Florida Do Not Call List vs the National Registry: Your Rights

You put your number on the Do Not Call list years ago, and the sales calls still come. Here is something many Florida residents do not know: there are two Do Not Call lists, not one. The national registry is run by the Federal Trade Commission. Florida keeps its own list, run by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Each list comes with its own rules, its own exceptions and its own right to sue.

This guide explains how the two lists differ, how to check the date your number was registered on each one, and when a sales call to a registered number can turn into a claim.

The national registry and the Florida list, side by side

The National Do Not Call Registry

• Who runs it: the Federal Trade Commission, at donotcall.gov. You can also register by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register.

• Cost and phones: free, for home or cell numbers.

• How long it lasts: registration never expires. The FTC removes a number only if it is disconnected and reassigned, or if you ask to remove it.

• When it takes effect: your number shows on the registry the next day, but the FTC says sales calls can take up to 31 days to stop. That is because sellers must refresh their copy of the registry at least every 31 days.

Florida's Do Not Call list

• Who runs it: FDACS, through its Do Not Call page. It is free, and a number stays on the list indefinitely.

• What it covers: residential, mobile and paging numbers. Florida law defines a "telephonic sales call" to include a phone call, a text message or a voicemail transmission made to sell consumer goods or services, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(1)(j).

• When it takes effect: the list is published quarterly, with registration periods starting January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. The law bars unsolicited sales calls to numbers in the "then-current quarterly listing," Fla. Stat. § 501.059(4). A number you add today may not appear in a published listing until the next quarter's list comes out.

Florida law also tells FDACS to fold in the Florida numbers from the national registry, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(3)(d). Even so, signing up for both lists directly costs nothing and gives you your own record of each date.

Why being on both lists matters

The two laws excuse different callers, so a call that is allowed under one can still break the other.

• Past customers. Under the federal rule, a company you bought from can call you for 18 months after the purchase, and a company you asked about its products can call for 3 months after the inquiry, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(5). Florida's exception for a "prior or existing business relationship" has no time limit written into it, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(1)(k).

• Other Florida exceptions. Florida's list also does not cover a call made because you expressly asked for it, or a call made mainly about an existing debt or contract that is not yet paid or finished, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(1)(k).

• Different lawsuits. The federal claim and the Florida claim have different requirements and different damages, covered below. Being on both lists keeps both routes open.

How to check your registration date, and why it matters

The date your number went on each list can decide whether a call broke the law. A call that arrives inside the national registry's 31-day update window, or before Florida's next quarterly listing, may not count. Check and save your proof before the calls pile up.

1. National registry: use the verify tool at donotcall.gov/verify. The FTC emails you a confirmation that gives the date your number was registered. Keep that email. You can also check by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone itself.

2. Florida list: use "Verify Subscription" on the FDACS Do Not Call page, which tells you whether your number is active on the list. Take a screenshot that shows the result and the day you checked.

3. Not on a list yet? Register now on both. Write down the date you did it.

Then save every sales call itself: the call log, any voicemail and the caller ID. Our guide on how to save call logs, voicemails and text screenshots walks through it on iPhone and Android.

What the Do Not Call lists do not stop

The lists only cover sales calls. According to the FTC, these calls are still allowed as long as they do not include a sales pitch:

• Political calls

• Calls from charities

• Surveys and purely informational calls

• Debt collection calls

Companies you have given written permission to call can also call you. And the lists do nothing to stop scammers who ignore the law.

Debt collection calls fall under different laws. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers debt collectors, and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act also covers original creditors collecting their own debts. If a collector keeps calling, see our debt collection practice page for the rules collectors must follow.

Calls first: when a Do Not Call call can become a claim

The federal claim

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a person who receives more than one telephone call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same company, in violation of the Do Not Call rules, may sue, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5). The usual elements:

• Your number was on the national registry.

• You received at least two sales calls from or for the same company within 12 months.

• You had not given that company signed, written permission, and you had no recent business relationship with it.

The statute allows actual damages or up to $500 for each violation, whichever is greater, and the court may raise the award to as much as three times that if the violation was willful or knowing, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5). The federal rules extend Do Not Call protection to wireless numbers, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(e). Still, in a September 2026 case over texts to a personal cell phone, one Florida federal judge ruled that this federal claim protects only residential phone subscribers, and that the FCC went too far when it extended the rules to cell phones. A single trial court ruling does not bind other courts, but it shows a claim over calls to a cell phone can be challenged.

The Florida claim

Florida's law lets a person harmed by a violation of § 501.059 sue to stop it and to recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10)(a). If the court finds the caller acted willfully or knowingly, it may raise the award to up to three times that amount, § 501.059(10)(b). In a lawsuit over a violation of this section, the prevailing party recovers reasonable attorney fees and costs, § 501.059(11)(a).

Texts are different: reply STOP first

Florida counts texts as sales calls, but before you can sue for damages over marketing texts, you must reply STOP to the number that texted you. You may sue only if the texts keep coming 15 days after that, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(10)(c). As written, that rule covers any damages claim over sales texts under this law, including texts to numbers on Florida's list, so being on the list alone is not enough for a text claim.

The federal Do Not Call claim for texts is unsettled. In July 2026 the Seventh Circuit, in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, held that the federal Do Not Call provision does not let people sue over unwanted texts. That court does not cover Florida, and the Eleventh Circuit, which does, has not ruled on the question. Florida's federal trial courts have reached different answers.

So with texts, start by replying STOP and saving a screenshot of that reply. If the texts continue, our page on what to do when you texted STOP and still get texts explains the next step.

What to do next

1. Register on both lists and save the date for each.

2. Keep the proof: the donotcall.gov confirmation email and your FDACS screenshot.

3. Log every sales call: date, time, number, the company named and what was offered. Florida requires a telephone solicitor to give their true first and last name and the business they are calling for at the start of the call.

4. Do not buy anything or give personal details to find out who is calling.

5. Report it to the FTC at donotcall.gov and file a complaint with FDACS. FDACS investigates Do Not Call complaints and can seek civil penalties, Fla. Stat. § 501.059(9)(a).

6. Have a lawyer look at the calls before the evidence gets lost.

For more ways to cut down the calls while you build a record, read how to stop robocalls in Florida.

When to talk to a consumer protection lawyer

A lawyer can help sort out which list protected you on the day of each call, whether an exception applies, and whether the federal claim, the Florida claim or both fit. That matters most when one company keeps calling after you registered, when the caller will not say who they are, or when the calls continue after you asked them to stop.

If sales calls keep coming to a number you registered, request a free case review and we will look at your call log and registration dates with you.