Category: Investigation Notes

Ask for two license numbers, one for the agency and one for the investigator, then look both up on the state’s public license search. Florida licenses private investigators through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Licensing, under Chapter 493, Florida Statutes. Insight Investigative Group, LLC is a licensed Florida private investigative agency in Bradenton, agency license A3400127, and our own record is the example below.

This is general information about Florida law, not legal advice. A question about your own situation belongs with an attorney.

Who licenses private investigators in Florida?

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, FDACS for short, through its Division of Licensing. Under section 493.6107(5), the state license lets the holder practice anywhere in Florida without any additional license, permit or registration (an agency may still need a local occupational license for its office), so there is no separate Bradenton, Sarasota or Tampa investigator license to look for.

What do the license classes mean?

Class A is the agency license, which section 493.6201(1) requires of any person, firm, company, partnership or corporation that engages in business as a private investigative agency. Class C is the individual investigator license, which section 493.6201(5) requires of any individual who performs the services of a private investigator. Under section 493.6203, a Class C applicant needs two years of lawfully gained, verifiable, full-time experience or training and must pass an examination on the chapter.

Class CC is the intern license, for private investigative work under the direction and control of a designated, sponsoring Class C, MA or M licensee. Under section 493.6111(2), a Class C license is valid for two years and a Class A license for three.

Does an investigator need an agency license to take your case?

Yes. Section 493.6101(15) defines a private investigative agency as any person who, for consideration, advertises as providing or is engaged in the business of furnishing private investigations, and section 493.6201(1) requires that business to hold a Class A license. A Class C licensee must also own or be an employee of a licensed agency or branch office under section 493.6201(4), and person includes an individual under section 493.6101(2), so a one-investigator firm needs both.

How do you look up a license on the state search?

Start at the department’s Search for a Licensee page, which links to an agency search and an individual search. Each has category and county lists, a name field and a license number field. The department says the search also covers applicants, and that individual address and phone information for private investigators is restricted from public record under section 493.6122.

Each search says a one-letter license type is entered as the letter, a space, and seven numbers, and a two-letter type takes no space, so A3400127 becomes A 3400127 on the agency search and C3400073 becomes C 3400073 on the individual search. Section 493.6111(1) requires every license to show the licensee’s name, license number and expiration date, and each search’s record view has fields labeled License Number, Expires and Status. Read the status and expiration date.

Does a Florida investigator have to show a license number?

In the places the statute names, yes. Section 493.6111(6) reads: “A licensed agency must include its agency license number in any advertisement in any print medium or directory, and must include its agency license number in any written bid or offer to provide services.” That covers print, directories and written bids or offers; it does not mention websites. A written proposal without the number is missing something the statute requires. Ours appear in the footer of this site.

What does Chapter 493 say about your file?

Two sections, both written for licensees. Section 493.6119(1) bars a licensee or an employee of a licensed agency from releasing an investigative file to anyone other than the client or employer, except as the chapter or other law provides, when the client alleges a violation of the chapter, or with the client’s prior written consent. Subsection (4) bars a willfully false report to the client. Section 493.6121(2) requires records to be kept in Florida for two years and produced to the department on request. Our FAQ page covers both.

What are the warning signs of unlicensed work?

Under section 493.6120(1), activity that requires a Chapter 493 license, done without one, is a first degree misdemeanor on a first violation and a third degree felony on a second or subsequent one, when the department may also seek a civil penalty of up to $10,000. The section does not apply within 90 days after the person’s license expires. Signs to watch for:

• A written quote or proposal with no agency license number. Section 493.6111(6) requires one on any written bid or offer to provide services.
• An investigator license with no agency behind it. Section 493.6201(4) requires a Class C or CC licensee to own or be an employee of a licensed agency or branch office.
• A badge or credentials that would cause a reasonable person to believe the holder is a law enforcement officer or has official authority, a ground for discipline under section 493.6118(1)(i).
• A firm that will not name the person doing the work. Under section 493.6118(1)(n), employing or contracting with an unlicensed or improperly licensed person for regulated work is a ground for discipline when that status could have been found by reasonable inquiry, so check that person too.

