Florida Debt Collection Laws

What Are Florida Debt Collection Laws?

Florida debt collection laws require creditors and debt collectors to follow the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Collectors cannot harass consumers, must identify themselves, and must cease contact if requested in writing. Florida’s statute of limitations on most debts is five years.

Debt collection laws in Florida give creditors legal methods to collect money awarded in a final judgment. A final judgment is entered by the court in favor of the winning party and against the losing party. Once the judgment is entered, the creditor can begin the process of collecting the money owed.

How Debt Collection Works in Florida

If you owe a debt, the creditor can sue you to try to recover it from your assets. If the creditor wins, the court will issue a judgment in their favor.

A final judgment does not automatically give the creditor any money or take property from the debtor. If the debtor does not pay voluntarily, the creditor must use legal procedures to collect the debt from the debtor’s assets.

Florida debt collection laws provide specific tools that a judgment creditor can use to locate and seize a debtor’s non-exempt property to satisfy the judgment.

Effective asset protection planning starts with understanding the collection tools creditors can use to find and take non-exempt assets.

What Happens If You Have a Judgment Against You in Florida?

If you have a judgment against you in Florida, the creditor can use that judgment to try to collect from your assets through various legal tools. A judgment allows the creditor to pursue collection methods such as bank account garnishment, wage garnishment, and placing a lien on real estate you own.

The judgment also becomes a public record and can last for up to 20 years if properly renewed. Over that time, interest will accrue, increasing the amount you owe. The creditor may also initiate proceedings supplementary, which allows them to investigate your finances and target assets or transfers made to others. If you try to hide or fraudulently transfer property after a judgment, the court may undo those transfers.

However, Florida law does not impose criminal penalties for failing to pay a civil judgment. You cannot be arrested simply because you cannot pay a debt or a court judgment.

Does Asset Protection Make It Easier to Settle?

Asset protection makes settling a case more likely by reducing the incentive for plaintiffs to pursue long, costly litigation. When assets are shielded, plaintiffs may agree to settle for a guaranteed payment rather than risk collecting nothing after a court judgment.

How to Collect a Judgment in Florida

There are six main ways to collect a judgment:

1. Judgment Liens
Florida law lets a judgment creditor place a lien on a debtor’s personal property by filing a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Secretary of State. A certified copy of the judgment can also be recorded in any Florida county to create a lien on the debtor’s real estate in that county—excluding homestead property. Once recorded, the lien will block the debtor from transferring clear title to a buyer or mortgage lender.

The lien also attaches to any personal property sold or transferred after the recording. Anyone buying or receiving the property takes it subject to the lien.

2. Execution and Levy
Execution and levy allow a creditor to seize and sell the debtor’s personal and real property to pay a judgment. This includes vehicles, real estate, shares of stock, and personal possessions. The creditor must identify the property beforehand. The sheriff then seizes it and sells it at a public auction. The proceeds, minus expenses, go toward the judgment. If other liens exist on the property, those get paid first. Debtors can bid on their own property at auction.

3. Seizure of Vehicles
Judgment creditors often use sheriff levy to seize vehicles that are fully owned by the debtor. The sheriff can tow the vehicle from public areas and sell it at auction. After sheriff and auction fees are paid, the rest of the money goes to the creditor. This often puts pressure on the debtor to pay.

Vehicles with loans or liens are poor targets since the lender is paid first, and few buyers want to take on that debt. Leased vehicles can’t be seized because the debtor doesn’t own them.

4. Levy on Privately Held Business Interests

A creditor can levy shares of a debtor’s interest in a corporation. The sheriff auctions the shares, and the buyer—often the creditor—steps into the debtor’s position as shareholder. If the debtor owns all the shares, the buyer may gain control of the business and its bank accounts.

If the debtor claims stock certificates were never issued or are missing, the creditor can get a court order to have them reissued. The court may also order the debtor to retrieve certificates kept outside the court’s reach. However, a creditor cannot levy membership interests in multi-member LLCs or partnerships. Their only option is a charging lien on distributions. Properly drafted operating agreements in Florida can protect these assets from creditors.

5. Bank Account Garnishment

Garnishment allows a creditor to collect property owed to the debtor by someone else—most often money in a bank account or wages. A court-issued writ of garnishment is served on the bank or employer, who must freeze and eventually turn over funds to satisfy the judgment.

The creditor doesn’t have to notify the debtor in advance. The money must be under the control of the third party at the time the writ is served. Garnishment only applies to debts that already exist—future debts are generally excluded, except wages and commissions.

6. Wage Garnishment

A continuing writ of garnishment lets a creditor collect future wages, salary, and commissions from the debtor’s employer until the judgment is paid, the debtor changes jobs, or files bankruptcy.

