Florida do not call list: what callers and consumers need to know

Last updated 2026-07-09

What is the Florida Do Not Call list, and how is it different from the federal list?

Florida stacks two legal layers on top of each other, and most callers get burned because they assume the federal list covers everything. It doesn't.

The federal Do Not Call list is run by the FTC under 47 U.S.C. § 227 and 16 C.F.R. Part 310, the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Any telemarketer dialing US numbers has to scrub against this registry first. ^[1] The registry holds roughly 249 million numbers as of recent FTC reporting. ^[2]

Florida's own list lives under the Florida Telemarketing Act at Fla. Stat. § 501.059. The state makes telemarketers register, keep their own do-not-call list, and honor state restrictions on their own terms, regardless of what the FTC requires. ^[3] Enforcement runs through the Florida Attorney General, not the FTC.

Here's what that means for an outbound team. You scrub both. A number can be clean on the federal list and still sit on Florida's state list. Dial it anyway and you've opened yourself to state enforcement, which carries civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation under Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10). ^[3] That's per call. Not per campaign.

If you want the wider map first, the do not call list overview covers every major registry before you get into Florida's specifics here.

How does a Florida consumer get on the do not call list?

For federal coverage, it takes about two minutes. Go to donotcall.gov, enter your number, confirm by email, done. ^[2] The FTC says registration is permanent and never expires. Your number stays on the list until you take it off yourself.

Florida adds a second track. Consumers who keep getting called can file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General at myfloridalegal.com. Florida's statute requires businesses to keep their own internal DNC lists and stop calling anyone who asks. ^[3]

You can also register by phone. The federal registry line is 1-888-382-1222, and you have to call from the number you're registering. ^[2] That works for landlines and cell phones both.

Worth clearing up: a cell phone has the same registration rights as a landline. There's no separate cellular do not call list you need to hunt down. The federal registry covers every telephone number, mobile included. The mobile phone do not call list article has the full story on how TCPA protections apply to cell phones specifically.

After you register, telemarketers get up to 31 days to pull your number from their lists, per the FTC. ^[2] Calls inside that window usually aren't actionable. Anything after it is fair game for a complaint.

What are the Florida telemarketing registration requirements for businesses?

Florida is one of the tougher states for outbound callers. Under Fla. Stat. § 501.059 and the related Florida Telemarketing Act provisions (Fla. Stat. §§ 501.601-501.626), businesses calling into Florida generally have to:

1. Register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) as a commercial telephone seller or salesperson, unless an exemption applies. ^[12] 2. Post a surety bond. 3. Keep an internal DNC list and honor opt-out requests right away. 4. Scrub call lists against the state's no-call database before each campaign.

The registration requirement has exemptions: calls to existing customers, calls by nonprofits, and business-to-business calls. But if you're cold-calling Florida consumers, you need to know exactly where you land.

Florida also sets time-of-day limits. Telemarketing calls to Florida residents are banned before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time. ^[3] That lines up with the federal TCPA standard, so at least those two agree.

For the mechanics of pulling and checking a registry, how do I get the do not call list walks through the subscription and SAN (Subscriber Account Number) process for the federal registry.

Requirement	Federal (FTC/TCPA)	Florida State
Registry to scrub	National DNC Registry (donotcall.gov)	Florida DNC + internal DNC list
Caller ID required	Yes	Yes
Time restrictions	8 am - 9 pm local	8 am - 9 pm local
Registration/license	No federal license	FDACS registration often required
Max fine per violation	$51,744 (FTC) [4]	$10,000 (state) [3]
Prior consent for cell	Yes (TCPA)	Yes
Exemption: existing customer	Yes (18 months)	Yes

What are the penalties for calling a number on the Florida DNC list?

Florida's penalties are real money, and they stack on top of federal exposure.

At the state level, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10) allows civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation, and each call is a separate violation. ^[3] The Florida Attorney General can bring an action directly, and consumers can sue under some provisions.