What does a license not tell you?

A license is a floor, not a grade. Under section 493.6108(1), except as the chapter otherwise provides, it tells you the department investigated the applicant before issuing it, including fingerprint and police records. It does not tell you whether the investigator has done your kind of work or will be the person on your file. It is not a guarantee of quality. For discipline, the department says final orders on Chapter 493 complaints are indexed with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings.

Verify the license first, then ask what it cannot answer: who will do the work, what the report will contain, and what it will cost, in writing. Our about page sets out who runs our cases and his training. To ask a person, call 941-297-8213 or use the contact page.

Questions we are asked

What is the difference between a Class A and a Class C license in Florida?

Class A is the agency license and Class C is the individual investigator license. Section 493.6201 requires the business to hold a Class A and the person doing the work to hold a Class C. Insight Investigative Group holds agency license A3400127, and Joshua Goldberg holds investigator license C3400073.

How long is a Florida private investigator license valid?

Under section 493.6111(2), licenses run two years, except Class A, Class B, Class AB, Class K, Class R and branch agency licenses, which run three. The department’s FAQ says a license expired for more than three months cannot be renewed and the holder must apply for a new one.

Is it illegal to work as a private investigator in Florida without a license?

Yes. Section 493.6120(1) makes it a first degree misdemeanor for a first violation and a third degree felony after that, when the department may also seek a civil penalty of up to $10,000. Section 493.6102 exempts some people, including attorneys in regular practice and unarmed investigators employed solely, exclusively and regularly in their employer’s own business.

How do I report an unlicensed private investigator in Florida?

Through FDACS. Its website says to contact the nearest regional office or use its online complaint form. Section 493.6121(1) lets the department investigate on the complaint of any person, and section 493.6121(3) lets it issue a cease and desist order or seek an injunction against someone advertising or performing services that require a license.

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Written by Joshua Goldberg, Florida private investigator license C3400073, owner of Insight Investigative Group, LLC, agency license A3400127, Bradenton, Florida.

Related: about the firm and frequently asked questions.

Start with the public record. In Florida, real estate, business entities, liens, boats, aircraft and vehicles are all recorded somewhere, and a licensed investigator finds a spouse’s hidden assets by pulling those records and connecting them back to the person, including the ones held through an LLC, a trust or a relative. Bank, brokerage and retirement balances come second, through the mandatory disclosure and subpoena process that your attorney controls. The investigator’s product is a documented map of what exists and where it sits, so the attorney knows exactly where to send the subpoena.

Insight Investigative Group, LLC is a licensed Florida private investigative agency, agency license A3400127, investigator license C3400073, based in Bradenton and conducting public record asset research for divorce and equitable distribution matters across Sarasota, Manatee and the greater Tampa Bay area. Public record asset research is a fixed $1,200 as the Premium tier of our background investigations. What follows is how we explain the work to clients and their attorneys before a case starts. It is general information about Florida law, not legal advice. For your own situation, talk to a family law attorney.

Why do hidden assets decide a Florida divorce?

Because the court divides what it can see. Section 61.075 of the Florida Statutes tells the judge to begin from the premise that marital assets and liabilities are divided equally, and in a contested case the judgment has to identify each marital asset, value the significant ones and say who receives what, all supported by competent substantial evidence. An asset that never makes it onto that list never gets divided. That is the entire incentive to hide one.

The same section gives the court a tool against it. Under section 61.075(1)(i), the intentional dissipation, waste, depletion or destruction of marital assets after the petition is filed, or within the two years before it, is a factor that can justify an unequal distribution. Money moved out of the marital estate in the run-up to a filing is not gone for legal purposes. It is a reason for the judge to adjust the split, provided someone documents it.

Florida’s premarital agreement statute, section 61.079, runs on the same principle in reverse. A prenuptial agreement can be attacked if it was unconscionable when signed and the challenging party was never given a fair and reasonable disclosure of the other side’s property and financial obligations. Verifying that disclosure before the wedding is the same records exercise as finding assets after the marriage ends.

