On May 25, 2023 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law an amendment (Amendment) to the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA), clarifying ambiguities and corralling what has been a runaway gust of telemarketing litigation since the passage of the FTSA almost two years ago. Under the FTSA, an individual could bring suit against a telemarketer for using an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) that simply selected phone numbers or dialed telephone numbers to place calls or send messages without prior consent. In other words, even if the caller dialed the phone number manually, the call would still be subject to the FTSA if the number was automatically selected using software. This Amendment clarifies that suit can be brought only if the ATDS both selects and dials the phone number. While still not specifically defining what constitutes an ATDS, this two-part test should stem the flow of FTSA litigation by greatly narrowing the present standard.