At the federal level, the FTC can seek up to $51,744 per violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. ^[4] That figure moves for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. The FCC enforces TCPA violations separately, and private plaintiffs recover $500 to $1,500 per call under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5), with the $1,500 ceiling reserved for willful violations. ^[5]

The TCPA private right of action drives most of the litigation you actually hear about. Class actions are common because one campaign can generate thousands of calls, and a compliance gap turns into eight-figure exposure fast. The FTC's record shows multi-million dollar settlements against mid-sized operations, more than the giants.

For how these violations play out in court and in agency enforcement, do not call list violation covers real case outcomes start to finish.

One thing to sit with: not knowing a number's registration status stops being a defense once you've had 31 days to scrub. The FTC treats relying on stale lists, or skipping scrubs, as willful non-compliance. Not an accident.

Which calls are exempt from Florida's do not call rules?

Both the federal rules and Florida's statute carve out real exemptions. Knowing them pays for itself.

Under the federal TSR and TCPA, mostly mirrored in Florida's rules, the main exemptions are these.

Existing business relationship (EBR): if a consumer bought something from you within the last 18 months, or made an inquiry within the last 3 months, you can call them even if they're on the DNC list. ^[1] The clock resets with each transaction. The moment the EBR window closes and the person is registered, you stop.

Prior express written consent: documented written consent that specifically authorizes your calls beats the DNC registration. ^[5] The consent has to be unambiguous, name your company, and not sit buried inside a privacy policy.

Nonprofit organizations: calls by or for tax-exempt nonprofits are generally exempt from the TSR, though some state rules treat them differently.

Political calls: campaign calls are exempt from federal DNC rules. Florida has its own approach to political calls, so review that separately.

Business-to-business calls: the TCPA's DNC provisions and Florida's statute both target consumer calls. B2B has more room, though robocall restrictions and TCPA consent rules for autodialers still apply.

Surveys and charitable solicitations: purely informational or charitable calls can dodge some DNC requirements. But the line between a survey call and a sales pitch is thin, and it gets litigated all the time.

EBR is the exemption most outbound sales teams lean on. Document every transaction date. If your CRM doesn't track purchase and inquiry dates precisely, fix that before your next Florida campaign.

How do I report a do not call violation in Florida?

If you keep getting called after registering, you've got two places to go.

For federal registry violations, file at donotcall.gov or through the FTC's complaint portal at reportfraud.ftc.gov. ^[2] The FTC uses these to spot patterns and build cases. One complaint rarely triggers individual action, but it feeds investigations that do.

For state-level violations by Florida telemarketers, or calls that break Florida's specific rules, the Florida Attorney General takes complaints at myfloridalegal.com. They also run a consumer protection hotline. ^[6]

When you file, have this ready: the caller's number (log it even if it's spoofed), the date and time, what they said they were selling, and the company name if they gave one. More detail makes the complaint more useful.

For callers tracking their own DNC scrub activity for compliance, do not call list report covers the recordkeeping side.

Think a company broke both federal and state rules? File in both places. There's no penalty for duplicate complaints, and the agencies do coordinate.

Does the Florida DNC list cover cell phones?

Yes. The Florida Telemarketing Act and the federal TCPA both cover calls to cell phones, and the DNC registry accepts cell numbers. ^[2][5]

Here's the part people miss. For cell phones, the TCPA adds a layer on top of DNC status: you generally can't use an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or a prerecorded message to call a cell without prior express consent, no matter whether the number is on the DNC list. ^[5] The statute reads, verbatim: "It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States... to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice... to any telephone number assigned to a... cellular telephone service." ^[5]

So a cell phone that is NOT on the DNC list still needs consent if you're running an autodialer. DNC status and the ATDS consent rule are two separate obligations.

Manual dialing sidesteps the autodialer consent rule, but you still have to scrub the DNC list. For teams on power dialers or predictive dialers, the ATDS question is live and contested. The Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Facebook v. Duguid narrowed the ATDS definition, holding that a device has to use a random or sequential number generator to qualify. ^[7] FCC proceedings could shift the line again.

