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Florida Senate - 2025 CS for CS for SB 846 By the Committees on Rules; and Commerce and Tourism; and Senators Polsky, Pizzo, Smith, and Arrington 595-03658-25 2025846c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to advertisements for representation 3 services; amending s. 117.05, F.S.; prohibiting 4 notaries public from using specified terms to describe 5 themselves under certain circumstances; creating s. 6 117.051, F.S.; creating a civil cause of action for 7 declaratory or injunctive relief and to recover 8 damages and attorney fees and costs; creating s. 9 501.1391, F.S.; requiring certain businesses or 10 persons offering immigration services to post a 11 conspicuous notice with a specified statement; 12 creating a civil cause of action for declaratory or 13 injunctive relief and to recover damages and attorney 14 fees and costs; providing an effective date. 15 16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17 18 Section 1.Subsection (11) of section 117.05, Florida 19 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (10) of that section is 20 republished, to read: 21 117.05Use of notary commission; unlawful use; notary fee; 22 seal; duties; employer liability; name change; advertising; 23 photocopies; penalties. 24 (10)A notary public who is not an attorney who advertises 25 the services of a notary public in a language other than 26 English, whether by radio, television, signs, pamphlets, 27 newspapers, or other written communication, with the exception 28 of a single desk plaque, shall post or otherwise include with 29 the advertisement a notice in English and in the language used 30 for the advertisement. The notice shall be of a conspicuous 31 size, if in writing, and shall state: I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY 32 LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, AND I MAY NOT 33 GIVE LEGAL ADVICE OR ACCEPT FEES FOR LEGAL ADVICE. If the 34 advertisement is by radio or television, the statement may be 35 modified but must include substantially the same message. 36 (11)(a)Literal translation of the phrase Notary Public 37 into a language other than English is prohibited in an 38 advertisement for notarial services. 39 (b)A notary public who is not authorized to represent a 40 person in an immigration matter may not, when advertising his or 41 her notary public services, use the terms notario pblico, 42 notario, immigration assistant, immigration consultant, or 43 immigration specialist, or any other designation or title, in 44 any language, which conveys or implies that he or she possesses 45 professional legal skills in immigration law. 46 Section 2.Section 117.051, Florida Statutes, is created to 47 read: 48 117.051Civil cause of action.A person aggrieved by a 49 violation of s. 117.05(10) or (11) has a civil cause of action 50 against the entity violating such provision for, where 51 appropriate: 52 (1)Declaratory or injunctive relief. 53 (2)Actual damages. 54 (3)Reasonable attorney fees and costs. 55 Section 3.Section 501.1391, Florida Statutes, is created 56 to read: 57 501.1391Fraud prevention in the advertisement of 58 immigration services. 59 (1)A business or person offering immigration services, 60 other than a person holding an active license to practice law in 61 this state or otherwise permitted to practice law or represent 62 others under federal law in an immigration matter, must post on 63 the businesss or persons main website and at the businesss or 64 persons place of business, in English and in every other 65 language in which the business or person provides or offers 66 immigration services, conspicuous notices with the following 67 statement: 68 69 I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW AND MAY 70 NOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE OR ACCEPT FEES FOR LEGAL ADVICE. 71 I AM NOT ACCREDITED TO REPRESENT YOU IN IMMIGRATION 72 MATTERS. 73 74 (2)A person aggrieved by a violation of subsection (1) has 75 a civil cause of action against the person or business violating 76 such provision for, where appropriate: 77 (a)Declaratory or injunctive relief. 78 (b)Actual damages. 79 (c)Reasonable attorney fees and costs. 80 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
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