Florida Statutes
Fla. Stat. § 520.12 (2025)
Penalties.
✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us
JustiaFla. Statutes
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
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.
Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 520.12
M = misdemeanor · F = felony · degree: F=1st S=2nd T=3rd§520.12FRAUDENGAGE AS RETAIL INSTALL SELLER W/O LIC
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1963–2025 · leading case: Cannon v. Metro Ford. Inc., 242 F. Supp. 2d 1322 (S.D. Fla. 2002).
Cannon v. Metro Ford. Inc., 242 F. Supp. 2d 1322 (S.D. Fla. 2002). “Fla. Stat. § 520.12 (2). The statute was amended, effective June 8, 2001, to provide: Section 520.”
Charbonneau v. Morse Operations, Inc., 727 So. 2d 1017 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). “2105, Florida Statutes and Count III sought statutory damages and attorney's fees under section 520.12, Florida Statutes. Appellee initially filed a Motion to Strike Claimant's Claim for Attorney's Fees claiming that appellant was barred from seeking statutory attorney's fees…”
Veal v. Crown Auto Dealerships, Inc., 236 F.R.D. 572 (M.D. Fla. 2006). “osed Finance Act Subclass Definition: All persons who have purchased vehicles from Crown Auto, which included the sale of Crown Auto’s TracGuard product, inclusive of the anti-theft etch insurance, and financed that purchase by initially entering into a retail installment sales…”
Donoghue v. Wallach, 455 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). “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.”
State v. Beach Blvd Auto., Inc., 139 So. 3d 380 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). “12(2), Florida Statutes (2011), which provides in part 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 .”
Corcoran v. TranSouth Fin. Corp. (In Re Corcoran), 268 B.R. 882 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2001). “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.”
Trotter v. Ford Motor Credit Corp., 868 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). “See § 520.12(2). No such allegation was made concerning FMCC.”
Maroone Chevrolet, LLC d/b/a Maroone Chevrolet v. German Alvarado (Fla. 4th DCA 2022). “§ 520.12(2), Fla. Stat. (2014) (emphasis added).”
Bengal Motor Co. v. Cuello, 121 So. 3d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013). “§ 520.12(2), Fla. Stat. (2011) (emphasis added).”
Castillo v. RPST Grp. Holdings, LLC (M.D. Fla. 2025). “” Fla. Stat. § 520.12 (2). Plaintiff alleges that he is a retail buyer and entered into a retail installment contract.”
Jones v. Orlando Second Car Ctr., Inc., 30 Fla. Supp. 2d 105 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 1988). “§ 520.12(1), Fla. Stat. (1985). Morosani v 1st National Bank, 703 F.”
Gen. Fin. Corp. v. Emanuel, 21 Fla. Supp. 175 (Dade Cty. Sm. Cl. Ct 1963). “Under §520.12 (2), F.S., a wilful violation of §520.”
— 520.12(1) — 1 case
Jones v. Orlando Second Car Ctr., Inc., 30 Fla. Supp. 2d 105 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 1988). “§ 520.12(1), Fla. Stat. (1985). Morosani v 1st National Bank, 703 F.”
— 520.12(2) — 8 cases
Cannon v. Metro Ford. Inc., 242 F. Supp. 2d 1322 (S.D. Fla. 2002). “Fla. Stat. § 520.12 (2). The statute was amended, effective June 8, 2001, to provide: Section 520.”
State v. Beach Blvd Auto., Inc., 139 So. 3d 380 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014). “12(2), Florida Statutes (2011), which provides in part 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 .”
Charbonneau v. Morse Operations, Inc., 727 So. 2d 1017 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). “2105, Florida Statutes and Count III sought statutory damages and attorney's fees under section 520.12, Florida Statutes. Appellee initially filed a Motion to Strike Claimant's Claim for Attorney's Fees claiming that appellant was barred from seeking statutory attorney's fees…”
Corcoran v. TranSouth Fin. Corp. (In Re Corcoran), 268 B.R. 882 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2001). “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.”
Trotter v. Ford Motor Credit Corp., 868 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). “See § 520.12(2). No such allegation was made concerning FMCC.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.