A list of Florida businesses tells you who exists. It does not tell you how you may contact them. Three layers of law govern that: federal rules for email, federal rules for calls and texts, and Florida's own statutes. This overview links each statement to its primary source so that you can check it yourself. It is not legal advice, and the author is not an attorney.

Email: the CAN-SPAM Act

Commercial email in the United States is governed by the CAN-SPAM Act. It applies to business recipients too. In the words of the Federal Trade Commission: “The law makes no exception for business-to-business email” (FTC, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business).

CAN-SPAM does not make prior consent a condition for sending a commercial email. It regulates what the message must contain and gives the recipient the right to stop further messages: once someone opts out, sending them another commercial message more than 10 business days later is unlawful (15 U.S.C. § 7704(a)(4)). The FTC guide lists the main requirements:

  • Don't use false or misleading header information.
  • Don't use deceptive subject lines.
  • Identify the message as an ad.
  • Tell recipients where you're located – the message must include your valid physical postal address.
  • Tell recipients how to opt out of future marketing email from you.
  • Honor opt-out requests promptly: within 10 business days, with an opt-out mechanism that works for at least 30 days after you send the message.
  • Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. You remain responsible even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing.

When we read the guide on October 11, 2026, it stated that each separate email in violation is subject to penalties of up to $53,088. That is the inflation-adjusted maximum set in 16 CFR § 1.98, which on that date applied to penalties assessed after January 17, 2025; the amount is adjusted periodically, so check the current figure.

A point that matters for purchased or self-built lists: the statute treats it as an aggravated violation when an unlawful message is sent to an address that was harvested by automated means from a website carrying a notice that its addresses will not be given, sold or transferred, or to an address generated by combining names, letters or numbers (15 U.S.C. § 7704(b)(1)).

Florida's email statute

Florida has its own Electronic Mail Communications Act (Fla. Stat. §§ 668.60–668.610). Section 668.603 prohibits unsolicited commercial email that uses a third party's domain name without permission, contains falsified or missing routing information, or carries false or misleading information in the subject line. Section 668.606 provides, among other remedies, liquidated damages of $500 for each such message. The federal act supersedes state laws that expressly regulate commercial email, “except to the extent that any such statute, regulation, or rule prohibits falsity or deception” (15 U.S.C. § 7707(b)(1)) – and falsity and deception are what the Florida statute targets.

Calls and texts: the TCPA and the federal Do Not Call Registry

Phone outreach is regulated far more strictly than email. Under the FCC rules that implement the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a call made with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell phone number requires the prior express consent of the called party and, if the call includes an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing, prior express written consent (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(1)–(2)). The same rule provides that a request to revoke consent must be honored “within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days from receipt of such request” (§ 64.1200(a)(10)). We read the rule in the eCFR, which was current as of October 8, 2026.

The statute provides a private right of action: actual monetary loss or $500 in damages for each violation, whichever is greater, which a court may increase to up to three times that amount for willful or knowing violations (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)).

What about the National Do Not Call Registry? The FTC says: “The Registry is for personal phone numbers. Business phone numbers and fax lines are not covered” (FTC, National Do Not Call Registry FAQs), and “most phone calls to a business made with the intent to solicit sales from that business are exempt” from the do-not-call provisions (FTC, Q&A for Telemarketers). Two cautions apply:

  • A number on a business list can be the personal cell phone of a sole proprietor. The FCC's autodialer and do-not-call rules protect cell phone and residential subscribers, so a “business” label on a list does not settle the question.
  • In 2024 the FTC announced a final rule that extends the Telemarketing Sales Rule's prohibitions on misrepresentations to business-to-business telemarketing (FTC press release, March 7, 2024).

If your calls do fall under the registry, you must synchronize your lists with an updated version of the registry at least every 31 days (FTC, Q&A for Telemarketers). The FCC's rules also bar telephone solicitations to residential subscribers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location (47 CFR § 64.1200(c)(1)).