The mobile phone do not call list article goes deeper on how ATDS rules and DNC obligations intersect for cell phone outreach.

How does Florida's list compare to other state DNC lists?

Florida isn't the only state running its own DNC regime, but the mix of telemarketer registration, surety bonds, and $10,000 per-violation penalties lands it in the stricter tier.

Michigan runs a state DNC list too, under the Michigan Home Solicitation Sales Act and related statutes, administered by the Michigan Attorney General. Callers into Michigan scrub both the federal registry and the state list. ^[8] Michigan's per-violation penalties look different from Florida's but still hit thousands of dollars per call.

Pennsylvania runs its own DNC program, covered in the do not call list pa article. Indiana has state-level DNC rules as well, covered in the indiana do not call list article.

The pattern across the country: roughly 30 states layer some form of state DNC or telemarketing registration law on top of the federal rules. Some run stricter (Florida, Indiana), some sit roughly even, and a handful just adopt the federal rules by reference with little separate infrastructure.

For multi-state outbound teams, the only safe move is to treat every state with a known separate registry as its own scrub. A tool that pulls the federal list and the state lists together costs less than finding a violation the hard way.

State	State DNC list	Max penalty per violation	Registration required?
Florida	Yes (Fla. Stat. § 501.059)	$10,000 [3]	Yes (FDACS)
Michigan	Yes (AG-administered)	Varies [8]	Yes
Indiana	Yes	Up to $5,000 [9]	Yes
Pennsylvania	Yes	Up to $1,000 [10]	Yes
Federal (FTC)	Yes (donotcall.gov)	$51,744 [4]	No separate license

What records do Florida telemarketers need to keep?

If you're calling Florida consumers, recordkeeping isn't optional. It's your first line of defense when a complaint lands.

At the federal level, the TSR makes telemarketers keep records of consent, DNC scrub dates, and call logs for 24 months. ^[1] The FTC has gone after companies that couldn't produce records showing when they last pulled the registry.

Florida piles on. Register with FDACS as a commercial telephone seller and you're required to keep records of your calls, any DNC requests you get, and when you honored them. ^[3] A consumer who asks to go on your internal DNC list has to come off future calls to that number, and you need documentation that it happened.

Best practice for Florida campaigns:

• Log every scrub: date, list version, how many numbers got suppressed.
• Keep consent records with a timestamp, the medium (web form, signed doc, verbal with call recording), and the exact language the consumer agreed to.
• Log internal DNC requests the moment they come in, not end of day, not end of week. Florida treats each violation as its own civil action.
• Retain all of it for at least 24 months, longer if your state has a longer statute of limitations.

Tools that automate scrub logging and export compliance reports make this far easier. LeadCompliant's free compliance kit includes a scrub log template and a state DNC checklist. A disciplined spreadsheet with the fields above works too, if you actually keep it up.

For accessing and checking the national registry, do not call list number explains the Subscription Account Number (SAN) system and how to get access.

Can I still call someone in Florida if they're on the list but gave me consent?

Yes, with conditions. Written prior express consent is the cleanest path to legally calling a DNC-registered number.

Under the TCPA and the TSR, DNC registration isn't a permanent wall against all contact. It blocks unsolicited commercial calls. If the consumer affirmatively asked your company specifically to contact them, that consent overrides the DNC registration for your calls. ^[1][5]

The consent has to name your company, not a category of callers. A general "I consent to calls from marketing partners" buried in a checkbox gets challenged in court constantly and often falls apart. The FCC's one-to-one consent rule, adopted in 2024, tightened this by requiring consent to name the specific seller rather than a lead generator or a category. ^[11]

For Florida, Fla. Stat. § 501.059 recognizes that an established business relationship or written consent lifts the prohibition. But the burden of proving consent existed sits on the caller, not the consumer.