What does Florida already force each spouse to disclose?

More than most people expect. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.285 requires each party in a dissolution case to serve a sworn financial affidavit plus a long list of documents, generally within 45 days of service of the initial pleading: three years of complete federal and state tax returns with every schedule and K-1, six months of pay records, twenty-four months of loan applications, financial statements and credit reports, three years of deeds, twelve months of statements for every checking, brokerage, retirement and virtual currency account, life insurance declarations, and three years of corporate, partnership or trust returns where the party holds an ownership interest. The court or the parties can modify most of that list. The financial affidavit itself cannot be waived.

This is why an investigator’s work in a divorce is a comparison exercise. The affidavit is sworn. The public record is independent. The interesting cases live in the gap between the two: the LLC formed eleven months before the filing that appears in Sunbiz and nowhere on the affidavit, the deed recorded in a sibling’s name, the boat registered to a company the spouse “does not own.” Every one of those is a question the attorney gets to ask under oath.

Where do people actually hide assets?

The patterns repeat. In a high-asset Florida divorce, concealment rarely means a suitcase of cash. It means title and timing.

Inside an entity. Real estate is deeded to a new LLC. A vehicle or vessel is titled to the business. A holding company is formed in another state. Florida’s Division of Corporations records every domestic and foreign entity registered here, with officers, managers, registered agents, filing dates and annual reports, and the equivalent registries in other states do the same. Connecting an entity to a person is the actual work, and it is where a database printout and an investigation stop being the same product.

In someone else’s name. A parent, a sibling, a business partner, a new partner. The deed is real and the property is real; only the name on it is a proxy. Address history, recorded mortgages and the pattern of who pays for what tend to expose it.

In a trust. Trust instruments are private in Florida, but the deed that moved a property into the trust is recorded in the county’s official records, and the trustee’s name is on it.

Out of state. Second homes, a condominium bought during the separation, land held through an out-of-state entity. Nationwide property searches exist for this reason.

On the water and in the air. Sarasota and Manatee are boat counties. Florida vessel registrations run through the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, larger vessels are often federally documented with the Coast Guard, and aircraft sit in the FAA registry. A slip at a marina is also a place a subject drives to, which matters later.

Inside a business. Deferred bonuses, invoices delayed until after the judgment, a new vendor company that happens to belong to a brother-in-law, payroll to a relative who does not work there, overpaying estimated taxes to collect the refund after the divorce. Tracing that money is a forensic accountant’s job. Identifying the entities, the people and the relationships behind it is ours, and the accountant’s work goes faster when someone has already drawn the map.

In things. Vehicles, jewelry, art, collectibles, a storage unit rented the month before the filing. Vehicle records are available to a licensed investigator for use in connection with litigation under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. The rest usually surfaces through lifestyle: a sworn affidavit showing modest income next to a lease on a second vehicle, a boat slip and a club membership.

What can a licensed investigator lawfully find?

Four layers, each cited back to its source.

Public records. County property appraiser and clerk of court official records, which in our home counties means Manatee and Sarasota, plus Hillsborough for Tampa matters. Sunbiz and out-of-state corporate registries. The Florida Secured Transaction Registry for UCC filings. Recorded liens, judgments and mortgages. Vessel, aircraft and vehicle records. Federal court and bankruptcy dockets. Civil litigation history. Professional licenses and fictitious name filings.

Licensed databases. Investigators hold access to regulated data platforms that aggregate address history, known associates, business affiliations and property across states. We use them to find the thread, then pull the primary record, so the report cites a document your attorney can obtain independently.

Open source intelligence. Public social media and web presence, viewed as any member of the public could. A boat in the background of a photograph, a business page for a company that is not on the affidavit, a listing for a property the spouse supposedly never owned. We do not log into anyone’s account and we do not use a false identity to gain access.

Surveillance. Where the subject actually goes: a second residence, a storage facility, a marina, a business address that is not on any filing. Physical surveillance from lawful vantage points, silent video and a written log, at $1,000 per day flat with mileage and the report included. Our article on whether surveillance is legal in Florida covers the rules in detail, and our surveillance page covers the fieldwork.

