Last week, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) concluded a nationally-coordinated enforcement effort alongside 11 National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies (NASCLA) members to fight unlicensed activity.
“Keeping Floridians safe from unlicensed, unregulated activity is one of DBPR’s biggest priorities,” said DBPR Secretary Melanie S. Griffin. “The DBPR Division of Regulation is proud to partner with NASCLA to promote public protection while deterring illegal construction activity.”
From June 5-23, 2023, the DBPR Division of Regulation conducted a coordinated statewide sweep, targeting unlicensed construction and electrical contractors scamming Floridians out of their hard-earned money. The sweeps were performed by Fort Myers, Miami, Margate, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville regional field offices and resulted in a total of 416 unannounced site visits with more than 650 license checks of construction and electrical contractors.
Additionally, the DBPR Division of Regulation’s Tampa field office performed stings where individuals were provided the opportunity to offer services that require a license. These individuals often provide a bid, proposal or performance of the service to an undercover investigator and/or law enforcement personnel. Once confirmed that the individuals are unlicensed to provide such services, cases are initiated against them.
As a result of all sweeps and enforcement operations, 97 unlicensed activity cases were initiated.
DBPR licenses and regulates more than 1.6 million Florida businesses and professionals, from real estate agents and veterinarians, to contractors and cosmetologists. DBPR regularly performs “sweeps” of regulated businesses and professionals to ensure they are working within the constraints of their licenses.
If residents suspect they or their neighbors may be a victim of an unlicensed activity scam, report it to DBPR by calling the Unlicensed Activity Hotline at (866) 532-1440, emailing [email protected] or filing a complaint at MyFloridaLicense.com.