So here's the practical read. If you buy leads and the lead form claims to capture DNC consent, audit that form. What language does it actually use? Does it name your company? Was it a clear opt-in or a pre-checked box? Any lead-gen consent that pre-dates the FCC's 2024 rule changes is worth re-examining.

For the full picture on consent standards, the consent-and-optin section has the current guidance on what "prior express written consent" requires in 2025.

What's the best way for an outbound team to stay compliant with Florida DNC rules?

Compliance with Florida's DNC rules comes down to four operational steps, run consistently.

First, subscribe to the national DNC registry. You need a Subscription Account Number (SAN) from the FTC. Commercial access costs $79 per area code per year (recent FTC pricing), with the first five area codes free. ^[2] Calling into multiple states means paying per area code. Not negotiable, not skippable.

Second, scrub before every campaign, not once a quarter. The FTC requires scrubs against a list no older than 31 days. ^[1] Plenty of teams scrub weekly because new registrations land daily.

Third, keep an internal DNC list. Every time someone tells you not to call again, federal or state registry aside, that number goes on your suppression list. It never comes off. Honor it across your whole organization, more than the one campaign.

Fourth, for Florida, confirm whether you need FDACS registration. A commercial telephone seller running high-volume outbound calls to Florida consumers likely does. Registration includes a surety bond, sized to the scope of your operation. ^[12]

For teams doing this by hand, the government registry subscription process is laid out at government do not call list. Managing multiple area codes and states? A tool that automates scrubs and logs them earns its monthly cost long before your first complaint.

The FTC's guidance puts it plainly: "Sellers and telemarketers must pay for access to the Registry's data." ^[2] No workaround, no grace period, no small-business exemption to scrubbing.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get on the do not call list in Florida?

Register your number at donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 from the number you want to register. That covers you under federal rules for all telemarketers nationwide. For Florida-specific complaints about state violations, contact the Florida Attorney General at myfloridalegal.com. Federal registration is free, permanent, and covers both landlines and cell phones.

Is the Florida do not call list the same as the federal list?

No. The federal list is managed by the FTC under 16 C.F.R. Part 310 and covers all US telemarketers. Florida's list exists under Fla. Stat. § 501.059 and is enforced by the Florida Attorney General. Telemarketers calling Florida consumers must scrub both. A number absent from the federal list can still be protected under Florida's state rules.

How long does it take for my number to appear on the do not call list?

The FTC gives telemarketers up to 31 days from your registration date to pull your number from their lists. Registration itself is immediate, but calls inside that 31-day window generally aren't actionable violations. After 31 days, any unsolicited telemarketing call to your registered number is a potential violation subject to complaint and enforcement.

What is the fine for calling someone on the Florida do not call list?

Florida's civil penalty runs up to $10,000 per violation under Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10), with each call counting separately. On top of that, federal TCPA violations allow private lawsuits for $500 to $1,500 per call, and the FTC can seek up to $51,744 per violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. State and federal exposure stack.

Do cell phones get listed on the Florida do not call list?

Yes. The federal DNC registry accepts cell phone numbers, and the TCPA covers calls to cell phones. Florida's state rules apply to cell phone solicitations too. Beyond DNC registration, the TCPA separately bars using an autodialer or prerecorded message to call a cell phone without prior express consent, regardless of DNC status.

Can a business still call me in Florida if I'm on the do not call list?

Yes, in three cases: you have an existing business relationship with the caller within the past 18 months, you gave the company prior written consent, or the call falls under an exemption like nonprofit solicitations or political calls. Outside those, a registered number is off-limits for unsolicited commercial telemarketing calls.

How do telemarketers check if a Florida number is on the do not call list?

They subscribe to the national DNC registry through donotcall.gov using a Subscription Account Number (SAN). The FTC charges $79 per area code per year for commercial access, with the first five area codes free. They then scrub call lists against the downloaded registry data before each campaign, at minimum every 31 days per FTC rules.

Does Florida's do not call list cover business-to-business calls?