The deliverable is a written report in which every holding is cited to the record it came from, with the connection between each entity and the spouse spelled out. Your attorney can pull the same document and put it in front of a witness.

What will an investigator not do, and why does that protect you?

We do not obtain bank balances, brokerage or retirement holdings, credit reports, tax returns or the contents of a safe deposit box. Obtaining a person’s financial records from an institution by false pretenses is a federal crime under the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. section 6821, and so is asking someone else to do it. Any service that advertises bank account balances for a fee is either lying or committing that crime on your behalf, and the exposure lands on the person who paid.

We do not access a spouse’s phone, email or cloud accounts. Accessing a computer or device without authorization is an offense under section 815.06 of the Florida Statutes, and intercepting a private communication without the consent of everyone involved is a felony under section 934.03. We do not place tracking devices. Section 934.425 makes that a third degree felony, and it presumes consent is revoked the moment a divorce petition is filed, a point our spouse tracking article covers in full.

The reason is not squeamishness. Evidence gathered unlawfully is at risk of exclusion, it taints the case it sits in, and in a family matter the exposure can reach custody and attorney’s fees. Every bank and brokerage record you need is reachable lawfully: your attorney serves a subpoena on the institution the investigation identified, and the records arrive through a process the court recognizes. The investigator’s job is to make that subpoena precise.

How does an attorney turn findings into a better outcome?

The sequence is usually the same. The records search runs early, ideally before the other side’s financial affidavit lands, so counsel can compare the sworn schedule against what is recorded. Discrepancies become requests for production, subpoenas to specific institutions and deposition questions. Where a business is involved, a forensic accountant values it and traces the money, working from the entity map the investigator built. If the picture shows assets moved out in the two years before filing, section 61.075(1)(i) gives the court a basis to adjust the division. Where an asset is at risk of disappearing during the case, section 61.075(5) allows an interim partial distribution on a sworn motion showing extraordinary circumstances.

None of that is a promise about any particular case. Judges weigh the evidence in front of them. What an investigation changes is the quality of that evidence and its timing: findings that arrive before mediation shape a settlement, and findings that arrive after the judgment are a collection problem.

What does this look like in Sarasota and Manatee?

The Twelfth Judicial Circuit, covering Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties, handles a steady flow of high-asset dissolutions, and the local geography shapes the search. Waterfront property on Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Casey Key, Bird Key and Anna Maria Island is frequently held through entities and trusts. Lakewood Ranch and downtown Sarasota are home to closely held businesses, and in those divorces the spouse who runs the company usually holds all the information. Marinas from Cortez to Venice are where the vessels live. The official records of the Manatee County and Sarasota County clerks, and both county property appraisers, are the first stop on nearly every file, and from our Bradenton office the courthouses, the marinas and the neighborhoods are minutes away. Our Sarasota page covers the local work in more depth, and our domestic investigations page covers the surveillance side of these cases.

Discretion matters more in this work than in almost any other. Under section 493.6119 of the Florida Statutes, the contents of an investigative file are confidential to the client, and the fact that you hired anyone at all stays with us. If you believe your spouse has access to your phone, email or home network, contact us from a device they cannot reach.

What does an asset investigation cost?

Public record asset research is included in our Premium background investigation at a fixed $1,200, delivered within 72 hours of complete intake. It covers nationwide property with recorded mortgages and estimated equity, business ownership, UCC filings, liens and judgments, vessel and aircraft registration, and a documented net worth estimate built only from public record. Rush handling moves delivery to 48 hours for an additional $400. Standalone searches involving several entities or several states are scoped and quoted in writing before any work begins. Surveillance is $1,000 per day, flat. Florida sales tax applies to investigative services. Every price we charge is on our rates page, and the service itself is described on our asset search page.

Questions we are asked

Can a private investigator find hidden bank accounts in a Florida divorce?

Not the balances, and not lawfully. Bank, brokerage and retirement records are protected by federal law, and obtaining them under false pretenses is a crime under 15 U.S.C. section 6821. What a licensed investigator can do is identify where the accounts are likely to be, through public records, entity filings and lawful observation, so your attorney can subpoena the right institution.

