Deeds and other documents affecting property ownership are recorded in the official records of the Polk County Clerk of Court’s Office. After recording, our office receives electronic copies of these documents. Before these ownership transfers appear on our website, these documents must go through several processes, including review of each individual document to determine intent, mapping, qualification coding, and entry into our records.

The Property Appraiser’s Deed Department typically processes these transfers at minimum of four to six weeks after recording. However, due to an unusually high volume of recorded documents, processing times have been delayed. This time frame can also be affected based on the complexity of the transfers received. For example, if your document will result in a split of your property, it must be sent to the Mapping Department for further review and processing.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in this process.

Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Exemptions shown on our website are for the most recently approved assessment roll. New, changed, and cancelled exemptions should display on our website after we receive new roll approval from the Florida Department of Revenue, which occurs early summer before Truth In Millage (TRIM) notices are mailed. Exemptions filed after the March 1 deadline are applied to the following assessment roll year unless a late-file application is approved.

Many visitors to our website have mistakenly assumed that the site address is a physical location, rather than the mailing address of the property. It is crucial to understand the distinction between a physical address and a mailing address. While they often coincide, they are not always the same.

A physical address refers to the specific geographic location where a property is situated. This address falls under the jurisdiction of an administrative area, Unincorporated Polk County (UNINCORP), which governs various aspects such as taxes, land development, zoning, and mortgage regulations for both residential and commercial properties.

On the other hand, a mailing address is the designated location where mail is received. The United States Postal Service assigns names to cities, which may or may not correspond to the jurisdiction in which the physical address is located. This can lead to confusion, as the names used by the Post Office may differ from the official names of cities or the local names given to unincorporated areas within a county.

To alleviate this confusion, we have made modifications to the parcel detail page on our website. These changes include clearly separating the city, state, and zip code from the street address, while explicitly indicating that the City and Zip are provided by the United States Postal Service. Additionally, we have enhanced the Taxing District label by incorporating the term "Municipality" and relocating it to the top line under Parcel Information.

This address has a postal city of FORT MEADE and this does not match the administrative area.