Florida Activates Price Gouging Hotline Amid Coronavirus Emergency. Just Like During Hurricanes.

March 10, 2020

The same price gouging laws we are accustomed to after a hurricane and now in effect in Florida due to the coronavirus.

After a declaration of a state of emergency in the state by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody activated Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline.

The Attorney General’s Price Gouging Hotline can only be activated following a state of emergency declaration issued by the Governor and covers essential commodities like protective masks; sanitizing and disinfecting supplies such as hand sanitizer, gel, wipes, surface cleaners and commercial cleaning supplies; and other items.

“We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Florida very closely and following the Governor’s state of emergency declaration, our price gouging laws are now in effect. I have a rapid response team ready to immediately respond to allegations of price gouging and our Consumer Protection Division continues to look for scams by fraudsters who would use this situation to rip-off Floridians,” Moody said. “Be on the lookout for scams and guard against gouging, but remember, the best thing you can do right now is heed the advice of health experts—wash hands regularly and stay home if you are ill.”

Violators of the price gouging statute are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation and up to a total of $25,000 for multiple violations committed in a single 24-hour period.

Comments

3 Responses to “Florida Activates Price Gouging Hotline Amid Coronavirus Emergency. Just Like During Hurricanes.”

  1. Sedition on March 11th, 2020 3:27 am

    @Eric

    Great job!
    You never know from which direction the fun stuff is going to hit you, but it’s best to prepare for any scenario you can think of.
    Does this stuff go to waste? Nope…we always have to worry about hurricanes. And if you rotate stocks properly, the foodstuffs should never go bad and you have a large variety to choose from.
    You feel like you could do better? LOL…we all do. You always think “should I get another 20 pounds of rice to vacuum seal? Another box of ammo? Another water filter?”
    Just take it easy and don’t let it overwhelm you.

    ps. My preps have gotten me through some pretty tough times after the market collapse back in 2008.

  2. Eric on March 10th, 2020 10:33 pm

    Sedition … nope, you dont look crazy to me. Funny thing is, I just began prepping a few months ago. At the time, I thought I’d never need or use all this stuff lol. Anyway, 5 months later and I have a years supply of food, water, etc. I feel somewhat prepared, but feel I could do better as well.

  3. Sedition on March 10th, 2020 3:43 pm

    I guess us preppers, who have been getting ready for goofy stuff like this for a long time, don’t look so crazy now, do we?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News