This only applies to wages—not payments to independent contractors or other non-employee income. Florida law protects certain income from garnishment, including wages of a head of household and payments from Social Security, pensions, or annuities. Because garnishment is technical and courts enforce the rules strictly, debtors can sometimes stop garnishments by finding procedural errors.

Abusive Debt Collection Practices

Florida debt collection laws are governed by the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (CCPA). This law protects consumers from abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection tactics by both creditors and debt collectors. The CCPA works alongside the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), but it does not apply to all types of debts.

Examples of Abusive Debt Collection Tactics

Under Florida law, debt collectors and creditors cannot:

• Lie about who they are, how much you owe, or what will happen if you don’t pay.
• Use abusive, threatening, or harassing behavior.
• Threaten to harm you physically.
• Use obscene or profane language.
• Call or text you repeatedly to annoy or harass you.
• Contact anyone other than your spouse about the debt.
• Call you before 8 AM or after 9 PM unless you agree to it.

What to Do if a Debt Collector Violates the Law

If a debt collector breaks Florida’s debt collection laws, you have several options:

1. Sue in State Court – You can file a lawsuit against the debt collector.
2. Report the Violation – File a complaint with a government agency or the Florida Attorney General’s office.
3. Use It as Leverage – Use the violation to negotiate a better debt settlement.

If a debt collector’s actions caused you harm, such as lost wages or medical bills, you can sue for those damages. Even if you cannot prove financial harm, a judge may still award you up to $1,000, plus reimbursement for attorney’s fees and court costs.

How Do Debt Collectors Find Your Assets?

Florida law gives judgment creditors broad tools to find out what assets you own. After a money judgment is entered, creditors can demand information about your finances, including jointly owned property and past transfers. You must answer under oath.

Discovery Tools
Creditors use depositions, document requests, and written questions to uncover assets. They can also question your spouse or others with financial ties to you. Private investigators and online searches help uncover hidden assets.

Depositions
You can be required to sit for questioning under oath about your finances. Creditors can ask about nearly anything, including past taxes, property, and business dealings.

Document Requests
You must turn over financial records such as tax returns, bank statements, credit card records, and insurance policies—usually covering the past four years.

Financial Statements
Creditors often ask for loan applications and personal financial statements submitted to banks, which may show inflated asset values.

Real Estate Records
Property ownership is easy to find through online public records. Creditors can also search for mortgages you hold and garnish payments owed to you.

Business Ownership
Florida public records show if you’re listed as an officer or manager of a business. That leads creditors to look into whether you own part of the company.

Help from Other Creditors
Lenders and large collection agencies often share information and contacts inside financial institutions that help locate accounts.

Private Investigators
Investigators can find accounts, real estate, and even review phone records or social media to track assets.

Technology and Social Media
People often reveal property or lifestyle clues online. Social media can help creditors spot assets or detect fraud.

Don’t Try to Hide Assets
Hiding or lying about assets is perjury. It damages your credibility and can backfire in court. A smarter approach is legal asset protection that makes collection harder—even if your assets are found.

Proceedings Supplementary

Florida statutes provide for “proceedings supplementary” which allow a debt collector with a judgment to collect property in the hand of third parties. This includes property in which the debtor has a present or a prior interest but which property is presently held by a third party. The proceedings are governed by Florida Statute 56.29. Proceedings supplementary is the most comprehensive creditor remedy available under Florida law. It assists judgment creditors’ satisfaction of their judgments by using equitable remedies against various types of debtor rights and property that are not subject to garnishment, attachment, or execution and levy.

Under Florida law, proceedings supplementary allow the creditor the following options:

1. Avoiding fraudulent transfers: Creditors may sue third party recipients of alleged fraudulent transfers to reverse the transfer or obtain a judgment against the recipient for the value of property transferred. The court may enter an order to apply transferred real property to satisfy a judgment or have the sheriff seize fraudulently transferred personal property.
2. Reversing fraudulent conversion: Creditors may obtain a court order reversing the debtor’s use of non-exempt assets to purchase or obtain an exempt asset if the purchase was intended to protect the non-exempt assets from creditors. An example of a fraudulent conversion is using non-exempt cash to buy an exempt annuity contract.
3. Piercing corporate veil: Creditors may sue individuals to enforce judgment against a corporation where the corporation has been established to defraud creditors, or where the company is the alter-ego and continuation of a prior business.
4. Reverse piercing: Creditor sues a corporation to satisfy judgment against an individual who conveyed personal assets to an alter-ego corporation to avoid collection.
5. Charging liens: A judgment creditor can apply for a charging lien against the debtor’s ownership of limited partnerships and limited liability companies.
6. Injunctive relief: Creditors may seek injunctions against the debtor preventing subsequent transfer of the debtor’s property. The creditor must demonstrate that fraudulent transfers are imminent. The injunction is essentially an asset freeze.
7. Receivership: In extraordinary circumstances, a creditor may convince a court to appoint a receiver to take possession of the debtor’s property. The receiver manages the debtor’s property and preserves its value during collection procedures.
8. Equitable liens. A creditor may have a court declare an equitable lien against the debtor’s real property including, when applicable, the debtor’s homestead.