Florida: the Telephone Solicitation Act

Florida adds its own statute, Fla. Stat. § 501.059. Its key points, as the 2026 statutes read:

  • Texts and voicemail count. A “telephonic sales call” is “a telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose of soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or services” (§ 501.059(1)(j)).
  • Consumer goods or services. The statute defines these as real property or personal property “that is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes,” and related services (§ 501.059(1)(c)). Whether an offer aimed at a business falls outside that definition is a question for your attorney, not for a data vendor.
  • Automated systems need written consent. A person may not make, or knowingly allow to be made, an unsolicited telephonic sales call that involves “an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers or the playing of a recorded message” without the prior express written consent of the called party (§ 501.059(8)(a)).
  • Internal opt-outs cover businesses. No call, text or voicemail may go to “a consumer, business, or donor or potential donor” who has previously said they do not wish to receive it (§ 501.059(5)).
  • Florida area codes. There is a rebuttable presumption that a telephonic sales call made to any area code in Florida is made to a Florida resident or a person in the state (§ 501.059(8)(d)).
  • Private lawsuits. A called party may recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and a court may award up to three times that amount for willful or knowing violations. Before suing for damages over text messages, the called party must first reply “STOP,” and the sender then has 15 days to stop (§ 501.059(10)).
  • State enforcement. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or the Department of Legal Affairs may seek a civil penalty in the Class IV category for each violation (§ 501.059(9)(a)); for that category the statute provides for “a fine of $10,000 or more” (Fla. Stat. § 570.971(1)(d)).

The Florida Do Not Call list

Separately from the national registry, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) keeps a state list. According to FDACS, Florida residents may have “their residential, mobile or paging device telephone number” included; the list is updated quarterly, and, according to FDACS, a telemarketer who has purchased the national list must purchase the state list as well (FDACS, Florida Do Not Call).

The statute also addresses list sellers directly: any telephone solicitor or person who offers for sale “any consumer information which includes residential, mobile, or telephonic paging device telephone numbers” must, with exceptions for telephone directories and certain tax-exempt organizations, “screen and exclude those numbers which appear on the division's then-current ‘no sales solicitation calls’ list” (§ 501.059(4)). Our data is not screened against any do-not-call list, including the National Do Not Call Registry and the Florida Do Not Call list. How Fla. Stat. § 501.059(4) applies to business records that include phone numbers is a question for an attorney, and no Florida dataset with phone numbers will be released until that question is resolved.

Calling hours and frequency

The Florida Telemarketing Act prohibits commercial telephone solicitation calls “before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone” and more than three such calls to a person within 24 hours on the same subject (Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6)). That evening limit is one hour earlier than the federal one. The act's exemption for business-to-business sales is tied to specific conditions (§ 501.604(10)), and § 501.604 keeps § 501.616(6) and (7) applicable even to exempt sellers.

What a business list does and does not give you

  • It gives you the identity of a business and, where available, contact details that the business published itself.
  • It does not give you consent to email, call or text. Unless the seller expressly says otherwise, assume that a list has not been screened against the national or the Florida do-not-call list.
  • Before a campaign, decide on the channel first. An email campaign needs a CAN-SPAM-compliant template and a working opt-out process. A phone or text campaign needs answers to the consent and do-not-call questions above before the first call.
  • Keep your own suppression list and apply it to every new list you load.

Frequently asked questions

Can I email Florida businesses without their consent?

Federal law does not make prior consent a condition for commercial email, but every message must meet the CAN-SPAM Act, which “makes no exception for business-to-business email” (FTC compliance guide): accurate headers and subject line, identification as an ad, a valid physical postal address and an opt-out honored within 10 business days. Florida's own email statute targets false or misleading messages.

Is cold calling businesses legal in Florida?

It is regulated rather than banned. Sales calls and texts made with an automated dialing system or a recorded message generally need prior express written consent under both the federal rules (47 CFR § 64.1200) and Fla. Stat. § 501.059; whether an offer to a business falls under the Florida statute's definition of consumer goods or services is a question for an attorney.

Does the Do Not Call Registry apply to business phone numbers?

According to the FTC, “the Registry is for personal phone numbers. Business phone numbers and fax lines are not covered” (FTC FAQ). A number on a business list can still be the personal cell phone of a sole proprietor, so the label “business” does not settle the question. Florida keeps a separate state list.

Does Florida’s “mini-TCPA” cover text messages?

Yes. The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act defines a telephonic sales call as “a telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer for the purpose of soliciting a sale of any consumer goods or services” (§ 501.059(1)(j)).

What are the legal calling hours in Florida?

The Florida Telemarketing Act prohibits commercial telephone solicitation calls “before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone” (Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6)). The federal rule for telephone solicitations to residential subscribers sets the evening limit one hour later, at 9 p.m.

This article is for general information and reflects the sources as we read them on October 11, 2026. It has not been reviewed by an attorney. Statutes and rules change, and their application depends on the facts. Consult a U.S. attorney before you run a campaign.

How we plan to build the Florida data and what it will not contain is described under data sources and methodology. For building the list itself, see How to build a Florida B2B prospect list by industry and county.