Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1452 By Senator Torres 25-01488-24 20241452__ 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: 29 295.225 Advising 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 association, joint venture, public corporation, government, 39 governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any 40 other legal or commercial entity. 41 (c) “Veterans’ benefits matter” means the preparation, 42 presentation, or prosecution of any claim affecting any person 43 who has filed or expressed an intent to file a claim for any 44 benefit, program, service, commodity, function, or status the 45 entitlement to which is determined under the laws and 46 regulations administered by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs 47 or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs pertaining 48 to veterans, their dependents, their survivors, and any other 49 individual eligible for such benefits. 50 (3) A person may not receive compensation for advising or 51 assisting an individual with regard to a veterans’ benefits 52 matter except as authorized by federal law and this section. 53 (4) A person who advertises services in advising or 54 assisting an individual with regard to a veterans’ benefits 55 matter in return for compensation must provide the following 56 disclosure in such advertisement: 57 58 “This business is not sponsored by or affiliated with 59 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the 60 Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or any other 61 federally chartered veterans’ service organization. 62 Other organizations, including, but not limited to, 63 the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, your 64 county or city veteran service office, and other 65 federally chartered veterans’ service organizations, 66 may be able to provide you with these services free of 67 charge. Products or services offered by this business 68 are not necessarily endorsed by any of these 69 organizations. You may qualify for other veterans’ 70 benefits beyond the services that this business 71 offers.” 72 73 If such advertisement is written, including in an electronic 74 format, the disclosure must appear in a readily visible location 75 on the advertisement. If such advertisement is oral, the spoken 76 statement of the disclosure must be clear and intelligible. 77 (5)(a) A person who provides services in advising or 78 assisting an individual with regard to a veterans’ benefits 79 matter in return for compensation must, before providing such 80 services: 81 1. Enter into a written agreement with such individual 82 which provides the terms of the individual’s payment of fees for 83 the services provided, which adheres to all criteria specified 84 in 38 C.F.R. s. 14.636, and which is signed by both parties. 85 2. Provide the following disclosure to the individual, both 86 orally and in writing: 87 88 “This business is not sponsored by or affiliated with 89 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the 90 Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or any other 91 federally chartered veterans’ service organization. 92 Other organizations, including, but not limited to, 93 the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, your 94 county or city veteran service office, and other 95 federally chartered veterans’ service organizations, 96 may be able to provide you with this service free of 97 charge. Products or services offered by this business 98 are not necessarily endorsed by any of these 99 organizations. You may qualify for other veterans’ 100 benefits beyond the benefits for which you are 101 receiving services here.” 102 103 The written disclosure must appear in at least 12-point font and 104 must appear in a readily noticeable and identifiable location in 105 the written agreement required under subparagraph 1. The 106 individual must verbally acknowledge understanding of the oral 107 disclosure and must sign the document in which the written 108 disclosure appears in order to represent understanding of the 109 disclosure. The person providing services must retain a copy of 110 the written disclosure while providing such services to the 111 individual and for at least 1 year after the date on which the 112 service relationship terminates. 113 (b) A person may not: 114 1. Guarantee, either directly or by implication, that an 115 individual is certain to receive specific veterans’ benefits or 116 that an individual is certain to receive a specific level, 117 percentage, or amount of veterans’ benefits. 118 2. Receive excessive or unreasonable fees as compensation 119 for advising or assisting an individual with regard to a 120 veterans’ benefits matter. The provisions of 38 C.F.R. s. 14.636 121 shall govern determinations of whether a fee is excessive or 122 unreasonable. 123 3. Receive compensation for referring an individual to 124 another person to advise or assist the individual with regard to 125 a veterans’ benefits matter. 126 (6) If an individual to whom a person provides services 127 under this section in return for compensation files a notice of 128 disagreement pursuant to Title 38 C.F.R., the person who 129 provided such services may not receive compensation for any 130 services provided to such individual before the date on which 131 the notice is filed. 132 (7) A violation of this section is a deceptive and unfair 133 trade practice and constitutes a violation of the Florida 134 Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act under part II of 135 chapter 501. 136 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.