Florida Statute 520.12 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XXXIII
REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS

Chapter 520
RETAIL INSTALLMENT SALES

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520.12 Penalties.—

(1) Any person who willfully and intentionally violates any provision of s. 520.995 or engages in the business of a retail installment seller without obtaining a license as required by this part is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(2) In the case of a willful violation of this part with respect to any retail installment sale, the buyer may recover from the person committing such violation, or may set off or counterclaim in any action against the buyer by such person, an amount equal to any finance charge and any fees charged to the buyer by reason of delinquency, plus attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the buyer to assert rights under this part.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to any violation of the requirement in s. 520.07(1)(c) that the seller deliver or mail to the buyer a copy of the contract signed by the seller, if the seller delivered to the buyer at the time the buyer signed the contract an exact copy of the contract that the buyer signed.

History.—s. 11, ch. 57-799; s. 9, ch. 59-456; s. 491, ch. 71-136; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 21, ch. 80-256; s. 2, ch. 81-318; s. 5, ch. 87-91; ss. 7, 35, 36, ch. 90-103; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 32, ch. 2001-196.

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Amendments to 520.12

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 520.12

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

S520.12 - FRAUD - ENGAGE AS RETAIL INSTALL SELLER W/O LIC - M: F

Cases Citing Statute 520.12

Total Results: 9 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Charbonneau v. Morse Operations, Inc., 727 So. 2d 1017 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).

Cited 10 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 72238

...fair Trade Practices (count II); and violation of the Motor Vehicles Sales Finance Act (count III). Count II sought damages and attorney's fees under section 501.2105, Florida Statutes and Count III sought statutory damages and attorney's fees under section 520.12, Florida Statutes....

...ant in the amount of $2,213.75. Appellant filed a Motion to Modify/Correct Award and Motion for Confirmation of Award arguing that the Arbitrator was without authority to deny her claim for attorney's fees available pursuant to statutes 501.2105 and 520.12....

...the issue of entitlement to fees to the arbitrator. Here, appellant moved for attorney's fees in her arbitration claim pursuant to the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, section 501.2105(1) [1] and the Motor Vehicle Sales Finance Act, section 520.12(2) [2] , claiming that under a prevailing party statute, she was entitled to an award of fees....

...an act or practice involving a violation of this part, ..., the prevailing party, after judgment in the trial court and exhaustion of all appeals, if any, may receive his or her reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the nonprevailing party." [2] Section 520.12, Florida Statutes (1997) provides that "[i]n the case of a willful violation of this part with respect to any retail installment sale, the buyer may recover from the person committing such violation, or may set off or counterclaim in a...

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Cannon v. Metro Ford. Inc., 242 F. Supp. 2d 1322 (S.D. Fla. 2002).

Cited 7 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25558, 2002 WL 31958926

...l essential provisions prior to the signing of the contract *1333 by the buyer. FLA. STAT. § 520.07(1)(a). The statute's penalty provision allows a buyer to recover for any willful violation with respect to a retail installment contract. FLA. STAT. § 520.12(2). The statute was amended, effective June 8, 2001, to provide: Section 520.12(2) does not apply to any violation of the requirement in s. 520.07(1)(c) that the seller deliver or mail to the buyer a copy of the contract signed by the seller, if the seller delivered at the time the buyer signed the contract an exact copy of the contract that the buyer signed. FLA. STAT. § 520.12(3) (amended by Laws 2001, c.2001-196, § 32, eff....

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Donoghue v. Wallach, 455 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984).

Cited 6 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal

...nt of taxes to seller. The seller then appealed to the circuit court. The circuit court agreed that by failing to separately itemize the sales taxes the seller had violated section 520.07, Florida Statutes (1981). However, the court pointed out that section 520.12, Florida Statutes (1981), the penalty section, which bars a seller in violation of the chapter from recovering certain charges, makes no reference to sales taxes....

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State v. Beach Blvd Auto., Inc., 139 So. 3d 380 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).

Cited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2014 WL 2040853, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 7574

argument that it properly pled damages pursuant to section 520.12(2), Florida Statutes (2011), which provides

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Trotter v. Ford Motor Credit Corp., 868 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004).

Cited 4 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 2573, 2004 WL 385004

...We disagree with the court's holding that no cause of action for common law restitution exists in Florida. But we agree that Trotter and Smith have failed to plead such a claim. Their cause of action for restitution is based solely on alleged violations of sections 520.07(2), 520.07(7), 520.12, 520.13, and 627.682, Florida Statutes (2000)....

...otor Vehicle Retail Sales Finance Act, or in Florida case law, would render the entire finance contract void because of the violations of chapter 520 that Trotter and Smith have asserted. The remedies for violations of the Act are stated in sections 520.12 and 520.13....

...violations asserted against both Freedom and FMCC in count IV. While the Act does mention holders of retail installment paper, see § 520.07(6), it does not provide a remedy against a holder unless that holder has committed a willful violation. See § 520.12(2)....

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Corcoran v. TranSouth Fin. Corp. (In Re Corcoran), 268 B.R. 882 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2001).

Cited 1 times | Published | United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida | 15 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 1, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 1413, 2001 WL 1326912

...lege that the retail installment contract that they signed on September 8, 2000, violates § 520.08(1)(d) because the finance charge set forth in the contract exceeds the rate of $17 per $100 per year. The Debtors therefore contend that, pursuant to § 520.12(2) of the Florida Statutes, they are entitled either to an affirmative judgment against TranSouth, or a setoff against TranSouth's claim, in an amount equal to the finance charge....

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Bengal Motor Co. v. Cuello, 121 So. 3d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2013 WL 1980147, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 7810, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 1088

court’s award of damages to Cuello based on section 520.12(2), as she did not suffer any actual damages

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Veal v. Crown Auto Dealerships, Inc., 236 F.R.D. 572 (M.D. Fla. 2006).

Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18237, 2006 WL 844561

in which Crown violated Florida Statutes, section 520.12 by (1) failing to clearly and conspicuously

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Maroone Chevrolet, LLC d/b/a Maroone Chevrolet v. German Alvarado (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2022).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida

figure. Under the penalties section found in section 520.12(2) applicable to violations of section 520

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