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Last update: February 11, 2004

"Consumer law" is the law governing consumer transactions. Some of the major areas of law in this field are warranties and unfair trade practices; consumer credit; debt collection; consumer bankruptcy and foreclosure; and provision of utility services.  Legal services offices in Florida assist low-income clients with these and other legal problems without charge for their services. To request information or assistance with respect to a consumer law issue or problem, you may contact FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES at 1-850-385-7900, or by e-mail.

This page contains sections on information for low-income consumers and information for consumer law advocates. The information on web resources was gathered and is current as of March, 2000; please be advised that web links change constantly.

General information about consumer law problems. FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES maintains an on-line edition of an informational brochure, Debtors Rights in Florida. Some links to other sources of general information about consumer law that you may find helpful are:

Brochures for Consumers, Florida Bar Association
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission
"Protecting Yourself From Consumer Fraud," Florida Attorney General’s Office
Division of Consumer Services, Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services
"Consumer Alerts," Florida Department of Banking and Finance
Florida Department of Financial Services
Consumer Protection Department, Hillsborough County

Seeing an attorney about a consumer law problem. If you have what you believe is a consumer law problem, it is important to find and keep as many written documents relating to the problem as you can. For facts that cannot be shown by documents, write down your full recollection of the events so that you don’t forget. Witnesses may be important to corroborate your account. You may find it helpful to consult with an attorney about your problem, especially if you are being sued, believe you will be sued, or desire to bring legal action yourself. When making an appointment with an attorney, be sure to bring up any pending legal action against you and, if you desire to sue, when the consumer law problem occurred. You may also wish to consult with an attorney about filing for bankruptcy. If you cannot afford an attorney because you have low income, consult legal services offices in Florida and contact the one nearest to you.

Making a complaint about a consumer law problem with a government agency. You also may wish to file a complaint about the consumer law problem with an appropriate government agency. For problems with the regulated services of electric and gas companies, water and sewer companies, and telecommunications companies in Florida, filing a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs, Florida Public Service Commission, at 1-800-342-3552, often is your most effective means of obtaining relief. A utility may not discontinue service for nonpayment of a disputed part of a bill until the complaint is resolved. State agencies that maintain toll-free consumer hotlines and provide assistance with individual cases are the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, 1-800-435-7352; the Florida Department of Banking and Finance, for problems relating to credit, 1-800-848-3792; and the Florida Department of Insurance, for problems relating to insurance, 1-800-342-2762. The Florida Attorney General’s regional offices also provide assistance with consumer problems.

Consumer problems with housing, health care, education and financial institutions are handled by different government agencies with varying degrees of effectiveness, and in many cases also may be addressed through the courts. Discrimination in these consumer services, or in insurance, based upon race, religion, gender, national origin, age, or handicap/disability also is prohibited by law. Usually, its best to consult with a legal services office or other person familiar with your kind of problem to determine how to proceed. Some large Florida county governments have active consumer affairs offices that intercede with businesses on behalf of consumers. Local better business bureaus also usually provide such services. If you contest charged expenditures on your credit card bill, contact your credit card company and request that it verify the charges. Payment on the contested charges will be postponed until the verification is complete.

Assistance with paying your bills. If you are having trouble paying your bills and would like some assistance, Where to Find Help,  published by the Florida Public Service Commission with the assistance of FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES, contains information about many of the assistance programs available in Florida. The booklet is available at legal services offices and may be requested at no charge from the FPSC by calling 1-800-342-3552. You may also find helpful contacting a Consumer Credit Counseling Service in your area. Such agencies, which have offices throughout Florida, provide free services to clients consisting of helping to manage budgets, and, where creditors will cooperate, consolidating bill payments into more affordable monthly payments. Information about this service, how to obtain your credit report, and the nearest CCCS location to you, is available from the  National Foundation for Consumer Credit. The Foundation can be reached by phone at 1-800-388-2227, for 24-hour automated office listings, and 1-800-682-9832 for assistance in Spanish.

Legal research in consumer law. The  National Consumer Law Center  publishes helpful national guides to major areas of consumer law. In addition, law libraries usually contain treatises on, and guides to commercial law that can be helpful to consumer law research. Legal research now also is generally available on-line through subscription services Lexis, WestLaw and Florida Law Weekly. We suggest you down-load from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency an APR Calculator (Windows) for Truth in Lending Act cases. If you would like to do consumer law research on the Internet, a good starting place is the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School, which organizes Internet sources of law by areas of law. Some links to other sites for legal research that you may find helpful are:

Sources of law for consumer law. Consumer law covers many different substantive law areas, that cannot all be adequately summarized on a single web page. The common law of contracts, torts and remedies often is relevant to consumer law problems. Some statutory laws, including their implementing regulations and judicial interpretations, that commonly are involved in Florida consumer law cases are:

Federal law: the Consumer Credit Protection Act, which has the Truth in Lending Act and other federal credit laws (15 U.S.C., Chapter 41); the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 45); Federal Mortgage Insurance (12 U.S.C., Chapter 13, Subchapters II and VIII); the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301, see, Fla. Stat. § 521); Higher Education Resources and Student Assistance (i.e., student loans) (20 U.S.C., Chapter 28); and Section V of the Bankruptcy Code;

State law: Article 2, Sales, and Article 9, Secured Transactions, of the Uniform Commercial Code (Fla. Stat. §§672 and 679); and Florida statutes on final process (§ 56); attachment (§ 76); garnishment (§ 77); replevin (§ 78); residential tenancies (§ 83, Part II); evidence (§ 90); limitations of actions (§ 95); homestead and exemptions (§ 222; see, Art. 10, § 4, Fla. Const.); hearing aids (§ 468, Part I, and § 484, Part II); consumer protection (§ 501); mobile home parks (§ 513); consumer finance (§ 516); retail installment sales (§ 520); title loans (§ 538, Part I); consumer collection practices (§ 559, Part VI); rent-to-own contracts (§ 559, Part X); check cashing, including payday loans, referred to in the statute as "deferred presentments" (§560, Parts III and IV); lending practices (§ 687); mortgage foreclosure (§ 702); and fraudulent transfers (§ 726).

Assistance available from FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES. Florida legal services and pro bono advocates can obtain assistance with individual consumer law cases by contacting FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES at 1-850-385-7900 or by e-mail. In addition to assistance and consultation, we encourage requests to co-counsel, handle appeals, or appear amicus curie; and we encourage referrals of cases for which local programs cannot provide representation, such as class actions or cases requiring frequent appearances in Tallahassee, such as utility rates dockets. FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES also can direct you to appropriate legal services offices in Florida; we have on-line consumer law forms; we keep manuals and materials, we have materials from past consumer law trainings which we have coordinated; and we keep guidebooks, legal forms and other materials we receive from the National Consumer Law Center and from other sources.

County title loan ordinances. A title loan is a short term loan that uses a fully paid car title as security. In 2000, the Florida Legislature passed the Florida Title Loan Act, which limits the interest rate on title loans in Florida to 2 ½ % per month, or 30 % per year, and requires registration with the state Department of Banking and Finance. Prior to the Act, approximately 37 Florida counties and several cities passed their own title loan ordinances. The Act provides that these local title loan ordinances remain effective to the extent that they are more restrictive than the state law and not repealed. FLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES was very active in advocating for the Act and for these local ordinances, and can be contacted for information and in appropriate cases assistance with them.