Law / United States / 
Florida
Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (section 501.059 as rewritten in 2021)
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Consent, Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- Screen an unsolicited telephonic sales call, text message, or voicemail transmission against the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' quarterly 'no sales solicitation calls' listing, and do not place such a communication to a number on it.
- Identify yourself immediately, by your true first and last name and the business on whose behalf you are soliciting, upon making contact in an unsolicited telephonic sales call.
- Do not initiate an outbound telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission, including one soliciting a charitable contribution, to a person who has previously told you they do not wish to receive it.
- Obtain the called party's prior express written consent, naming the seller and the number to be called, before placing an unsolicited telephonic sales call, text message, or voicemail transmission that uses an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers or a recorded message played on connection.
- Transmit your originating telephone number, and your name where your carrier makes it available, to the caller identification service of anyone you place a telephonic sales call to, and do not intentionally alter your voice to disguise your identity in order to defraud, confuse, or injure the recipient.
- If a called party replies STOP to a text message solicitation, stop sending text message solicitations to that number within 15 days; a called party who never consented may sue over text messages only if they keep coming after that window.
- These identification, listing and automated-system duties do not apply to a call made in response to the called person's express request, a call primarily about an existing debt or contract not yet paid or performed, or a call to a person with whom you have a prior or existing business relationship; the duty to honor a person's own request not to be contacted again applies regardless.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
Actual damages or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, is the statutory floor; the court may treble the award, up to $1,500 per violation, on a finding that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated the section.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 500
- Per person reckless
- 1,500
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or the Department of Legal Affairs may bring a civil (not criminal) penalty action under Fla. Stat. § 501.059(9); a called party aggrieved by a violation has a private civil action under Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10).
What this law does
The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act requires a telephone solicitor to identify itself immediately by its true name and the business it solicits for, to screen against the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' 'no sales solicitation calls' listing, and to honor a called party's own request not to be contacted again, whether the call is for a sale or a charitable solicitation.
The identification, listing and automated-system rules reach only an unsolicited telephonic sales call, which excludes a call made in response to the called person's express request, a call primarily about an existing debt or contract not yet paid or performed, a call to a person with whom the solicitor has a prior or existing business relationship, and a newspaper publisher's call about its business.
Since chapter 2021-185 (CS/SB 1120, effective ) rewrote the section, a person may not place an unsolicited telephonic sales call, text message, or voicemail that uses an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers or a recorded message without the called party's prior express written consent, a definition chapter 2023-150 (CS/CS/HB 761, effective ) narrowed from a system that selects or dials numbers to one that both selects and dials them.
A called party aggrieved by a violation may sue to enjoin it and recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, trebled up to $1,500 for a willful or knowing violation, but a suit over text message solicitations requires the called party to first reply STOP and give the sender 15 days to comply. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or the Department of Legal Affairs may separately bring a civil, not criminal, penalty action.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends automated outreach.