Title XLVI, Crimes

(1) Any person or business entity who prints, for the purpose of sale or distribution and for use in the state, or who circulates, publishes, or offers for sale any letter, paper, document, notice of intent to bring suit, or other notice or demand, which simulates a form of court…

When construing ss. 817.40, 817.41, 817.43-817.47, and each and every word, phrase or part thereof, where the context will permit:(1) The word or term “wholesale” or “wholesale sale” shall extend to and include an “at-cost sale,” “below-cost sale,” and terms of similar purport, a…

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to make or disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated before the general public of the state, or any portion thereof, any misleading advertisement. Such making or dissemination of misleading advertising shall constitute and is hereby d…

A person or business entity may not knowingly publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the public, or cause directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form …

(1) For purposes of this section, the term:(a) “Performing person or group” means a vocal or instrumental performer using or attempting to use the name of a recording person or group.(b) “Recording person or group” means a vocal or instrumental performer that has previously produ…

(1) It is unlawful for a seller in a transaction where the purchase price of goods exceeds $100 to misrepresent orally, in writing, electronically, or by failure to speak that the goods are new or original when they are used or repossessed or where they have been used for sales d…

(1) With respect to a transaction for which any charges will be paid from the proceeds of a motor vehicle insurance policy, it is unlawful for the seller to knowingly misrepresent orally, in writing, or by failure to speak, that the goods are new or original when they are used or…

A person who willfully and knowingly sells or attempts to sell a counterfeit sign or decal in this state with the name or logo of a security company without the express written consent of the company commits:(1) For the first offense, a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishabl…

(1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.—(a) The Legislature of the State of Florida recognizes that the deceptive misuse of the term “free” and words of similar meaning and intent in advertising by the unscrupulous has resulted in deception of consumers, leading them unknowingly to assume contra…

(1) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section:(a) The term “person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity doing business in Florida.(b) The term “franchise or distributorship” means a contract or agreement, either expressed or implied, whe…

(1) SHORT TITLE.—This act may be cited as the “Government Impostor and Deceptive Advertisements Act.”(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:(a) “Advertisement” means any representation disseminated in any manner or by any means, other than by a label, for the purpose of inducin…

(1) As used in this section, the term “personal protective equipment” means protective clothing or equipment, including, but not limited to, face masks, face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, helmets, or respirators designed to protect a person from infectious materials, communica…

The provisions of s. 817.40 or s. 817.41 shall not apply to any publisher of a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or the owner or operator of a radio or television station, or any other owner or operator of a media primarily devoted to advertising, who publishes, broadcast…

(1) WHAT CONSTITUTES INTENTIONAL FALSE ADVERTISING.—It is unlawful to offer for sale or to issue invitations for offers for the sale of any property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, or any services, professional or otherwise, by placing or causing to be placed before th…

Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of s. 817.41, s. 817.411, or s. 817.44 is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Upon a second or subsequent conviction for violation of s. 817.41, s. 817.411, or s. …

Nothing in ss. 817.40, 817.41, 817.43-817.45, and 817.47 shall be deemed to apply to advertising in connection with sales of insurance which are regulated under the insurance laws of this state.History.—s. 9, ch. 59-301; s. 74, ch. 95-211.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to obtain or attempt to obtain credit, or to purchase or attempt to purchase any goods, property, or service, by the use of any false, fictitious, counterfeit, or expired credit card, telephone number, credit number, or other cred…

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to:(a) Make or possess any instrument, apparatus, equipment or device designed or adapted for use for the purpose of avoiding or attempting to avoid payment of telecommunications service in violation of s. 817.481; or(b) Sell, giv…

(1) As used in this act, the term:(a) “Possess” means to have physical possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or control over tangible property.(b) “Intercept” means to electronically capture, record, reveal, or otherwise access, the signals emitted or received during the o…

Any person who transmits or publishes the number or code of an existing, canceled, revoked, or nonexistent telephone number or credit number or other credit device, or method of numbering or coding which is employed in the issuance of telephone numbers or credit numbers or other …

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Calling record” means a record held by a telecommunications company of the telephone calls made or text messages sent or received by a customer of that company.(b) “Customer” means a person who has received telephone service from a telec…

(1) As used in this section:(a) “Call” means any type of telephone call made using a public switched telephone network, wireless cellular telephone service, or voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) service that has the capability of accessing users on the public switched telephone …

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), whoever willfully imparts, conveys, or causes to be imparted or conveyed to a law enforcement officer or employee of a public safety agency false information or reports concerning the alleged commission of any crime under the laws of this…

(1) Whoever shall, willfully and with intent to defraud, obtain or attempt to obtain goods, products, merchandise, or services from any health care provider in this state, as defined in s. 641.19(14), including a person who, during a declared public health emergency as defined in…

