Commercial Debt Collection in Florida
What Florida law gives a business creditor, the deadlines that quietly kill claims, and how C2C Resources collects Florida accounts.
Where we are: C2C Resources is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with a second office in Metairie, Louisiana.
Key takeaways
- Florida gives you five years to sue on a signed written contract and four years on an open account, invoices or purchase orders alone (Fla. Stat. 95.11). Get the terms signed and you buy a year.
- Florida does not set a service charge for you. Put any service charge in your written credit agreement. Florida's usury law generally caps interest at 18 percent a year on obligations of $500,000 or less (Fla. Stat. 687.02).
- If you have a signed agreement that allows for collection costs or collection agency fees, those charges may be included in the amount sought during collection. If legal action becomes necessary, recoverable fees and costs are determined under applicable Florida law and are ultimately subject to the court.
- Florida registers commercial collection agencies. C2C Resources is registered with the Office of Financial Regulation as a Commercial Collection Agency, license COM0900061.
- Small claims now covers claims up to $8,000 and county court up to $50,000. Many guides still quote $5,000 and $15,000.
- Suppliers: serve the Notice to Owner within 45 days, record the lien within 90 days of your last delivery, and sue within one year, or within 60 days if the owner contests the lien.
What's inside
How long do you have to collect a Florida business debt?
Five years on a signed written contract and four years on everything else, including an open account and a sale of goods billed on invoices and purchase orders (Fla. Stat. 95.11(2)(b) and 95.11(3)(j)). Miss the window and the debt is still owed, but no Florida court will enforce it.
Florida never adopted the Uniform Commercial Code's separate limitation period for sales of goods. There is no Fla. Stat. 672.725, so a supplier's claim runs on Florida's general limitations statute like any other contract claim. What decides your deadline is whether you have a signed written agreement, not what you sold.
| What you have | Time to file suit | Florida statute |
|---|---|---|
| Signed written contract, including a signed supply agreement for goods | 5 years | 95.11(2)(b) |
| Goods sold and delivered on invoices and purchase orders | 4 years | 95.11(3)(j) |
| Open account or oral agreement | 4 years | 95.11(3)(j) |
Whether a stack of invoices and purchase orders counts as a written contract depends on what those documents actually say, and courts look for the essential terms in writing. The safe assumption is four years unless a signed agreement sets out the terms.
One more thing most Florida guides get wrong: the four year paragraph was renumbered in 2023, from 95.11(3)(k) to 95.11(3)(j). A source still citing (3)(k) has not been updated since.
None of this means you should wait. Recovery falls hard as an account ages, which is why we ask clients to place at 90 to 120 days.
Can you charge interest on a past due invoice in Florida?
Yes, if your written agreement provides for it. Florida does not set a service charge for you, so whether your invoices are due upon receipt or on terms like net 30, put the rate in your credit application or terms of sale. Florida's usury law generally caps interest at 18 percent a year on obligations of $500,000 or less (Fla. Stat. 687.02).
That cap is why 1.5 percent a month, which works out to exactly 18 percent a year, is the common ceiling on Florida business invoices. If your paperwork says nothing about a service charge, that is worth fixing before the next customer signs.
Does a collection agency need to be registered in Florida?
Generally yes. Florida regulates commercial collection agencies under Chapter 559, Part V of the Florida Statutes, and they register with the Office of Financial Regulation, with some exemptions. C2C Resources is registered as a Commercial Collection Agency, license COM0900061.
Florida is one of the states that does require it. Registration comes with a surety bond requirement and an annual renewal, and the Office of Financial Regulation publishes who holds a current registration. C2C Resources has held its Florida registration since 2002.
On top of state registration, C2C Resources is certified by the Commercial Law League of America, endorsed by the International Association of Commercial Collectors, and carries a $500,000 surety bond.
This page describes Florida law in general terms. It is not legal advice, statutes change, and your situation may turn on facts a web page cannot know. Talk to your attorney before acting.
Where do Florida commercial claims get filed, and what happens after judgment?
Small claims procedure covers claims up to $8,000, county court hears claims up to $50,000, and circuit court hears anything larger, measured without counting interest and costs. After judgment, Florida lets a creditor garnish money a third party holds for the debtor, such as a bank account, under Chapter 77.
The county court limit has moved twice in six years: $15,000 for cases filed before 2020, $30,000 from 2020, and $50,000 for cases filed on or after January 1, 2023 (Fla. Stat. 34.01). Small claims now covers up to $8,000 (Florida Small Claims Rule 7.010), and many guides still say $5,000.
