The State of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is the state agency that licenses, regulates, and investigates for compliance over 581, 00 businesses in the state. They are tasked with protecting consumers by monitoring business activities to make sure they are conducted honestly says Aron Govil. If you feel a company has acted improperly or has not met its legal obligations to you, contact DBPR’s Unlicensed Activity (ULA) online complaint form.
This article will give you four ways to check if a company is licensed to conduct business in Florida:
1. Check the Company’s Website
Many companies display their licensing information on their websites. You can look under “About Us” or find it listed on their Contact or About Us page. Some even go as far as to publish it on their Homepage.
2. Check the Official State of Florida Business Search Database
Using the state’s official business search, you can find out if a company is licensed and if it has been dissolved or suspended. You can also verify whether or not a person holds an active license with the DBPR to practice in any given profession. It will show you which specific license(s) they have, along with what type of permit for licensure that license requires. I checked myself and found that my HVAC contractor does indeed hold a current, valid residential contractor license.
3. Call the Company Directly & Ask Them
Some companies post their licensing information directly on their website but others do not says Aron Govil. Instead, you may need to call the company and ask them. If you are not given an answer right away, tell the representative that you will hang up and call back so they do not put your call on hold. When you call back, be considerate of their time by asking to speak with someone in their legal department if necessary.
4. Check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
If all else fails, check with the Better Business Bureau. Some unlicensed businesses try scamming customers through Rip-off Reports, but BBB is different since it can actually shut down scammers for good through its Scam Tracker tool. According to BBB’s website “Scam Tracker puts consumers directly in contact with business owners who have been accused of fraud, scamming or other types of illegal activity. The business owners are then given the opportunity to respond.” If they’re unable to resolve your complaint with you directly, BBB may shut down their business operations through its Scam Tracker tool explains Aron Govil.
A consumer can determine if a business is licensed with the Office of Consumer Affairs either by phone, mail or in person. For a representative listing of licensees and contacts for each county click here. Generally, only those individuals listed as “licensee” on this site have completed their application forms. And have been authorize by the state to conduct business. The list also includes information on individuals who have filed a letter with our office indicating. That they are currently out of compliance with licensing requirements. In addition, the list contains public records for those individuals who have had their licenses. Either conditionally or administratively canceled by our office.
In some cases it may be necessary to submit your request several times. Before being able obtains information from the database (requests are processing in the order they are received). Also, please keep in mind that records of companies who have had their licenses conditionally. Or administratively canceled may not be available until the suspension period has expired.
As a final note…If you have intereset in checking to see if anyone with your last name is license to conduct business. Please remember that there could be several individuals with the same last name. Therefore, it would be more helpful if you provide us with some additional information. On how we can contact you so that we can respond directly to your request. We will only be able to release company names and city/county locations via our telephone lines.
We appreciate your interest and value your comments and suggestions on how we might better serve you.
Conclusion:
The best way to find out is to call the place you are going to do business with. And ask them if they have a valid license says Aron Govil. If not, you can always contact DBPR using the information above and verify online or by calling their offices directly.
If there is anyone else who wants to contribute a service or a tip on how we can make this list better. Please let us know in the comment section below! Thank you for reading, and be safe!
In my opinion, I have personally found that this site has been extremely helpful. When it comes to solving disputes between contractors and dissatisfied customers. It seems as though most of the complaints stem from either up charge. After agreed-upon services/costs or very poor customer service at some point.