Generally no. Florida's telemarketing statute, like the federal TSR, targets consumer solicitation. B2B calls have more room, but TCPA restrictions on using autodialers still apply even for business numbers. If your call could reach a consumer on a business phone line, treat it as consumer outreach to be safe.

How is Michigan's do not call list different from Florida's?

Both states run separate DNC registries alongside the federal list, so callers scrub both. Michigan's program is administered by the Michigan Attorney General under its own statutes, while Florida's is governed by Fla. Stat. § 501.059 and enforced by Florida's AG. Penalty structures and registration requirements differ between the two states.

How do I report a do not call violation to Florida's authorities?

File in two places: the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov for federal violations, and the Florida Attorney General at myfloridalegal.com for state-level violations. Log the caller's number, the time and date, the company name if given, and what they were selling. Filing in both places is fine and encouraged when both laws may have been broken.

Does registering on the do not call list stop all unwanted calls?

No. The DNC list covers commercial telemarketing. It doesn't stop political calls, survey calls, charitable solicitations, informational calls, or calls from companies you already do business with. Scammers ignore it entirely. If you're getting calls from unknown numbers, spoofed caller IDs are common, and the DNC list does nothing against fraudulent callers.

Do Florida telemarketing businesses need to register with the state?

Often yes. Under the Florida Telemarketing Act, commercial telephone sellers making unsolicited calls to Florida consumers typically must register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and post a surety bond. Exemptions exist for nonprofits, existing customers, and some B2B scenarios, but high-volume consumer outbound operations generally must register.

What counts as an existing business relationship under Florida's do not call rules?

An existing business relationship (EBR) exists if the consumer made a purchase, lease, or rental from you within the past 18 months, or made an inquiry or application about your products within the past 3 months. The EBR doesn't apply if the consumer already asked to go on your internal DNC list, even when they're otherwise inside the EBR window.

Where can I find the official Florida do not call list registration page?

For federal DNC registration covering Florida and every state, go to donotcall.gov. For Florida-specific consumer complaints and enforcement information, visit the Florida Attorney General at myfloridalegal.com. There's no separate state portal for consumers to register a number exclusively in Florida's database; the federal registry is the primary registration mechanism.

Sources

1. FTC, Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 310): Telemarketers must scrub call lists against the national DNC registry no older than 31 days; existing business relationship exemption runs 18 months for transactions, 3 months for inquiries; records must be retained 24 months
2. FTC, National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov): Registration is free and permanent; callers have 31 days to honor registrations; commercial access costs $79 per area code per year; approximately 249 million registered numbers; 1-888-382-1222 for phone registration
3. Florida Legislature, Fla. Stat. § 501.059 (Florida Telemarketing Act): Florida's state DNC law; civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation; prohibits calls before 8 am or after 9 pm local time; requires internal DNC list maintenance; commercial telephone sellers must register with the state
4. FTC, Adjustments to Civil Penalty Amounts: The FTC may seek civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, adjusted for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act
5. 47 U.S.C. § 227, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA): TCPA prohibits autodialer or prerecorded calls to cell phones without prior express consent; private right of action allows $500-$1,500 per violation; DNC registration applies to all telephone numbers including cell phones; verbatim prohibition on ATDS calls to cellular numbers
6. Florida Attorney General, Consumer Protection: Florida AG accepts consumer complaints about telemarketing violations of Florida's state rules
7. U.S. Supreme Court, Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021): Supreme Court narrowed the ATDS definition under TCPA in 2021, holding that a device must use a random or sequential number generator to qualify as an autodialer
8. Michigan Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division: Michigan administers its own state DNC program; telemarketers calling Michigan consumers must scrub both the federal and Michigan state lists
9. Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division: Indiana runs a state Do Not Call list with penalties reaching thousands of dollars per violation and telemarketer registration requirements
10. Pennsylvania Attorney General, Consumer Protection: Pennsylvania runs its own Do Not Call program with per-violation penalties and telemarketer registration requirements
11. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Telemarketing: FDACS administers commercial telephone seller registration and surety bond requirements for telemarketers operating in Florida