Can You Sue a Telemarketer in Florida? Eligibility, Evidence and Next Steps

Who can bring a claim

These are the situations I look for first:

• Your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry and the same company, or someone calling for it, made more than one sales call to you within 12 months in violation of the rules.
• Your number is on Florida's Do Not Call list and you received an unsolicited sales call or text.
• A sales call to your cell phone used a recorded or AI voice and you never gave the written consent the law requires.
• You told the company to stop and the calls or texts kept coming.

You do not need all four. One can be enough. Courts disagree about some federal Do Not Call claims, including claims based on the National Registry, texts and calls to cell phones. Separate rules govern prerecorded and AI-voice calls. The details of your situation matter.

Calls that may fall outside the Do Not Call rules

• Calls from a company you recently did business with or asked to contact you. Florida's law leaves out calls made at your request and calls from a business you have a prior or existing relationship with.
• Political calls, surveys and charity calls. The Do Not Call lists are aimed at sales calls.
• Debt collection calls. A different set of laws covers those.

Two things to know. Separate robocall rules can still apply to political, charity, survey and debt-collection calls. And telling a company to stop can end its business-relationship exception.

Scam calls can violate the law too, but identifying a responsible person or business and collecting from them may be difficult.

What the law allows

Under Florida's telephone-solicitation law, a person who received an unlawful call can ask a court to stop the calls and can seek actual damages or $500, whichever is greater. If the court finds the violation was willful or knowing, it may increase the award up to three times.

The federal law, the TCPA, allows actual monetary loss or statutory damages, whichever is greater: $500 per qualifying violation under its robocall provision, or up to $500 under its Do Not Call provision. A court may increase the award up to three times for willful or knowing violations.

None of that is a prediction. What a claim is worth depends on how many calls qualify and what can be proved. In some Florida cases, the losing side may have to pay the other side's attorney's fees and costs. Whether that provision applies depends on the transaction and the claim. That is one reason I look hard at the facts before filing.

The evidence that decides these cases

I spent nearly two decades defending companies in court. Cases like these turn on records. Start saving them now:

1. Screenshots of your call log and every text thread, with the numbers, dates and times showing.
2. Voicemails. Do not delete them.
3. Proof your number is on a list. DoNotCall.gov can email you a confirmation of your registration date. Florida's site lets you verify your number.
4. Your STOP reply and every text that came after it.
5. Notes from each call: the company name, what they were selling, any website or callback number, and whether you were transferred.

Two cautions. Do not record a live call without everyone's consent; Florida generally requires all parties to agree. And do not answer in a way meant to draw more calls. If you suspect a scam, do not reply or click links; save the message and get advice.

The defense you will hear: consent

The company may say you agreed. Maybe you filled out a web form for a quote, entered a contest or texted a keyword. That can matter. So tell your lawyer everything you remember signing up for. Florida's law spells out what written consent for automated sales calls must contain, including your signature and a clear statement that you are agreeing to those calls. Some consent can be revoked. Whether and how depends on the agreement and the rules that apply.

Who you actually sue

The person on the phone often works for a call center hired by someone else. The company whose product is being sold can be responsible for calls made on its behalf. When a case is filed, phone and messaging records can sometimes identify who was behind the calls. Not always.

Next steps

1. Check that your number is on the national registry and on Florida's list. Here is how the Florida Do Not Call list works.
2. For sales texts from a real company, reply STOP once and keep the thread. If you suspect a scam, do not reply.
3. Preserve all the records and get advice now. Do not wait for more calls.
4. Have a lawyer look at it. I review unwanted call and text claims anywhere in Florida, and the review is free.

Official sources

• 47 U.S.C. § 227 (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)
• 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 (FCC telemarketing rules)
• Florida Statutes § 501.059 (telephone solicitation)
• Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Florida Do Not Call
• National Do Not Call Registry

Frequently asked questions

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