HB 1227 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to online marketplace transparency; 2
creating s. 559.953, F.S.; defining terms; requiring 3
online marketplaces to require high -volume third-party 4
sellers using their service to provide certain 5
information to the online marketplace within a 6
specified timeframe; requiring the online marketplace 7
to verify such information, or changes to such 8
information, within a specified timeframe; providing 9
that information on valid government -issued tax 10
documents is presumed verified as of the issuance 11
date; requiring an online marketplace to update and 12
require certification of the updated information at 13
least annually; requiring the online marketplace to 14
suspend certain sellers who do not provide such a 15
certification or updated information; requiring online 16
marketplaces to disclose certain information in a 17
specified manner; requiring disclosure of suppliers; 18
providing for enforcement; authorizing the Department 19
of Legal Affairs to adopt rules; preempting the 20
regulation of the verification and disclosure of such 21
information to the department; providing an effective 22
date. 23
24
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Section 1. Section 559.953, Fl orida Statutes, is created 27
to read: 28
559.953 Disclosure of information by online marketplaces. — 29
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 30
(a) "Consumer product" means a product that is used or 31
bought for use primarily for personal, family, o r household 32
purposes. 33
(b) "High-volume third-party seller" means a participant 34
in an online marketplace that is a third -party seller and that, 35
in any continuous 12 -month period during the previous 24 months, 36
has entered into 200 or more discrete sales or transactions of 37
new or unused consumer products resulting in the accumulation of 38
an aggregate total of $5,000 or more in gross revenues. Only 39
sales or transactions made through the online marketplace for 40
which payment was processed by the online marketpla ce, either 41
directly or through the seller's payment processer, count 42
towards the calculation for the number of discrete sales or 43
transactions or the gross revenues. 44
(c) "Online marketplace" means any consumer -directed 45
electronically based or accessed pla tform that: 46
1. Includes features that allow for, facilitate, or enable 47
third-party sellers to engage in the sale, purchase, payment, 48
storage, shipping, or delivery of a consumer product in the 49
United States; 50
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2. Is used by one or more third -party sellers for such 51
purposes; and 52
3. Has a contractual or similar relationship with 53
consumers governing their use of the platform to purchase 54
consumer products. 55
(d) "Seller" means a person who sells, offers to sell, or 56
contracts to sell a consumer product throu gh an online 57
marketplace. 58
(e) "Third-party seller" means any seller, independent of 59
an operator, a facilitator, or an owner of an online 60
marketplace, that sells, offers to sell, or contracts to sell a 61
consumer product in the United States through an onli ne 62
marketplace. The term does not include, with respect to an 63
online marketplace: 64
1. A seller that operates the online marketplace; 65
2. A business entity that has made available to the 66
general public the entity's name, business address, and working 67
contact information; 68
3. A business entity with an ongoing contractual 69
relationship with the online marketplace to provide the online 70
marketplace with the manufacture, distribution, wholesaling, or 71
fulfillment of shipments of consumer products; or 72
4. A business entity that has provided to the online 73
marketplace identifying information that has been verified. 74
(f) "Verify" means to confirm information and 75
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documentation provided to an online marketplace by the use of 76
one or more methods that enable the on line marketplace to 77
reliably determine that any information and documents provided 78
which correspond to the seller or an individual acting on the 79
seller's behalf are valid, not misappropriated, and not 80
falsified. 81
(2) VERIFICATION.— 82
(a) An online marketp lace shall require that any high -83
volume third-party seller on the online marketplace provide the 84
online marketplace with all of the following information within 85
10 business days after qualifying as a high -volume third-party 86
seller: 87
1. Deposit account inf ormation from a financial 88
institution. If the high -volume third-party seller does not have 89
deposit account information at a financial institution, such 90
seller must provide the online marketplace with the name of the 91
payee for payments issued by the online marketplace to the high -92
volume third-party seller, and the information must be confirmed 93
by the online marketplace or by another third party contracted 94
by the online marketplace. 95
2. Contact information, including all of the following: 96
a. A valid e-mail address and working phone number. 97
b. If the high-volume third-party seller is an individual, 98
a copy of a valid government -issued photo identification for the 99
individual which includes the individual's name and physical 100
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address. 101
c. If the high-volume third-party seller is not an 102
individual, either a copy of a government -issued photo 103
identification for an individual acting on behalf of such seller 104
which includes such individual's name and physical address or a 105
copy of a government -issued record or tax do cument that includes 106
the business name and physical address of the high -volume third-107
party seller. 108
3. A business tax identification number or, if the high -109
volume third-party seller does not have a business tax 110
identification number, a taxpayer identifica tion number. 111