(1) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly and willfully make a materially false or misleading statement or to knowingly and willfully disseminate false or misleading information regarding the availability of, or access to, a vaccine for the novel coronavirus “COVID-19” or a …

(1) It is unlawful for any person, including any health care provider or health care facility, to:(a) Offer or pay a commission, benefit, bonus, rebate, kickback, or bribe, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, or engage in any split-fee arrangement, in any form whatsoever,…

Any person who shall obtain any items from retail grocery establishments, or retail poultry, dairy, bakery or any other retail dealers with intent to defraud the owner or keeper thereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or…

(1) OBTAINING BY TRICK, FALSE REPRESENTATION, ETC.—Whoever, with intent to defraud the owner or any person lawfully possessing any motor vehicle, obtains the custody of such motor vehicle by trick, deceit, or fraudulent or willful false representation shall be guilty of a felony …

(1) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly charge for any services which are not actually performed in repairing a radio or television set, or to knowingly charge for any parts which are not actually furnished, or to knowingly misinform a customer concerning what is wrong with …

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “File” means to present an instrument for recording in an official record or to cause an instrument to be presented for recording in an official record.(b) “Filer” means the person who presents an instrument for recording in an official r…

(1) As used in this section, the terms “dwelling unit,” “landlord,” and “rental agreement” have the same meanings as provided in s. 83.43.(2) A person may not enter into and take possession of a residential dwelling unit by knowingly and willfully:(a) Making or causing to be made…

Any person who, with intent to defraud, obtains any mortgage, mortgage note, promissory note or other instrument evidencing a debt from any person or obtains the signature of any person to any mortgage, mortgage note, promissory note or other instrument evidencing a debt by color…

(1) For the purposes of the section, the term “mortgage lending process” means the process through which a person seeks or obtains a residential mortgage loan, including, but not limited to, the solicitation, application or origination, negotiation of terms, third-party provider …

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, including corporations, operating a tourist attraction, event, show, or similar places of business for profit catering to the public to use or advertise in connection therewith the words “free” or “free admission” or any similar…

(1) A seller of any tour or travel service, including, but not limited to:(a) A person engaged in the business of selling tours, travel services, or travel-related services;(b) A person who sells tours or travel services in conjunction with the offer of a course of instruction fo…

(1) For purposes of this section:(a) “Water-treatment device” means any product, device, or system designed for personal, family, or household use and for which any claim is made that it will improve the quality of water by reducing one or more contaminants through mechanical, ph…

In addition to the punishments provided herein, the state attorneys of the various judicial circuits throughout the state are vested with authority and power to invoke the jurisdiction of courts of equity within their respective judicial circuits to enjoin or obtain other equitab…

(1) For purposes of this act, the term:(a) “Commercial purposes” means the manufacture of at least 10 of the same or different optical discs in a 180-day period by storing information on the disc for purposes of sale in this state by that person or other persons.(b) “Manufacture”…

(1) As used in this section, the terms “proceeds,” “security agreement,” “security interest,” and “secured party” shall be given the meanings prescribed for them in chapter 679.(2) A person is guilty of fraud involving a security interest when, having executed a security agreemen…

(1) It is unlawful for any person who is not a party to a lease contract, conditional sale contract, or security agreement which transfers any right or interest in a motor vehicle to:(a) Obtain or exercise control over the motor vehicle and then sell, transfer, assign, or lease t…

It is unlawful for any person to agree, consent, or in any manner offer to unlawfully sell to any person a controlled substance named or described in s. 893.03 and then sell to such person any other substance in lieu of such controlled substance. Any person who violates this sect…

(1) For the purposes of this section, the term “imitation controlled substance” means a pill, capsule, tablet, or substance in any form whatsoever which is not a controlled substance enumerated in chapter 893, which is subject to abuse, and which:(a) By overall dosage unit appear…

(1) It is unlawful for any person:(a) Willfully to defraud or attempt to defraud any lawfully administered urine test designed to detect the presence of chemical substances or controlled substances.(b) Willfully to manufacture, advertise, sell, or distribute any substance or devi…

(1) As used in this section, the terms “DNA analysis,” “DNA sample,” and “express consent” have the same meanings as in s. 760.40(1)(a), (b), and (d), respectively.(2) It is unlawful for a person to willfully, and without express consent, collect or retain another person’s DNA sa…

Any person who, with intent to defraud, misrepresents his or her association with, or academic standing or other progress at, any postsecondary educational institution by falsely making, altering, simulating, or forging a document, degree, certificate, diploma, award, record, let…

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Access device” means any card, plate, code, account number, electronic serial number, mobile identification number, personal identification number, or other telecommunications service, equipment, or instrument identifier, or other means …