Florida Set to Enact Commercial Financing Disclosure Law With Unique Broker Rule

Update: the governor signed the bill into law on June 23.

It’s a new state disclosure law but with a twist. Florida’s bill, which passed both chambers of the legislature on May 4th and now awaits the governor’s signature, has a specific code of conduct aimed directly at brokers.

Among these rules is that the broker cannot:

• Offer its services in any advertisement without disclosing the actual address and telephone number of the business of the broker and the address and telephone number of any forwarding service the broker may use, if any.
• Make or use any false or misleading representation or omit any material fact in the offer or sale of the services of a broker or engage, directly or indirectly, in any act that operates or would operate as fraud or deception upon any person in connection with the offer or sale of the services of a broker, notwithstanding the absence of reliance by the business.
• Make or use any false or deceptive representation in its business dealings.
• Assess, collect, or solicit an advance fee from a business to provide services as a broker. However, this subsection does not preclude a broker from soliciting a business to pay for, or preclude a business from paying for, actual services necessary to apply for a commercial financing transaction, including, but not limited to, a credit check or an appraisal of security, if such payment is made by check or money order payable to a party independent of the broker.

The bill, as written, says it is poised to go into effect on July 1, 2023 (assuming the governor signs it). deBanked first reported on this bill on March 16th.

Read the full bill here.