Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0375 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	HB 375 2025
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
8	8	hb375-00
9	9	Page 1 of 4
10	10	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
11	11
12	12
13	13
14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to telephone solicitation; amending s. 2
16	16	501.059, F.S.; revising the definition of the terms 3
17	17	"telephone solicitor" and "telephonic sales call"; 4
18	18	revising the conditions for awarding attorney fees in 5
19	19	civil actions relating to telephone solicitation; 6
20	20	making technical changes; providing construction and 7
21	21	retroactive application; reenacting s. 517.0615(2)(c), 8
22	22	F.S., relating to solicitations of interest, to 9
23	23	incorporate the amendment made to s. 501.059, F.S., in 10
24	24	a reference thereto; providing an effective date. 11
25	25	12
26	26	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
27	27	14
28	28	Section 1. Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subsection (1) and 15
29	29	paragraphs (a), (d), and (e) of subsection (11) of section 16
30	30	501.059, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 17
31	31	501.059 Telephone solicitation. — 18
32	32	(1) As used in this section, the term: 19
33	33	(i) "Telephone solicitor" means a natural person, firm, 20
34	34	organization, partnership, associati on, or corporation, or a 21
35	35	subsidiary or affiliate thereof, doing business in this state, 22
36	36	who makes or causes to be made a telephonic sales call, 23
37	37	including, but not limited to, calls made by use of automated 24
38	38	dialing or recorded message devices. The term does not include a 25
39	39
40	40	HB 375 2025
41	41
42	42
43	43
44	44	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
45	45	hb375-00
46	46	Page 2 of 4
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
48	48
49	49
50	50
51	51	tax-exempt nonprofit organization or a person or an organization 26
52	52	acting on its behalf. 27
53	53	(j) "Telephonic sales call" means a telephone call, text 28
54	54	message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose 29
55	55	of soliciting a sale of any co nsumer goods or services, 30
56	56	soliciting an extension of credit for consumer goods or 31
57	57	services, or obtaining information that will or may be used for 32
58	58	the direct solicitation of a sale of consumer goods or services 33
59	59	or an extension of credit for such purposes. A phone call, text 34
60	60	message, or voicemail transmission is not considered a 35
61	61	telephonic sales call if it is made by a tax -exempt nonprofit 36
62	62	organization for a religious, charitable, political, or 37
63	63	educational purpose. 38
64	64	(11)(a) In a any civil action alleging litigation 39
65	65	resulting from a transaction involving a violation of this 40
66	66	section, the prevailing party, after judgment in the trial court 41
67	67	and exhaustion of all appeals, is entitled to if any, shall 42
68	68	receive his or her reasonable attorney fees and costs from the 43
69	69	nonprevailing party. 44
70	70	(d) An Any award of attorney fees or costs becomes shall 45
71	71	become a part of the judgment and is subject to execution as the 46
72	72	law allows. 47
73	73	(e) In a any civil action litigation initiated by the 48
74	74	department or the Department of Legal Affair s, the court may 49
75	75	award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and costs 50
76	76
77	77	HB 375 2025
78	78
79	79
80	80
81	81	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
82	82	hb375-00
83	83	Page 3 of 4
84	84	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
85	85
86	86
87	87
88	88	if the court finds that there was a complete absence of a 51
89	89	justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing 52
90	90	party or if the court finds bad faith on the part of th e losing 53
91	91	party. 54
92	92	Section 2. The amendments made by this act to s. 501.059, 55
93	93	Florida Statutes, are remedial in nature and apply 56
94	94	retroactively. 57
95	95	Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 58
96	96	made by this act to section 501.059, Florida Statu tes, in a 59
97	97	reference thereto, paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 60
98	98	517.0615, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 61
99	99	517.0615 Solicitations of interest. — 62
100	100	(2) Before any offers or sales are made in connection with 63
101	101	an offering, communications by an issuer or any person 64
102	102	authorized to act on behalf of the issuer are not deemed to 65
103	103	constitute general solicitation or general advertising if the 66
104	104	communication is solely for the purpose of determining whether 67
105	105	there is any interest in a contemplated securities offering. 68
106	106	Requirements imposed under this chapter on written or oral 69
107	107	statements made in the course of such communication may be 70
108	108	enforced as provided in this chapter. The solicitation or 71
109	109	acceptance of money or other consideration or of any commitment, 72
110	110	binding or otherwise, from any person is prohibited. 73
111	111	(c) A communication in accordance with this subsection is 74
112	112	not subject to s. 501.059, regarding telephone solicitations. 75
113	113
114	114	HB 375 2025
115	115
116	116
117	117
118	118	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
119	119	hb375-00
120	120	Page 4 of 4
121	121	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
122	122
123	123
124	124
125	125	Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 76