| 15 | 15 | | An act relating to debt relief services; amending s. 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | 817.803, F.S.; providing an exception from specified 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | provisions for telemarketers and sellers who provide 4 |
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| 18 | 18 | | debt relief services under certain circumstances; 5 |
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| 19 | 19 | | defining terms; providing an effective date. 6 |
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| 20 | 20 | | 7 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 8 |
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| 22 | 22 | | 9 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Section 1. Section 817.803, Florida Statutes, is amended 10 |
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| 24 | 24 | | to read: 11 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 817.803 Exceptions. —Nothing in This part does not apply 12 |
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| 26 | 26 | | applies to: 13 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) Any debt management or credit counseling services 14 |
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| 28 | 28 | | provided in the practice of law in this state .; 15 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) Any person who engages in debt adjustment to adjust 16 |
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| 30 | 30 | | the indebtedness owed to such person .; or 17 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (3) Any of the following entities or their subsidiaries: 18 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (a) The Federal National Mortgage Association .; 19 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (b) The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation .; 20 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (c) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a public 21 |
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| 35 | 35 | | corporation created in s. 420.504 .; 22 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (d) A bank, bank holding company, trust company, savings 23 |
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| 37 | 37 | | and loan association, credit union, credit card bank, or savings 24 |
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| 38 | 38 | | bank that is regulated and supervised by the Office of the 25 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Page 2 of 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 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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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, 26 |
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| 52 | 52 | | the Federal Reserve, t he Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 27 |
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| 53 | 53 | | the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of 28 |
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| 54 | 54 | | Financial Regulation of the Department of Financial Services, or 29 |
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| 55 | 55 | | any state banking regulator .; 30 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (e) A consumer reporting agency as defined in the Federal 31 |
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| 57 | 57 | | Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 1681 -1681y, as it 32 |
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| 58 | 58 | | existed on April 5, 2004 .; or 33 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (f) Any subsidiary or affiliate of a bank holding company, 34 |
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| 60 | 60 | | its employees and its exclusive agents acting under written 35 |
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| 61 | 61 | | agreement. 36 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (4)(a) Any telemarketer or seller wh o provides any debt 37 |
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| 63 | 63 | | relief service within the scope of the Telemarketing and 38 |
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| 64 | 64 | | Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 6101 -39 |
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| 65 | 65 | | 6108, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. part 310, and 40 |
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| 66 | 66 | | who therefore is required to comply with such federal 41 |
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| 67 | 67 | | regulation, if such telemarketer or seller does not receive from 42 |
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| 68 | 68 | | the debtor and disburse to a creditor any money or other thing 43 |
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| 69 | 69 | | of value, in accordance with the definition of debt management 44 |
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| 70 | 70 | | services under s. 817.801(4)(b). 45 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (b) As used in this subsection, the terms "debt relief 46 |
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| 72 | 72 | | service," "seller," and "telemarketer" have the same meaning as 47 |
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| 73 | 73 | | in 16 C.F.R. s. 310.2. 48 |
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| 74 | 74 | | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 49 |
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