Florida debt collection laws

Collectors in Florida must follow both laws. Where the federal statute is the floor, the Florida act often adds a firmer number or a wider reach.

For the banned practices, yes. The list in Fla. Stat. 559.72 (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) begins "In collecting consumer debts, a person may not", so it is not limited to collection agencies. The federal FDCPA, by contrast, leaves out a creditor's own employees collecting in the creditor's own name (Cornell LII, opens in a new tab).

Florida also treats a creditor as a debt collector when it collects its own accounts under a different name (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) that suggests a third party is collecting.

The two laws work together. Florida's act says it is in addition to the federal law and that the more protective rule prevails (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) when they conflict. The federal statute says the same from its side: a state law that gives consumers greater protection (Cornell LII, opens in a new tab) is not inconsistent with it.

Yes, unless it is exempt. A consumer collection agency may not do business in Florida without registering (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) with the Office of Financial Regulation and renewing each year. The state says the registration lets the holder collect consumer debts owed to another (Florida Office of Financial Regulation, opens in a new tab), including third-party collectors that hold debts as an assignee.

Collecting without a required registration is a first-degree misdemeanor (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab).

Section 559.72 lists 19 practices. These six are the ones people most often ask about, each taken from the statute text (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) as it reads in the 2026 Florida Statutes.

Two Florida rules protect a reasonable dispute. A collector may not tell you it will report the debt without also telling you the dispute will be reported, and it may not share a debt it knows you reasonably dispute without saying so (559.72(3), (6) (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab)).

If a collector shared the debt before you disputed it in writing, it must, on your request, tell everyone it told in the previous 90 days about the dispute within 30 days.

The federal validation rule runs alongside. A collector must send a written notice with the amount and the creditor's name, and you have 30 days after receiving it (Cornell LII, opens in a new tab) to dispute the debt. When a debt buyer is involved, Florida also requires written notice of the assignment at least 30 days before any action (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) to collect.

You can sue under Fla. Stat. 559.77 (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab) in the county where the violation happened, or where the collector lives or has its principal place of business. A court can award actual damages, statutory damages up to $1,000, court costs and attorney's fees, and it may add punitive damages or order the collector to stop.

The case must be filed within 2 years of the violation, twice the federal window.

The Office of Financial Regulation must keep records of complaints about anyone who collects debts (Florida Legislature, opens in a new tab), not only registered agencies, and must investigate them. Its complaint page (Florida Office of Financial Regulation, opens in a new tab) offers a Consumer Collection Agency Complaint Form; you sign it under penalty of perjury.

A registered agency must give the Office a written response within 45 days of its request.

The Florida statute also lets the Attorney General act against anyone who violates it; the Attorney General takes complaints through its online form (Florida Attorney General, opens in a new tab). You can file with the CFPB (CFPB, opens in a new tab) as well.