lien window, and a lender refinancing the property will require the cloud to be cleared before closing. Recording the Notice of Termination promptly — and correctly, with the required service, the attached final affidavit, and a 30-day forward effective date — starts the clock that ultimately removes the encumbrance from the record.

What is included in the download package

The Deeds.com download package for the Florida Notice of Termination includes the form prepared by our forms development team for use under Fla. Stat. § 713.132, a completed example showing how each statutory element is filled in, and a plain-English guide that walks through the contents requirement, the pre-recording service step, the contractor's final affidavit, and the 30-day effective date rule. Files download instantly after checkout and may be reused for additional Florida properties under the same license.