Florida Senate - 2025 SB 454 By Senator Polsky 30-00754-25 2025454__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to telephone solicitation; amending s. 3 501.059, F.S.; revising the definition of the terms 4 telephone solicitor and telephonic sales call; 5 revising the conditions for awarding attorney fees in 6 civil actions relating to telephone solicitation; 7 making technical changes; providing construction and 8 retroactive application; reenacting s. 517.0615(2)(c), 9 F.S., relating to solicitations of interest, to 10 incorporate the amendment made to s. 501.059, F.S., in 11 a reference thereto; providing an effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1.Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subsection (1) and 16 paragraphs (a), (d), and (e) of subsection (11) of section 17 501.059, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 18 501.059Telephone solicitation. 19 (1)As used in this section, the term: 20 (i)Telephone solicitor means a natural person, firm, 21 organization, partnership, association, or corporation, or a 22 subsidiary or affiliate thereof, doing business in this state, 23 who makes or causes to be made a telephonic sales call, 24 including, but not limited to, calls made by use of automated 25 dialing or recorded message devices. The term does not include a 26 tax-exempt nonprofit organization or a person or an organization 27 acting on its behalf. 28 (j)Telephonic sales call means a telephone call, text 29 message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose 30 of soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or services, 31 soliciting an extension of credit for consumer goods or 32 services, or obtaining information that will or may be used for 33 the direct solicitation of a sale of consumer goods or services 34 or an extension of credit for such purposes. A phone call, text 35 message, or voicemail transmission is not considered a 36 telephonic sales call if it is made by a tax-exempt nonprofit 37 organization for a religious, charitable, political, or 38 educational purpose. 39 (11)(a)In a any civil action alleging litigation resulting 40 from a transaction involving a violation of this section, the 41 prevailing party, after judgment in the trial court and 42 exhaustion of all appeals, is entitled to if any, shall receive 43 his or her reasonable attorney fees and costs from the 44 nonprevailing party. 45 (d)An Any award of attorney fees or costs becomes shall 46 become a part of the judgment and is subject to execution as the 47 law allows. 48 (e)In a any civil action litigation initiated by the 49 department or the Department of Legal Affairs, the court may 50 award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and costs 51 if the court finds that there was a complete absence of a 52 justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing 53 party or if the court finds bad faith on the part of the losing 54 party. 55 Section 2.The amendments made by this act to s. 501.059, 56 Florida Statutes, are remedial in nature and apply 57 retroactively. 58 Section 3.For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 59 made by this act to section 501.059, Florida Statutes, in a 60 reference thereto, paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 61 517.0615, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 62 517.0615Solicitations of interest. 63 (2)Before any offers or sales are made in connection with 64 an offering, communications by an issuer or any person 65 authorized to act on behalf of the issuer are not deemed to 66 constitute general solicitation or general advertising if the 67 communication is solely for the purpose of determining whether 68 there is any interest in a contemplated securities offering. 69 Requirements imposed under this chapter on written or oral 70 statements made in the course of such communication may be 71 enforced as provided in this chapter. The solicitation or 72 acceptance of money or other consideration or of any commitment, 73 binding or otherwise, from any person is prohibited. 74 (c)A communication in accordance with this subsection is 75 not subject to s. 501.059, regarding telephone solicitations. 76 Section 4.This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.