Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act names text messages in its definition of a sales call and gives recipients of unlawful sales texts a $500 claim per violation. A 2023 amendment gives senders 15 days to stop after a STOP reply before the recipient can sue. Here is the 2026 rulebook for texting into Florida, in plain English.
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Yes, with prior express written consent. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act treats a marketing text as a telephonic sales call, with a $500 claim per violation. Since May 25, 2023, a recipient must reply STOP and wait 15 days before suing over texts. Florida's 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. limit is written for calls; its reach to texts is unsettled.
Our guide to texting customers legally covers the federal rules and the SMS marketing guide covers the rest; this page is the Florida layer on top.
Last reviewed: October 2026.
The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. 501.059, is Florida's own version of the TCPA's consent and automated-dialing rules, with its own definitions and its own private right of action. Our SMS TCPA compliance guide covers the federal rules; the FTSA sits on top.
Florida defines a telephonic sales call as a telephone call, text message or voicemail transmission sent to solicit a sale. SMS has no delivery-method loophole here.
Effective May 25, 2023, the automated-system test changed from "selection or dialing" to "selection and dialing." A text recipient must now reply STOP and wait 15 days before suing.
HB 761 narrowed the automated-system test but kept the written-consent rule and the private right of action. Florida keeps its own Do Not Call list, and a separate statute, 501.616(6), limits solicitation call hours; courts have not settled whether those limits reach texts.
The statute's definition reads "a telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose of soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or services." Section 501.059(8)(a) adds a rule: if an automated system selects and dials numbers, or a recorded message plays, the called party's prior express written consent is required.
Plan on prior express written consent for automated marketing texts: a signed, documented agreement to receive them. Verbal or implied consent does not meet that standard.
Under 501.059, an act that demonstrates express consent counts as a signature, such as checking a consent box or replying affirmatively to receive texts. Keep the disclosure the person saw with that click or reply.
If consent is disputed, the FCC puts the burden on the seller to prove a clear disclosure and unambiguous consent. Store the timestamp, number, form text and reply for every contact.
Federal law bars telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the recipient's location. Florida's Telemarketing Act, Fla. Stat. 501.616(6), stops at 8 p.m. and adds a frequency cap. Both limits are written for phone calls, and courts have not settled whether they reach texts. Treat them as the safe line anyway.
The section bars a commercial telephone solicitation phone call before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in the called person's time zone. An 8:30 p.m. text that clears federal law lands in the hour Florida bars for calls.
The cap is three solicitation calls to one person in any 24-hour period on the same subject matter, regardless of the number used. Rotating sender numbers does not reset the count.
People can keep a Florida number after moving away, and new residents can keep an out-of-state number. If a list might include a Florida resident, run the whole campaign on Florida's hours and cap.
The FTSA gives consumers a private right of action, so a recipient can sue you directly, and per-violation damages scale with the size of the list. The 2023 amendments added one precondition for text claims.
Every recipient of an unlawful text can sue on their own, and per-violation damages add up fast across a list.
Actual damages or $500 per violation, whichever is greater. For a willful or knowing violation a court may, at its discretion, award up to three times that.
Before suing over text solicitations, a recipient must reply STOP. You then have 15 days to stop, and may send one text confirming the request. Suit is possible only if texts continue after that.
Run every Florida-touching campaign through this list before you press send. Texas rewrote its rules on September 1, 2025; see our Texas guide. Our voicemail guides for Florida and California cover drops.
The compliance steps sit at list upload and at send time. The Florida-specific settings stay in your hands, so you can run the stricter line.
Scrub each list against the national registry, state Do Not Call data and known-litigator data; ask on the demo which state lists are covered. Every removed number is tagged by reason, and a whole list can be re-scrubbed later without re-uploading.
Bulk campaigns send only inside a window you set, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in each contact's own time zone by default. Close it at 8 p.m. for any list that touches Florida.
A reply with STOP, quit, cancel, end, unsubscribe or another default keyword opts the contact out on the spot and stops their drips and chases. Add keywords such as revoke, and upload or export opt-out lists.
This page is educational information about Florida telemarketing and text-message law as generally understood in October 2026, not legal advice. Statutes, regulations and court interpretations change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts. Consult a qualified telecommunications attorney before launching campaigns in Florida.
Sources: Fla. Stat. 501.059; Fla. Stat. 501.616; CS/CS/HB 761 (2023), ch. 2023-150; FDACS Florida Do Not Call; 47 U.S.C. 227; 47 CFR 64.1200; FCC 12-21; FCC 24-24; FCC DA 26-12; FCC 26-67; CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook v1.8.
Yes, with prior express written consent. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act counts a text as a telephonic sales call. An automated marketing text without written consent exposes you to a $500 claim per violation if texts continue past 15 days after a STOP. Florida's 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. solicitation hours are written for calls; treat them as the line for texts. Our SMS marketing guides cover the federal layer.
The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. 501.059, is the state law senders call Florida's mini-TCPA. It requires prior express written consent for sales texts sent by an automated system that selects and dials numbers. Consumers get a $500-per-violation private right of action, and HB 761 amended the law effective May 25, 2023.
Fla. Stat. 501.616(6) bars commercial telephone solicitation phone calls before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in the called person's time zone, and caps them at three per 24 hours on one subject. The wording covers calls, and courts have not settled whether it reaches texts, so keep Florida texts inside 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Yes. The FTSA gives consumers a private right of action for actual damages or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, trebled at the court's discretion for a willful or knowing violation. For texts, since May 25, 2023, the recipient must first reply STOP and give the sender 15 days to stop before filing suit.
Plan as if it does. Section 501.059 is written around the "called party" who receives the text, and the provisions quoted on this page say nothing about where the sender is based. If your list may include Florida numbers or residents, run the whole campaign on Florida's rules and keep the records.
HB 761, chapter 2023-150, took effect May 25, 2023. A covered automated system must now both select and dial numbers, where the old text said "or." A text recipient must reply STOP and allow 15 days, with one confirmation text permitted, before suing. It applies to suits filed from that date and to uncertified class actions.
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