The DBPR complaint form, officially numbered DBPR 0070 and titled the Uniform Complaint Form, is how you report a licensed professional or business to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Filing is free. You can submit it online through myfloridalicense.com or print it, sign it, and mail it to the department’s Tallahassee headquarters. Once filed, it triggers an administrative investigation that can lead to fines, suspension, or revocation of the licensee’s credentials.
What DBPR Can and Cannot Do With Your Complaint
DBPR regulates professionals licensed under Florida Statute Chapter 455, including real estate agents, construction contractors, cosmetologists, veterinarians, and dozens of other fields.1Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 455 – Business and Professional Regulation: General Provisions Its enforcement power is administrative. The department can reprimand a licensee, impose fines, restrict their practice, place them on probation, suspend the license, or revoke it permanently.2Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. File a Complaint
What DBPR cannot do is represent you in court, order a refund, or award damages. It stays out of fee disputes, disagreements over contract terms, and most quality-of-workmanship arguments. If you want your money back, that is a separate track through small claims court, a private attorney, or one of Florida’s recovery funds (covered below). Your complaint needs to describe an actual violation of the statutes or rules that govern the profession, not just a bad experience. Common grounds include unlicensed practice, abandoning a construction job, mishandling escrow funds, fraudulent representations, and failure to follow safety codes.
What to Gather Before You Open the Form
The department’s own instructions on DBPR 0070 state that no investigation can begin until you provide all relevant information, and missing details may delay things further.3Department of Business and Professional Regulation. DBPR 0070 – Uniform Complaint Form Pull everything together first:
- The full legal name of the person or business you are reporting, their business address, and their license number if you have it. The license field is marked “if known,” so a missing number will not disqualify your complaint, but it helps investigators identify the right person.
- Your own contact information: name, mailing address, phone, and email. The department uses these to send updates and follow-up requests.
- Contact information for any witnesses who saw the conduct.
- A written, chronological account of what happened, when, and where. Drafting this before you start the form keeps the narrative focused.
- Supporting documents. The form lists contracts, proposals, invoices, and proof of payment as examples. Emails, text messages, photos of substandard work, inspection reports, and notices from local building departments all strengthen a complaint.3Department of Business and Professional Regulation. DBPR 0070 – Uniform Complaint Form
Concrete evidence is what makes the difference between a complaint that clears the initial legal sufficiency review and one that stalls there.
Filling Out the Form Section by Section
DBPR 0070 has four main sections.
The first collects your information as the complainant: name, company or occupation, mailing address, phone numbers, and email. Fill in everything you can.
The second section identifies the subject of the complaint. Enter the licensee’s name, company name, license number if known, and address.
The third section is the narrative, and it is the heart of the complaint. Describe the violation in plain, factual language. Stick to what happened, when, where, and what rule or standard you believe was broken. The form itself, citing Florida Statute 455.225, asks for “ultimate facts that show that a violation” of the practice act or department rules has occurred.3Department of Business and Professional Regulation. DBPR 0070 – Uniform Complaint Form In practice, that means naming what the licensee did wrong with specific dates and details, not “they did a bad job.”
The fourth section is for witnesses. If you have any, list their names and contact information. If you don’t, leave it blank; it is marked “if applicable.”
Finally, attach your supporting documents. Online, you upload digital copies. By mail, send photocopies and keep your originals.
Where to Submit It
You have two options, and both are free.
- Online through the DBPR’s electronic filing system at myfloridalicense.com. The portal walks you through the same fields as the PDF and lets you upload documents. You receive a confirmation number you can use to track the case.
- By mail. Print DBPR 0070, sign it, attach copies of your documents, and mail the package to: Department of Business and Professional Regulation, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1027.4Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Contact Us
Online is faster. Mailed complaints require manual data entry on the department’s end before the investigation clock starts.
For unlicensed activity specifically, the DBPR also runs a hotline at (866) 532-1440.5Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Unlicensed Activity – FAQs Unlicensed contracting is a first-degree misdemeanor on a first offense and a third-degree felony on a second offense or during a declared state of emergency.6Online Sunshine. Florida Code 489.127 – Unlicensed Activity
Will the Licensee See My Complaint?
Yes. When the department investigates, it must provide a copy of your complaint to the person you reported.5Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Unlicensed Activity – FAQs The subject of your complaint will see your name and what you wrote. Worth knowing before you file.
Anonymous complaints are allowed under Florida Statute 455.225(1), but they face a higher bar. The department can investigate an anonymous complaint only if it is in writing, is legally sufficient, describes a substantial violation, and the department has reason to believe the allegations are true after a preliminary inquiry.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code 455.225 – Disciplinary Proceedings Vague anonymous complaints often get closed without action. And because emails to state agencies are public records, emailing a complaint does not preserve anonymity even if you leave your name off the form.
What Happens After You File
The department first checks whether your complaint is “legally sufficient” — whether the facts you described, if true, would actually constitute a violation of the applicable practice act or rules. This is a paper review. Incomplete forms and vague narratives are the most common reason complaints stall here. If yours falls short, the department may dismiss it or ask for more information.
If the complaint clears that check, an investigator is assigned. They gather evidence, contact witnesses, and may interview the licensee, who has 20 days from receiving a copy of your complaint to submit a written response. The department aims to finish investigations in about 60 days, though complex cases take longer. Any investigation not completed or referred to the Division of Administrative Hearings within one year must be reported to the relevant board.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code 455.225 – Disciplinary Proceedings
Once the investigator’s report is done, a probable cause panel decides one of three things: find probable cause and direct the department to file formal administrative charges, issue a letter of guidance to the licensee (essentially a warning without formal discipline), or dismiss the case. If formal charges are filed, the licensee can accept them, request an informal hearing before the board, or request a formal hearing before an administrative law judge. The outcome of that proceeding sets the final penalty, which can range from a reprimand up to permanent revocation.
Under Florida Statute 455.227, the general administrative fine cap is $5,000 per count.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 455.227 – Grounds for Discipline; Penalties; Enforcement Construction licensees face up to $10,000 per violation against the individual, plus an additional $5,000 against the business organization if the qualifying agent participated in or knew about the violation.9Florida Senate. Florida Code 489.129 – Disciplinary Proceedings
Getting Your Money Back Is a Separate Process
Because DBPR cannot order a refund, Florida maintains separate recovery funds for consumers who lost money to certain licensed professionals. Filing a DBPR complaint and filing a recovery fund claim are two different processes; they can run in parallel.
If a licensed real estate broker or sales associate defrauded or misrepresented something to you, the Real Estate Recovery Fund may pay a claim after you obtain a court judgment. Payments are capped at $50,000 per transaction regardless of the number of claimants, and $150,000 total per licensee.10Florida Senate. Florida Code 475.484 – Payment From the Real Estate Recovery Fund The licensee’s license must have been active when the loss occurred, and the fund does not cover attorney fees.
Homeowners harmed by the financial mismanagement of a licensed contractor can file with the Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund, which the department describes as a last resort after all civil remedies have been exhausted.11MyFloridaLicense.com. Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund You will need a Recovery Fund Claim Form, an asset search on the contractor, and an Affidavit of Asset Search (the department provides different versions for claims over $15,000 and claims of $15,000 or less). Mail claims to: Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2215.