Florida Senate - 2024                             CS for SB 1452
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
       Domestic Security; and Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       583-02615-24                                          20241452c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to compensation for advising or
    3         assisting in veterans’ benefits; creating s. 295.225,
    4         F.S.; providing a short title; providing definitions;
    5         prohibiting a person from receiving compensation for
    6         advising or assisting an individual with regard to a
    7         veterans’ benefits matter except as authorized by law;
    8         providing requirements for advertising services
    9         related thereto; requiring a person who provides such
   10         services to an individual in return for compensation
   11         to enter into a written agreement with and provide a
   12         certain disclosure to such individual; providing
   13         disclosure requirements; requiring the person who
   14         provides such services to retain a copy of the
   15         disclosure for a certain period; prohibiting a person
   16         from guaranteeing an individual’s receipt of benefits,
   17         receiving excessive or unreasonable compensation, or
   18         receiving compensation for referring an individual to
   19         another person; prohibiting a person from receiving
   20         compensation for services provided before the date on
   21         which a notice of disagreement is filed; providing
   22         that a violation is a deceptive and unfair trade
   23         practice; providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 295.225, Florida Statutes, is created to
   28  read:
   29         295.225Advising or assisting in veterans’ benefits
   30  matters; receipt of compensation.—
   31         (1)This act may be cited as the “Governing Unaccredited
   32  Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act.”
   33         (2)As used in this section, the term:
   34         (a)“Compensation” means payment of any money, thing of
   35  value, or financial benefit.
   36         (b)“Person” means an individual, corporation, business
   37  trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company,
   38  joint venture, public corporation, or any other legal or for
   39  profit commercial entity.
   40         (c)“Veterans’ benefits matter” means the preparation,
   41  presentation, or prosecution of any claim affecting any person
   42  who has filed or expressed an intent to file a claim for any
   43  benefit, program, service, commodity, function, or status the
   44  entitlement to which is determined under the laws and
   45  regulations administered by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
   46  or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs pertaining
   47  to veterans, their dependents, their survivors, and any other
   48  individual eligible for such benefits.
   49         (3)A person may not receive compensation for advising or
   50  assisting an individual with regard to a veterans’ benefits
   51  matter except as authorized by federal law and this section.
   52         (4)A person who advertises services in advising or
   53  assisting an individual with regard to a veterans’ benefits
   54  matter in return for compensation must provide the following
   55  disclosure in such advertisement:
   56  
   57         “This business is not sponsored by or affiliated with
   58         the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the
   59         Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or any other
   60         federally chartered veterans’ service organization.
   61         Other organizations, including, but not limited to,
   62         the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, your
   63         county or city veteran service office, and other
   64         federally chartered veterans’ service organizations,
   65         may be able to provide you with these services free of
   66         charge. Products or services offered by this business
   67         are not necessarily endorsed by any of these
   68         organizations. You may qualify for other veterans’
   69         benefits beyond the services that this business
   70         offers.”
   71  
   72  If such advertisement is written, including in an electronic
   73  format, the disclosure must appear in a readily visible location
   74  on the advertisement. If such advertisement is oral, the spoken
   75  statement of the disclosure must be clear and intelligible.
   76         (5)(a)A person who provides services in advising or
   77  assisting an individual with regard to a veterans’ benefits
   78  matter in return for compensation must, before providing such
   79  services:
   80         1.Enter into a written agreement with such individual
   81  which provides the terms of the individual’s payment of fees for
   82  the services provided, which adheres to all criteria specified
   83  in 38 C.F.R. s. 14.636, and which is signed by both parties.
   84         2.Provide the following disclosure to the individual, both
   85  orally and in writing:
   86  
   87         “This business is not sponsored by or affiliated with
   88         the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the
   89         Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or any other
   90         federally chartered veterans’ service organization.
   91         Other organizations, including, but not limited to,
   92         the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, your
   93         county or city veteran service office, and other
   94         federally chartered veterans’ service organizations,
   95         may be able to provide you with this service free of
   96         charge. Products or services offered by this business
   97         are not necessarily endorsed by any of these
   98         organizations. You may qualify for other veterans’
   99         benefits beyond the benefits for which you are
  100         receiving services here.”
  101  
  102  The written disclosure must appear in at least 12-point font and
  103  must appear in a readily noticeable and identifiable location in
  104  the written agreement required under subparagraph 1. The
  105  individual must verbally acknowledge understanding of the oral
  106  disclosure and must sign the document in which the written
  107  disclosure appears in order to represent understanding of the
  108  disclosure. The person providing services must retain a copy of
  109  the written disclosure while providing such services to the
  110  individual and for at least 1 year after the date on which the
  111  service relationship terminates.
  112         (b)A person may not:
  113         1.Guarantee, either directly or by implication, that an
  114  individual is certain to receive specific veterans’ benefits or
  115  that an individual is certain to receive a specific level,
  116  percentage, or amount of veterans’ benefits.
  117         2.Receive excessive or unreasonable fees as compensation
  118  for advising or assisting an individual with regard to a
  119  veterans’ benefits matter. The provisions of 38 C.F.R. s. 14.636
  120  shall govern determinations of whether a fee is excessive or
  121  unreasonable.
  122         3.Receive compensation for referring an individual to
  123  another person to advise or assist the individual with regard to
  124  a veterans’ benefits matter.
  125         (6)If an individual to whom a person provides services
  126  under this section in return for compensation files a notice of
  127  disagreement pursuant to Title 38 C.F.R., the person who
  128  provided such services may not receive compensation for any
  129  services provided to such individual before the date on which
  130  the notice is filed.
  131         (7)A violation of this section is a deceptive and unfair
  132  trade practice and constitutes a violation of the Florida
  133  Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act under part II of
  134  chapter 501.
  135         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.