Advocates warn that recent state legislation has tilted power toward corporations while stripping away protections for ordinary Floridians.

By Senior Staff Writer, Edmond Thorne for OmniCom MultiMedia

Florida News Network: TALLAHASSEE—Florida has taken the top spot in a troubling new national ranking—number one for anti-consumer, anti-worker laws and regulations. The ranking, compiled by multiple watchdog organizations and legal research groups, including the Consumer Federation of America and Public Citizen, highlights a pattern of legislative action that favors businesses and lenders over residents’ rights.

Florida’s Most Egregious Anti-Consumer Practices:
One of the most consequential concerns is that the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) sells the private information of Florida license holders with no way to opt out. This information is sold to data brokers, private investigators, and other entities that are willing to pay for access. Such practices raise serious privacy issues that warrant immediate attention and reform. Florida is recognized as one of the three states most prevalent in scams.

One of the most controversial developments came with Senate Bill 232, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this year. The law amended the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, removing long-standing “quiet hour” restrictions on debt collectors. Under the change, collectors can now send texts and emails between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., a move consumer advocates say opens the door to harassment when people are most vulnerable.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), complaints about aggressive debt collection in Florida surged to more than 250,000 reports in 2025, a 150 percent jump from the previous year. That figure places Florida among the top states nationwide for debt-related grievances. The FTC’s regional director for the Southeast noted that many incidents involve repeated late-night calls, messages, and deceptive credit threats, behaviors that exploit the very gaps created by Tallahassee Legislators.

Erosion of Consumer Protection Law:
Beyond the debt collection issues, Florida lawmakers have approved a wave of legal shields for corporations that critics say erode everyday protections. Several new measures strengthened arbitration clauses, making it harder or even impossible for Floridians to bring companies to court. Others restricted local governments from passing stricter consumer-focused ordinances, centralizing regulation at the state level where lobbying influence is strongest. Florida lawmakers have worked diligently to remove “Home Rule” from Florida cities and counties.

A consumer attorney who tracks national policy trends explained that these changes have created a “storm cloud of limited accountability for Florida’s big companies.” Businesses now enjoy record flexibility to impose fees, modify contracts, or collect debts, while residents face fewer paths to challenge malfeasance.

The Florida Digital Bill of Rights (FDBR), promoted as a landmark privacy safeguard, was also cited as an example of power over substance. The law limits how tech platforms collect personal data, but offers almost no enforcement mechanisms for individuals. Smaller companies that profit from user tracking, targeted ads, and data resale are barely affected. “It’s a headline law with very little muscle,” said a University of Miami law professor who reviewed its text.

Rising Consumer Frustration:

With every session in Tallahassee, more residents are feeling the duplicity of new Florida laws and regulations. Florida’s low-income families, renters, and retirees bear the brunt of it. Debt settlement agencies are booming, while consumer protection offices report higher caseloads but fewer staff and state funding.

Meanwhile, class-action lawsuits have become nearly impossible to pursue. Arbitration agreements—often buried in fine print—require most disputes to be handled privately, outside public view. Legal scholars caution that this undermines transparency and weakens the deterrent effect of public court verdicts.

The insurance industry offers another example. Lawmakers recently revised statutes to cap attorney fees and narrow what qualifies as “bad faith” by insurers, limiting homeowners’ ability to recover damages when claims are underpaid or delayed. And Florida lawmakers are now considering a law that would take away Florida’s rights to hire an Insurance Adjuster when they are cheated by their insurance carrier. That’s contributed to a growing sense that Tallahassee is out to “screw” residents across multiple sectors.

Transparency & Oversight Concerns:

Public access to complaint data has also narrowed. In 2024, Florida modified the Department of Financial Services’ reporting requirements, removing key details from its consumer complaint dashboard. Watchdogs say this change made it harder to track trends or hold bad actors accountable. Legislators have consistently sought to restrict state data access through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in each successive legislative year over the past 15 years.

During a recent legislative committee hearing, officials defended these decisions as part of a push to make Florida “the most business-friendly state in the country.” Critics argue that this phrase has become a catch-all justification for weakening oversight. As one advocacy group leader put it, “You can’t call it business-friendly when it leaves consumers defenseless.”

Looking Beyond the Sunshine:
Florida’s ranking didn’t emerge in isolation. Similar deregulatory efforts are underway in Texas and Arizona, where lawmakers have eased limits on payday lenders and tightened restrictions on lawsuits. Yet Florida stands apart because of the speed and breadth of its legal rollbacks. While these changes may attract investment, they also strain households already dealing with high living costs and medical debt.

Economists from Florida State University’s College of Business noted that the state’s consumer spending growth remains strong but increasingly funded by credit rather than savings. In other words, more Floridians are keeping the economy moving—just with money they don’t yet have.

Florida Forward:
Florida’s future on consumer protection depends on whether state leaders recognize that trust is part of the economic engine too. Strong markets rely on fair play, and residents need confidence that someone is watching out for them not just watching out for big business.

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the Department of Financial Services’ reporting requirements