While every Session of the Florida legislature is vastly different, we did not foresee the battles that were going to unfold and take so much time and energy this year. FADA has been focused on titling and registration, telephone solicitations by dealerships, and Florida’s version of a data privacy bill designed to address consumer’s concerns over how their data is being shared and sold in E-commerce.
Titling and Registration. We did not expect to be involved in a bitter controversy created by the used car vendors Carvana and Vroom. But when HB 1517/SB 1346 was introduced by Senator Tommy Wright all eyes focused on Florida’s existing law that requires a dealer to file an application for title within 30-days after delivery of a motor vehicle. Senator Wright intended to help a few franchised dealers after they asked him to intervene in how DMV fines and penalizes dealerships for violations of the 30-day law titling law. For over two years FADA has been working on this issue because almost 25% of Florida car sales go beyond this 30-day time limit.
The media turned this discussion into a consumer issue instead, highlighting the many issues that Carvana and Vroom have been experiencing. FADA worked with the media attempting to make it clear that this is not just a pandemic driven problem; that while fines and penalties need to be present, the 30-day time limit should be extended to 60-days because so many lenders do not return titles timely to dealers after pay-offs. DMV failed to respond to FADA requests for a solution to the 30-day statutory penalty and issues with temp tags going over 60-days, so FADA continues to work on a solution.
Telephone Solicitations. Last year an amendment to Florida’s Telephone Solicitation Act opened the door for some dealers and others to be sued with class action lawsuits. FADA lawyers Alex Kurkin, Will Diaz-Rousselot and John Forehand developed a response and we went to Rep. Mike Beltran with our fix. Unfortunately, our bill was used as a vehicle to further expand the scope of the Florida statute, making it much more undesirable for Florida businesses. Again, FADA will continue to work on a solution and will give needed guidance to all dealers in the interim.
Data Privacy Bill. FADA has been heavily opposed to Florida’s Data Privacy bill, though House and Senate Republican leadership made known early that they wanted to pass. The motivation for this bill is purely political; meaning it polls well. When consumers are asked how they feel about big tech companies peering into their lives, the immediate reaction is “make it stop please!” As we’ve been reporting, the bill as written would be astronomical for Florida businesses to comply with and most likely not affect big tech at all. There is still a possibility that some form of data privacy bill could emerge in the next few days, over our objections and those of most Florida businesses.
Stay tuned as we continue to update you on these bills and our future plans.