Florida Statutes 507.07 – Violations
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It is a violation of this chapter:
(1) To conduct business as a mover or moving broker, or advertise to engage in the business of moving or offering to move, without being registered with the department.
(2) To knowingly make any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, document, or record required to be submitted or retained under this chapter.
(3) To misrepresent or deceptively represent:
(a) The contract for services, bill of lading, or inventory of household goods for the move estimated.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 507.07
- Advertise: means to advise, announce, give notice of, publish, or call attention by use of oral, written, or graphic statement made in a newspaper or other publication or on radio or television, any electronic medium, or contained in any notice, handbill, sign, including signage on vehicle, flyer, catalog or letter, or printed on or contained in any tag or label attached to or accompanying any good. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- bill of lading: means a written document prepared by a registered mover which is approved and electronically acknowledged or signed by the shipper in writing before the performance of any service by the mover and which authorizes the named mover to perform the services and lists all costs associated with the household move and accessorial services to be performed. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- broker: means a person who, for compensation, arranges with a registered mover for loading, transporting or shipping, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move or who, for compensation, refers a shipper to a registered mover. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Estimate: means a written document prepared by a registered mover which sets forth the total costs and describes the basis of those costs relating to a shipper's household move, including, but not limited to, the loading, transportation or shipment, and unloading of household goods and accessorial services. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- goods: means personal effects or other personal property commonly found in a home, personal residence, or other dwelling, including, but not limited to, household furniture. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- move: means the loading of household goods into a vehicle, moving container, or other mode of transportation or shipment; the transportation or shipment of those household goods; and the unloading of those household goods, when the transportation or shipment originates and terminates at one of the following ultimate locations, regardless of whether the mover temporarily stores the goods while en route between the originating and terminating locations:(a) From one dwelling to another dwelling;(b) From a dwelling to a storehouse or warehouse that is owned or rented by the shipper or the shipper's agent; or(c) From a storehouse or warehouse that is owned or rented by the shipper or the shipper's agent to a dwelling. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Mover: means a person who, for compensation, contracts for or engages in the loading, transportation or shipment, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Shipper: means a person who uses the services of a mover to transport or ship household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Storage: means the temporary warehousing of a shipper's goods while under the care, custody, and control of the mover. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) The timeframe or schedule for delivery or storage of household goods estimated.(c) The price, size, nature, extent, qualities, or characteristics of accessorial or moving services offered.(d) The nature or extent of other goods, services, or amenities offered.(e) A shipper‘s rights, privileges, or benefits.
(4) To fail to honor and comply with all provisions of the contract for services or bill of lading regarding the purchaser’s rights, benefits, and privileges thereunder.
(5) To withhold delivery of household goods or in any way hold goods in storage against the expressed wishes of the shipper if payment has been made as delineated in the estimate or contract for services.
(6)(a) To include in any contract any provision purporting to waive or limit any right or benefit provided to shippers under this chapter.
(b) To seek or solicit a waiver or acceptance of limitation from a shipper concerning rights or benefits provided under this chapter.
(c) To use a local mailing address, registration facility, drop box, or answering service in the promotion, advertising, solicitation, or sale of contracts, unless the mover’s, and, if applicable, the moving broker’s, fixed business address is clearly disclosed during any telephone solicitation and is prominently and conspicuously disclosed on all solicitation materials and on the contract.
(d) To commit any other act of fraud, misrepresentation, or failure to disclose a material fact.
(e) To refuse or fail, or for any of the mover’s or broker’s principal officers to refuse or fail, after notice, to produce any document or record or disclose any information required to be produced or disclosed.
(f) To knowingly make a false statement in response to any request or investigation by the department, the Department of Legal Affairs, or the state attorney.
(7) For a moving broker to enter into a contract or agreement for moving, loading, shipping, transporting, or unloading services with a mover who is not registered with the department pursuant to this chapter.
(8) For a moving broker to provide an estimate or enter into a contract or agreement for moving, loading, shipping or transporting, or unloading services with a shipper which was not prepared and electronically acknowledged or signed by a mover who is registered with the department pursuant to this chapter.
(9) For a mover to enter into a contract or agreement for moving, loading, shipping, transporting, or unloading services with a moving broker who is not registered with the department pursuant to this chapter.
(10) For a mover or a moving broker to knowingly refuse or fail to disclose in writing to a customer before a household move that the mover, or an employee or subcontractor of the mover or moving broker, who has access to the dwelling or property of the customer, including access to give a quote for the move, has been convicted of a felony listed in s. 775.21(4)(a)1. or convicted of a similar offense of another jurisdiction, regardless of when such felony offense was committed.
(11) For a mover to place a shipper’s goods in a self-service storage unit or self-contained storage unit owned by anyone other than the mover unless those goods are stored in the name of the shipper and the shipper contracts directly with the owner of the self-service storage unit or self-contained storage unit.