(b) The online marketplace shall verify the information 112
the high-volume third-party seller provides under this 113
subsection within 10 business days after receiving such 114
information. If the high -volume third-party seller provides any 115
changes to the information, the online marketplace must verify 116
such changes within 10 business days after receiving the 117
information. If a high -volume third-party seller provides a copy 118
of a valid government -issued tax document, the information 119
contained within such tax document shall be presumed verified as 120
of the date of issuance of such document. 121
(c) The online marketplace shall, on at least an annual 122
basis, notify each high -volume third-party seller on the online 123
marketplace that such seller must inform the onli ne marketplace 124
of any changes to the information previously provided by the 125
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seller within 10 business days after receiving the notification. 126
The notification must require the high -volume third-party seller 127
to either electronically certify that the high -volume third-128
party seller's information is unchanged or provide changes to 129
the information as necessary. If the online marketplace becomes 130
aware that a high-volume third-party seller has not certified 131
that such information is unchanged or provided such change d 132
information within 10 business days after receiving such 133
notification, the online marketplace must suspend the selling 134
privileges of the high -volume third-party seller until such 135
seller provides such certification or changed information. 136
(3) DISCLOSURE.— 137
(a) An online marketplace shall disclose to consumers in a 138
conspicuous manner on the product listing, through a 139
conspicuously placed link on the product listing, or in the 140
order confirmation message or other document or communication 141
made to the consumer after the purchase is finalized and in the 142
consumer's account transaction history, all of the following 143
information of any high -volume third party seller with an 144
aggregate total of $20,000 or more in annual gross revenues on 145
its online platform: 146
1. The full name of the high -volume third-party seller. 147
2. The full physical address of the high -volume third-148
party seller. If the full physical address of the high -volume 149
third-party seller is the primary residential address of such 150
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high-volume third-party seller, only the city, state, and 151
country of the high-volume third-party seller is required to be 152
disclosed. 153
3. Contact information for the high -volume third-party 154
seller, including a working telephone number and working e -mail 155
address to allow for direc t, unhindered communication with the 156
high-volume third-party seller. If the only telephone number of 157
the high-volume third-party seller is the personal telephone 158
number of the high-volume third-party seller, then only the 159
working e-mail address is required to be disclosed or the online 160
marketplace must provide other means of electronic messaging to 161
contact such seller. 162
4. The identification of any seller that supplies the 163
consumer product to the consumer upon purchase, if such seller 164
is different than the high-volume third-party seller listed on 165
the consumer product listing before the purchase. 166
(b) If an online marketplace becomes aware that a high -167
volume third-party seller has made a false representation to the 168
online marketplace in order to restrict ac cess to the full 169
physical address, telephone number, or e -mail address required 170
in paragraph (a), the online marketplace must, after providing 171
the seller with written or electronic notice, require the full 172
disclosure of the high -volume third-party seller's full physical 173
address, telephone number, and e -mail address. If such 174
information is not disclosed within 10 business days after 175
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notification, the online marketplace must suspend the selling 176
privileges of the high -volume third-party seller on the online 177
marketplace until the required information is disclosed. 178
(c) An online marketplace shall provide to consumers, in a 179
conspicuous manner on the consumer product listing of any high -180
volume third-party seller, a reporting mechanism that allows for 181
electronic and telephonic reporting of suspicious marketplace 182
activity to the online marketplace and a message encouraging 183
individuals seeking goods for purchase to report suspicious 184
activity to the online marketplace. 185
(d) This subsection does not prevent an online marketplace 186
from providing any additional measures, electronic or otherwise, 187
that it deems necessary to prevent the sale of fraudulent, 188
stolen, or counterfeit consumer products on its platform. 189
(4) ENFORCEMENT.—A violation of this section constitutes a 190
violation of the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act under 191
part II of chapter 501. A person who violates this section is 192
subject to the penalties and remedies provided therein. 193
(5) RULES.—The Department of Legal Affairs may adopt rules 194
with respect to collecting and verifying information under this 195
section, provided that such rules are limited to what is 196
necessary to collect and verify such information. 197
(6) PREEMPTION.—The regulation of the requirement for 198
online marketplaces to verify information f rom high-volume 199
third-party sellers on a one -time or ongoing basis or disclose 200
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information to consumers is preempted to the department. A local 201
governmental entity may not establish, mandate, or otherwise 202
require the verification or disclosure of such info rmation. 203
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 204