Examination of the Debtor in Court

The proceedings supplementary statute enables a judgment creditor to compel the debtor to appear in court and testify before a judge or magistrate about the debtor’s assets. The creditor may require the debtor to bring to the court hearing specific documents or property. The examination of the debtor must be set in the county in which the debtor currently resides.

The creditor has broad authority to examine the debtor on all matters and things pertaining to the debtor’s personal or business interest, and the creditor and the judge may ask any question that, directly or indirectly, may aid in satisfying the judgment. The creditor may also examine third parties who may be the debtor’s “alter-ego” or who may be transferees of the debtor’s property.

Turnover of Property

A judgment creditor may use proceedings supplementary to gain control of a debtor’s non-exempt property by ordering the debtor or third parties to turn over assets. The court is authorized to hold the debtor, or others in possession of the debtor’s property, in contempt for failing to obey a property turnover order. The court may order the debtor to retrieve property that is not currently in the debtor’s possession.

Initiation of Proceedings Supplementary

A creditor initiates proceedings supplementary by filing a motion with the court that issued the final judgment. The statute requires the creditor to include certain allegations in the motion. Proceedings may be commenced at any time during the 20-year life of a final judgment.

Collection by Other Federal Agencies

Federal agencies like the FTC or SEC can sue people in federal court for violating laws, such as telemarketing rules or investment regulations. When they win, they collect judgments differently than private creditors.

The Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act (FDCPA) gives the government powerful tools to collect. These include liens, garnishments, and seizing property—similar to what state law allows. Some agencies, like the IRS and SEC, also have their own special collection rules.

Florida Exemptions Still Apply
If you’ve lived in Florida for at least 180 days, you can use Florida’s asset protection laws against federal collection. But this 180-day rule doesn’t apply to property owned jointly by married couples (tenants by entireties), which is still protected.

To use an exemption, you must file a claim in court. That filing stops the government from taking the property until the judge reviews your claim. Even without a filing, the government can’t take property it knows is protected.

Federal Pre-Judgment Remedies
Federal agencies don’t have to wait for a final court judgment. They can freeze or seize assets right after filing a lawsuit—if they swear the defendant is hiding assets or planning to move them. This includes garnishments, asset freezes, or even appointing a receiver.

Unlike state court creditors, the U.S. government doesn’t have to post a bond to freeze your assets. In Florida, private creditors must pay for a bond before freezing anything pre-judgment, which is expensive and risky. That’s why federal agencies often move quickly to lock down assets before trial.

Enforcement of Out-of-State Foreign Judgments

A creditor’s judgment against a Florida resident obtained from a court in another state or another country is a foreign judgment. A creditor may enforce a foreign judgment in Florida and through Florida courts by following procedures set forth in Florida Statute § 55.501. The process is referred to as the domestication of a foreign judgment.

There are statutory procedures to domesticate a foreign judgment in Florida. The foreign creditor first records a certified copy of the foreign judgment in Florida courts. After recording, the clerk of court is required to notify the debtor. The debtor then has 30 days to contest the validity of the judgment. There are limited reasons to contest the recording of a foreign judgment (for example, lack of jurisdiction or fraud). The debtor cannot retry the foreign judgment on its legal or evidentiary merits.

A domesticated foreign judgment is enforced as a Florida judgment pursuant to Florida’s judgment collection laws and rules. The creditor can enforce the domesticated Florida judgment for up to twenty years. The twenty-year time limit runs from the date the foreign state’s court issued the judgment, not from the date of Florida domestication.

Credit Card Judgments

If a credit card company gets a judgment against you for unpaid credit card debt, you need to prepare for the creditor’s attempts to collect the judgment. Know that a credit card judgment is not a criminal matter. It is not “illegal” for you not to pay a credit card company, and the courts cannot put you in jail if you do not pay the judgment. The court’s credit card judgment also does not automatically take your money or your future earnings. It is up to the creditor to use legal tools to collect money from you to satisfy its judgment.

Often, a creditor will not make any attempt to collect a small judgment because the legal costs of collection are greater than the creditor’s probable recovery. Also, most court judgments do not reimburse the creditor for its own legal fees incurred in trying to collect the judgment.

Some people faced with a credit card judgment immediately think they will have to file bankruptcy. This is a mistake. The judgment creditor has more leverage in bankruptcy court, and bankruptcy law strips some of a debtor’s asset exemptions. Bankruptcy should be the debtor’s last resort.

FAQs about Florida Debt Collection Laws

The following are answers to some frequently asked questions about Florida debt collection laws.