Garnishment in Florida is a writ served on whoever holds the debtor's money. The garnishee has 20 days to answer, and one deadline catches creditors out: unless the creditor moves for final judgment or dismisses within six months of filing the writ, it dissolves automatically (Fla. Stat. 77.07(5)). Florida's head of family wage exemption protects an individual's earnings, not a business's bank account.
A judgment can also become a lien on the debtor's personal property in Florida, including its accounts receivable, by filing a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Department of State. It lasts five years and can be renewed once, for five more, as a new lien with a new filing date.
Florida construction lien deadlines for suppliers and contractors
Serve a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing, record the claim of lien within 90 days of your final furnishing, and file suit within one year of recording. The year shrinks to 60 days if the owner files a Notice of Contest of Lien.
Florida has 88,586 private construction establishments (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026), and for the suppliers and subcontractors who work with them, the lien is often worth more than the lawsuit. Chapter 713 is strict about timing:
- 45 days: serve the Notice to Owner if you have no direct contract with the owner. Mail it within 40 days to get the benefit of the mailing date; after that it has to actually arrive within 45. It must also go out before the owner makes final payment (Fla. Stat. 713.06 and 713.18).
- 90 days: record the claim of lien, counted from your final furnishing (Fla. Stat. 713.08). Final furnishing is your last real delivery or work, not the certificate of occupancy, and coming back to correct your own work does not restart the clock (Fla. Stat. 713.01).
- One year: sue to enforce the lien, or it expires (Fla. Stat. 713.22).
- 60 days: if the owner records a Notice of Contest of Lien and the clerk serves it, you have 60 days from service to sue, and the lien is extinguished automatically if you do not.
- 20 days: any interested party can ask the court to order you to show cause, and you then have 20 days to act (Fla. Stat. 713.21).
The practical rule: treat one year as the ceiling, not the plan, and never ignore mail from the clerk.
Placing a Florida account with C2C Resources
Florida's economy runs on businesses that extend trade credit. The state's private sector has about 888,276 establishments, including 88,586 in construction, 42,050 in wholesale trade, 28,099 in manufacturing and 22,628 in transportation and warehousing (Bureau of Labor Statistics, first quarter 2026).
We collect from businesses across the state, from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. Here is how we work a Florida file:
- Best claim to place: from $1,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars, under 120 days past due. We take accounts of any size, and we would rather see them before they age. Most accounts reach us closer to 180 days, which is late enough to cost recovery.
- What we do first: verify the balance and the paperwork, then work the account by phone and in writing under our own name, not yours.
- If it needs legal: our Legal Forwarding Edge program moves the file to a vetted commercial attorney, with our interests still lined up with yours.
- What you can expect from us: we handle roughly 25,000 claims a year, we have been collecting in all 50 states since 2002, and clients typically recover 20 to 30 percent more with us than with the agency they used before.
- What we will not tell you: a made up recovery percentage. Recovery depends on your credit policy, your in house process, how old the account is and your industry. A suspiciously high published rate usually means the agency is making the number up.
Not ready to place anything? Read how third party B2B collection works, what Legal Forwarding Edge does when a file needs a lawyer, or how First Party AR keeps accounts from aging this far in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have an office in Florida?
Our headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia, and we have a second office in Metairie, Louisiana. Those two offices work every account, including Florida accounts.
Is C2C Resources registered to collect in Florida?
Yes. C2C Resources is registered with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation as a Commercial Collection Agency, license COM0900061, and has held that registration since 2002.
Can you collect if I never had a signed contract?
Usually yes. Most commercial debt is proved with purchase orders, invoices, delivery records, emails and a payment history. Without a signed agreement, a Florida account generally carries a four year window under Fla. Stat. 95.11(3)(j).
How old can a Florida account be before it is too late?
Legally, four years for an open account or a goods sale on invoices, and five for a signed written contract. Practically, much sooner. Accounts placed at 90 to 120 days recover far more than accounts placed at a year.
Do you collect consumer or retail debt in Florida?
No. We are commercial only, business to business. Florida's Consumer Collection Practices Act and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act both cover consumer debts, not commercial ones.
I want to keep this customer. Will you damage the relationship?
That is the normal situation, not the exception. Our collectors average 26 years in commercial collection and work the account professionally under our name. Plenty of our clients keep selling to a customer after we recover the balance.
What does it cost to place a Florida account?
We work on contingency, so there is no recovery fee unless we collect. The rate depends on the size and age of the claim. Ask us for a quote on your specific file and we will give you a straight answer.
Have a past due Florida account?
Send us the details and a commercial collection specialist will tell you what it is worth pursuing, and how we would work it.