Florida SMS marketing laws are among the strictest in the country. If your business sends promotional texts to Florida consumers, you need prior express written consent before the first message, you can only text between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in the recipient’s time zone, you’re capped at three messages per 24 hours on the same subject, and you must honor opt-out requests. The rules live in the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) at Florida Statutes § 501.059 and the Florida Telemarketing Act at § 501.616, and they apply on top of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).1Florida Senate. Florida Code 501.059 – Telephone Solicitation2Florida Senate. Florida Code 501.616 – Unlawful Acts and Practices Violate them and a consumer can sue for $500 or more, plus attorney fees.
What Counts as a Marketing Text
The FTSA defines a “telephonic sales call” to include any telephone call, text message, or voicemail sent to solicit a purchase or extension of credit.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 501.059 – Telephone Solicitation A promotional text about a product launch, a discount code, or a financing offer all fall within the statute. Purely informational messages that don’t push a sale, such as appointment reminders or shipping confirmations, sit outside the definition.
The law protects anyone contacted on a Florida area code or physically located in the state when the message arrives. Where the business is headquartered doesn’t matter. A California company texting a Miami number is subject to the FTSA just like a company operating out of Tampa.
Some senders are carved out of the full framework by Florida Statutes § 501.604.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 501.604 – Exemptions Religious, charitable, political, and educational solicitations are exempt, as are licensed securities brokers, investment advisers, and insurance agents acting within their license, along with banks and credit unions operating within their regulated activities. Business-to-business texts, one-off isolated solicitations, and solicitations selling a newspaper of general circulation also qualify. Other nonprofits are exempt only if they’re registered with the Secretary of State and hold 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6) status. Even exempt senders don’t get a free pass on timing and frequency: the § 501.616 restrictions on calling hours and the three-per-day contact cap still apply.
Getting Consent the Right Way
Prior express written consent is the foundation of any legal SMS marketing program in Florida. A verbal “sure, text me” isn’t enough. The consent must be a written agreement, signed by the consumer, and it must include four specific pieces.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 501.059 – Telephone Solicitation
- The consumer’s signature. Electronic signatures count under the federal E-SIGN Act, including a checkbox click.
- The specific phone number the consumer is authorizing.
- A clear disclosure that the consumer is agreeing to receive marketing texts, including messages sent through an automated system.
- A statement that the consumer is not required to sign the agreement as a condition of buying anything.
That last requirement catches a lot of businesses off guard. You cannot force someone to opt into marketing texts to complete a purchase or use a service. Bury the consent in mandatory terms of sale and the consent is invalid.
Keep every signed agreement on file for at least five years. The TCPA carries a four-year statute of limitations, and one extra year of records gives you margin if a claim surfaces near the deadline. With no documentation, you have no defense when a consumer says they never consented.
When and How Often You Can Text
Florida law restricts both the clock and the count. Marketing texts may only be sent between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in the recipient’s local time zone.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 501.616 – Unlawful Acts and Practices A text that lands at 8:01 p.m. on the recipient’s clock is a violation no matter what time it was where you pressed send. The federal TCPA allows texting until 9:00 p.m. local time, but the narrower Florida window controls in Florida.
The frequency cap is three contacts per 24 hours on the same subject, counted across every phone number you use. Rotating outbound numbers to sneak in a fourth message doesn’t work. If the consumer gets a fourth text about the same promotion within 24 hours, that’s a violation even if each text came from a different number.
The STOP Rule and Opt-Outs
Florida’s 2023 amendments added a “STOP” safe harbor that reshaped how text message lawsuits work.4Florida Senate. Senate Bill 1308 Before a consumer can sue over unwanted texts, they must first reply “STOP” to the sender and then wait 15 days. If the business stops texting within that window, it’s shielded from damages. A single confirmation text acknowledging the opt-out is allowed, but nothing else. The consumer can only sue if messages keep coming after 15 days have passed.
The federal picture is about to catch up. Starting April 11, 2026, a new FCC consent revocation rule under the TCPA formally recognizes keywords like “stop,” “cancel,” “unsubscribe,” “opt out,” “quit,” “end,” and “revoke” as valid ways to withdraw consent. A revocation through any reasonable method covers both calls and texts going forward, regardless of the medium the consumer used to opt out.5Wiley Rein LLP. FCC Grants Limited Waiver for Part of the TCPA Consent Revocation Rule After receiving an opt-out, a business may send one confirmation text within five minutes, but it cannot include any marketing content.
Whatever number you send from must be able to receive replies. If you use a short code or dedicated texting number, monitor it so opt-outs actually register.
Automated Sending Systems
The FTSA regulates texts sent through an “automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers.” The 2023 amendments quietly changed the conjunction from “or” to “and,” narrowing the reach of the statute’s automated-system rules.4Florida Senate. Senate Bill 1308 To trigger the automated-system requirements, a platform must now both select the numbers and dial them automatically.
This matters in practice. A tool that pulls contacts from a database but requires a human to press send for each message may fall outside the automated-system definition. Software that selects recipients and fires the messages without human involvement stays squarely within it. If you’re relying on the human-in-the-loop distinction, document exactly how your system operates. The burden of proving human involvement falls on the sender. And remember the federal TCPA uses a broader autodialer definition, so a system could clear the FTSA and still create TCPA exposure.
Do Not Call and Telemarketer Registration
Florida runs its own Do Not Call list through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), separate from the federal National Do Not Call Registry. Registration is free for consumers and lasts indefinitely.6Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Florida Do Not Call Businesses running text campaigns in Florida should scrub their lists against both the state and federal registries.7Federal Trade Commission. National Do Not Call Registry FAQs
Florida also requires commercial telephone sellers and their salespeople to be licensed by FDACS before conducting telemarketing in the state.8Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Telemarketing This licensing sits under the Florida Telemarketing Act, §§ 501.601–501.626, and is separate from FTSA compliance. Skipping registration creates enforcement exposure on top of anything else. Confirm your licensing status with FDACS before launching a text campaign into Florida.
Penalties for Getting It Wrong
The FTSA lets consumers sue directly. A successful plaintiff recovers actual damages or $500, whichever is greater.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 501.059 – Telephone Solicitation If the court finds the violation was willful or knowing, it can triple the award to $1,500. The prevailing plaintiff also recovers attorney fees and costs, which often dwarf the statutory damages themselves.
Recent Florida court decisions have read the $500 figure as a per-action cap rather than a per-message award. A single plaintiff filing one lawsuit collects one $500 award (or $1,500 if trebled) rather than $500 for each unwanted text. That interpretation has meaningfully reduced business exposure in individual and class action suits. Actual damages, however, are uncapped, so a plaintiff who proves real financial harm can recover more.
Treble damages hinge on whether the business knew its conduct violated the law. Sending a text isn’t enough on its own. Continuing to text after a “STOP” reply, or texting with no consent process at all, is the kind of reckless conduct that pushes a case into willful territory. A good-faith compliance program that falls short in some detail is far less likely to trigger trebling.
The federal TCPA does not preempt stricter state rules, so businesses texting Florida consumers must comply with both statutes, and wherever they diverge, the tougher rule wins.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 47 USC 227 – Restrictions on Use of Telephone Equipment Build your program around the Florida rules and you’ll clear the federal floor almost automatically.