Not legal advice. This is a plain-language reading of Chapter 475 and Sections 775.082 and 775.083 of the 2025 Florida Statutes as published by the Florida Senate and read on October 19, 2026. Have a Florida real estate attorney review your contract and marketing before you use them.
Does Florida have a wholesaling law?
No. Unlike Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Carolina, Florida has not passed a statute that names wholesaling, defines an assignment of a purchase contract, or requires a disclosure to the seller. Read the four sections of Chapter 475 that govern who needs a license and what happens if you skip it (ss. 475.01, 475.011, 475.42, and 475.25) and the words "wholesale" and "equitable interest" appear in none of them. "Assignment" shows up only inside the definition of real property. Florida investors are left with the general license law, applied one deal at a time.
That silence cuts both ways. There is no bright-line safe harbor, such as a bold disclosure that makes an assignment clean. There is also no ban. A buyer under contract who sells the contract is not described anywhere as breaking the law. What matters is whether the way you find buyers, market the property, and get paid looks like brokerage under the definitions below. Compare the clearer duties in Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, where lawmakers wrote wholesaling rules directly.
When is a wholesaler acting as a broker?
Section 475.01(1)(a) defines a "broker" as a person who, "for another, and for a compensation or valuable consideration directly or indirectly paid or promised," appraises, auctions, sells, exchanges, buys, rents, or "offers, attempts or agrees to" negotiate the sale, exchange, or purchase "of any real property or any interest in or concerning the same." It also reaches anyone who "takes any part in the procuring of sellers, purchasers" or "directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or in the negotiation or closing of any transaction."
Two other definitions widen the net. Section 475.01(1)(i) says "real property" means "any interest or estate in land," including an assignment or leasehold. And s. 475.01(3) says "a single such act is sufficient to bring a person within the meaning of this chapter, and each act, if prohibited herein, constitutes a separate offense." You do not need a pattern of deals.
| Statute | What it says | Why it matters to a wholesaler |
|---|---|---|
| s. 475.01(1)(a) | Broker acts "for another" for compensation, including procuring buyers | Marketing a contract you do not own can look like acting for someone else |
| s. 475.01(1)(i) | Real property includes any interest or estate in land | A contract right may be argued to be an interest |
| s. 475.01(3) | A single act is sufficient | One assignment can be enough |
| s. 475.42(1)(a) | No operating without an active license | The felony provision |
What are the penalties for unlicensed activity in Florida?
Section 475.42(1)(a) states that "a person may not operate as a broker or sales associate without being the holder of a valid and current active license." The same paragraph says a person who violates it "commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083."
Those two sections set the numbers. Under s. 775.082(3)(e), a felony of the third degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years. Under s. 775.083(1)(c), the fine may be up to $5,000 when the conviction is for a third degree felony. Because s. 475.01(3) treats each prohibited act as a separate offense, counts can stack across deals.
If you hold a Florida license, there is a second layer. Section 475.25(1) lets the Florida Real Estate Commission deny, suspend for up to 10 years, or revoke a license, impose an administrative fine of up to $5,000 for each count or separate offense, and issue a reprimand. The statute text is a ceiling, not a prediction of what any given case would bring, but it shows why Florida investors treat the license question as a threshold issue and not a footnote.
What does the own-property exemption cover?
Section 475.011(2) says the license law does not apply to "any individual, corporation, partnership, trust, joint venture, or other entity which sells, exchanges, or leases its own real property." The exemption comes with a limit: it "shall not be available if and to the extent that an agent, employee, or independent contractor paid a commission or other compensation strictly on a transactional basis is employed to make sales, exchanges, or leases to or with customers in the ordinary course of an owner's business of selling, exchanging, or leasing real property to the public."
The practical reading is that an investor who owns the property and sells it is on firmer ground than an investor who only holds a contract and is paid a fee for finding the end buyer. The statute does not say whether a contract right counts as "its own real property," and the text I read does not settle it. Fee structure also matters, because a person paid per deal to line up buyers is exactly the "strictly on a transactional basis" situation the limit describes. These are questions for a Florida attorney who can look at your contracts, not for a blog post.
What should investors do on a Florida deal?
Treat the license law as the main risk and structure around it. None of the steps below is a statutory safe harbor, they are ways to reduce the chance a deal looks like brokerage.
- Prefer owning the property. Closing on the house yourself, as in a double close, puts you under the own-property exemption more clearly than a pure assignment. Read our guides to double closing versus assignment and transactional funding.
- Market your contract and your position, not the seller's house. Be careful with public listings and with language that suggests you represent the seller.
- Be open with the seller. Say in writing that you are an investor buying for your own account and may resell. Florida does not require it, which makes it a good-faith practice.
- Avoid commission-style pay for helpers. Paying assistants per closed deal is the pattern the s. 475.011(2) limit describes.
- Get an attorney's read on your assignment clause and marketing before your first Florida deal.
- Consider a direct cash buyer. If you want a clean exit, submit the deal to Home Pros or browse the marketplace.
Home Pros is a veteran-owned cash buyer based in San Antonio, founded in 2025. We buy houses as-is, pay closing costs, and can close in as little as 7 days. Florida sellers can read our Florida page, see how we calculate an offer, or try the cash offer calculator, and investors can see how our cash buyers work. For more on the mechanics, read contract assignment explained, and for Florida deal sources see Florida judicial foreclosure auctions and Florida as-is disclosure requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Is wholesaling legal in Florida?
Florida has no statute that mentions wholesaling or contract assignment by name. Wholesaling is legal where the investor stays on the right side of Chapter 475, which makes it a third degree felony to act as a broker or sales associate without a license. Whether a given deal crosses that line depends on the facts, so have a Florida attorney review it.
Do you need a real estate license to wholesale in Florida?
Not under any wholesaling-specific rule, because none exists. But s. 475.01 defines a broker as someone who, for another and for compensation, buys, sells, or negotiates the purchase or sale of any interest in real property, and s. 475.42 requires a license to operate as one. Selling your own property is exempt under s. 475.011(2).
What is the penalty for unlicensed brokerage in Florida?
Operating as a broker or sales associate without a valid active license is a third degree felony under s. 475.42(1)(a). A third degree felony carries up to 5 years in prison under s. 775.082 and a fine up to $5,000 under s. 775.083.
Does one deal count as operating as a broker?
Yes. Section 475.01(3) says a single such act is sufficient to bring a person within the chapter, and each act, if prohibited, constitutes a separate offense.
What can the Florida Real Estate Commission do to a licensee?
Under s. 475.25(1) the commission may deny, suspend (up to 10 years), or revoke a license, impose an administrative fine up to $5,000 per count or offense, and issue a reprimand. That section applies to licensees, which matters if you hold a Florida license and also wholesale.
Sources
Documents were read on October 19, 2026. Quoted language is from the sources below.
- Fla. Stat. s. 475.01, Definitions: broker, sales associate, real property, and the single-act rule.
- Fla. Stat. s. 475.011, Exemptions: the own-property exemption and its limit.
- Fla. Stat. s. 475.42, Violations and penalties: the third degree felony for unlicensed activity.
- Fla. Stat. s. 475.25, Discipline: license discipline and administrative fines.
- Fla. Stat. s. 775.082 and s. 775.083: prison term and fine for a third degree felony.
Not legal advice. Statutes change and courts and regulators may interpret them differently. Confirm current law with a licensed Florida attorney.