GoHighLevel Agency for Florida Businesses: FTSA-Ready GHL Setups

Why a GoHighLevel Agency Florida Setup Starts With the FTSA

Florida has its own telemarketing law on top of the federal TCPA: the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, section 501.059 of the Florida Statutes. It defines a “telephonic sales call” as a call, text message or voicemail transmission sent to a consumer to solicit a sale. That means your GoHighLevel texts are in scope, not just your phone calls.

The law also lets consumers sue. A called party can recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and a court may increase the award up to three times for willful or knowing violations. A court also presumes that a sales call to a Florida area code reached a Florida resident, though that presumption can be rebutted.

So any GoHighLevel agency Florida businesses hire should treat the FTSA as a design requirement, not an afterthought. You can read the current text on the Florida Legislature’s statute page.

What the 2023 Amendment (HB 761) Changed

In 2023 the Legislature passed CS/CS/HB 761, signed on May 25, 2023, which rewrote key parts of the FTSA. Three changes matter most for anyone texting from GHL.

• Autodialer wording. The consent rule now covers calls that use “an automated system for the selection and dialing of telephone numbers” or that play a recorded message. The earlier text said “selection or dialing,” which reached far more systems.
• Easier written consent. Prior express written consent can now come from an electronic or digital signature or an act that shows consent, such as checking a box or replying yes to receive texts.
• 15-day cure for texts. Before suing over text solicitations, the recipient must reply “STOP” to the number that texted them. A lawsuit is only possible if the texts keep coming 15 days after that notice.

The Florida Senate bill summary lays out these changes. The statute also says you may not call or text someone who has already told you they don’t want to hear from you, so the STOP reply has to stick everywhere in your account.

Florida Rules at a Glance

Section 501.616 sits in Florida’s separate commercial telephone seller law, so whether it applies depends on your business. We still use its hours as the default in every GoHighLevel agency Florida build we deliver.

Two Time Zones in One Florida Account

Most of Florida runs on Eastern time, but the western Panhandle is on Central time. Federal rules in 49 CFR 71.5 put the boundary along the Apalachicola River, so Pensacola and Panama City sit one hour behind Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville.

That matters for quiet hours. A text that goes out at 8:05 a.m. Eastern lands at 7:05 a.m. in Pensacola. If your account sends on a single business timezone, Panhandle leads get your messages an hour early.

GoHighLevel can run workflow timing on each contact’s own timezone instead of the account timezone. When a contact has no timezone saved, GHL falls back to the account setting, so we make sure lead forms and imports fill it in.

How We Configure Your GHL Account for Florida

Every Florida build covers the same compliance base before we touch campaigns. Here is what we set up and check.

• Consent capture: FTSA-aware opt-in language on forms, calendars and funnels, with the consent timestamp and source stored on the contact.
• A2P 10DLC: brand and campaign registration in the Trust Center, with sample messages that match your real texts. Our A2P 10DLC registration service handles this end to end.
• Opt-out handling: GHL sets DND automatically when someone replies STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE, and a person can rejoin by replying START, YES or UNSTOP. We review your opt-out keywords so routine words in appointment replies don’t cause surprises.
• Sending windows: contact-timezone timing and time windows on outbound SMS and call steps, so messages pause and resume during allowed hours.
• Clean data: imports from your old CRM come in with consent and DND status intact. If you are moving platforms, see our GoHighLevel migration service.

Already running GHL and getting carrier rejections or filtered texts? Our GoHighLevel A2P help page explains how we fix existing accounts.

Florida Metros and the Businesses We Build For

As a GoHighLevel agency Florida companies hire remotely, we work with businesses across the state’s large metro areas, including Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville, plus smaller markets in the Panhandle. FloridaCommerce lists the state’s target industries as including aerospace and aviation, financial services, life sciences, logistics and manufacturing.

Most of our Florida clients are the businesses that live on fast follow-up: home services, roofing and restoration, real estate teams, med spas and hospitality. Roofing and restoration companies often see demand jump after a storm, so we build their pipelines to absorb a sudden wave of inquiries without texting anyone who hasn’t opted in.

Working With a Remote Florida GHL Partner

GoHighLevel USA has no Florida office, and we won’t pretend otherwise. We are a remote GoHighLevel agency Florida clients reach by video call, with meetings on Eastern time and shared screens instead of site visits.

That works because GHL itself is cloud software. If you want to compare options first, browse our other state and city pages or start with our done-for-you GoHighLevel setup.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm with your own counsel how the FTSA and Florida’s telemarketing laws apply to your business.

Based in South Florida? Our Miami GoHighLevel guide covers bilingual follow-up and the metro’s industry mix.

On the Gulf Coast? Our Tampa GoHighLevel guide covers Tampa Bay industries and storm-season messaging.