Florida
What Florida's rule says
What are the calling hours in Florida?
In Florida, commercial telephone solicitation calls are allowed only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the called person's time zone, and you can make no more than three calls from any number to the same person in 24 hours on the same subject. Both rules are in Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6), added by SB 1120 from July 1, 2021.
The hours reach further than most of the Florida Telemarketing Act: § 501.604 exempts many sellers from the act, including business-to-business sellers, calls to prior customers and licensed professionals, but keeps the hours and the three-call limit in force for them.
Florida spans two time zones. The Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River, including Pensacola and Panama City, is on Central time, so the 8 p.m. cutoff there comes an hour after Miami's. Area codes 850 and 448 cover both zones.
Texts are the open question. § 501.616 says 'phone call'; the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (§ 501.059), which does cover texts, has no hours rule. Applying 8 a.m.–8 p.m. to marketing texts is the cautious setting.
Florida also requires every party's consent to record a call (Fla. Stat. § 934.03).
Who the rule covers
Florida's window applies on top of the federal 8 a.m.–9 p.m. rules; where both apply, follow the narrower one.
- Covers: commercial telephone sellers and salespersons calling about consumer goods or services, including automated and recorded calls.
- Still covered when otherwise exempt: § 501.604 keeps the hours and the three-call limit for sellers exempt from the rest of the act.
- Three-call limit: counts calls from any number to the same person on the same subject within 24 hours.
Florida's rules and where they come from
Florida Telemarketing Act (Fla. Stat. § 501.616(6)): Commercial telephone solicitation calls only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the called person's location, and no more than three from any number to a person in 24 hours on the same subject. Automated and recorded calls count. In force since July 1, 2021.
The statutes and regulator pages are linked under 'Statutes, regulators and sources' below.
Do Florida's calling hours apply to texts?
§ 501.616 says 'phone call'. The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, which does cover texts (§ 501.059), has no hours rule. Many guides apply the 8 p.m. cutoff to texts anyway; we treat it as the safe setting, not a settled rule.
Time zones and area codes in Florida
Florida has 2 time zones, so check which one the lead is in: Eastern (Most of the state); Central (The Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River (Pensacola, Panama City)).
Area codes in Florida: 239, 305, 321, 324, 352, 386, 407, 448, 561, 645, 656, 689, 727, 728, 754, 772, 786, 813, 850, 863, 904, 941, 954. A number's area code is a clue to where the person is, not proof: people keep their numbers when they move.
Calling Florida from TopReach
TopReach smart lists only dial a lead inside the legal window in their own time zone (weekdays 9 a.m.–9 p.m., weekends 10 a.m.–6 p.m.) and skip statutory holidays, and a rep calling a lead outside their hours is asked to confirm first. They don't apply Florida's own rule for you. To stay inside it, set your workspace's quiet hours from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m..
Recording calls into Florida: All-party consent: everyone must agree. TopReach records only when your workspace policy says so (never, always, or the rep's choice), and it doesn't play a recording announcement for you, so reps say it at the start of the call where consent is needed.