What happens if my spouse hides assets in a Florida divorce?

Section 61.075(1)(i) of the Florida Statutes lets the court treat the intentional dissipation, waste or depletion of marital assets after filing, or within the two years before it, as a factor justifying an unequal distribution. Assets left off a sworn financial affidavit also expose the spouse who signed it. How a particular court responds depends on the evidence, which is why documentation matters more than suspicion.

Can assets held in an LLC or a trust be found?

Often, yes. Florida’s Division of Corporations records officers, managers, registered agents and annual reports for every registered entity, and the deed that moves property into a trust is recorded in the county’s official records with the trustee’s name on it. Connecting those filings back to a spouse is the substance of an asset search.

Is it legal to hire a private investigator to find my spouse’s assets?

Yes. A licensed Florida investigator works from public records, licensed databases, open sources and surveillance conducted from lawful vantage points, and under section 493.6119 the investigative file is confidential to the client. What no license permits is accessing the other spouse’s accounts, devices or financial institutions, and a firm that offers to is a liability to your case.

How much does a hidden asset search cost in Florida?

Insight Investigative Group includes public record asset research in its Premium background investigation at a fixed $1,200, delivered within 72 hours. Searches involving several entities or several states are quoted in writing before any work begins.

Speak with a licensed investigator

Call 941-297-8213, or use the contact page. Tell us what you already know: the business, the properties, the boat, the timing. We will tell you what the public record can answer, what will need a subpoena and what it will cost, in writing, before any work begins. If your spouse may have access to your devices, contact us from one they cannot reach.

Yes. Surveillance is legal in Florida when it is conducted from a place the investigator has a lawful right to be, without intercepting private conversations, without planting anything on property the client does not own or lease, and without imaging anyone where they reasonably expect privacy. Cross any of those lines and the work stops being surveillance and becomes a crime, much of it felony grade, and the evidence it produces tends to hurt the client who paid for it.

Insight Investigative Group, LLC is a licensed Florida private investigative agency, agency license A3400127, investigator license C3400073, based in Bradenton and running surveillance across Sarasota, Manatee, and the greater Tampa Bay area. What follows is how we explain the rules to clients before a case starts. It is general information about Florida law, not legal advice. For your own situation, talk to an attorney.

What surveillance actually is

Television has done this profession no favors. Real surveillance is not car chases or microphones taped under tables. It is one investigator, positioned legally, watching one subject long enough to document a pattern: when they leave, where they go, who they meet, what they carry, how they move. The product is not a dramatic confrontation. It is date-stamped video, still photographs, and a written report an attorney, an adjuster, or a judge can rely on.

The equipment is deliberately ordinary. Binoculars, long-lens cameras, HD video, a dash camera running any time the vehicle moves. Nothing in the kit intercepts, transmits, or attaches to anyone else’s property, and that is by design. The value is not in the gear. It is in position, patience, and knowing what matters when it happens, because a surveillance day can turn on ninety seconds.

That discipline came from somewhere. Our lead investigator spent twelve years in Army Military Intelligence, including work as a targeter for a special mission unit, where surveillance meant building a subject’s pattern of life and documenting it precisely enough for someone else to act on it. Licensed civilian work runs on the same skills. The difference is the rulebook, and Florida’s rulebook is specific.

What makes surveillance legal in Florida?

Two principles carry most of the weight.

The first is vantage point. An investigator can observe and record anything visible from a place he has a right to be: a public road, a parking lot open to the public, a sidewalk, a business he has permission to sit in. What a person does in public view is not private, and documenting it breaks no Florida law.

The second is the reasonable expectation of privacy. Florida’s interception law protects conversations, not movement, and its imaging laws protect places where a person is entitled to assume no one is watching: inside a home, a restroom, a changing room. A subject walking into a restaurant with someone has no legal expectation that the sidewalk did not see it.

One distinction surprises people: Florida’s wiretap chapter governs sound, not silent pictures. Video with no audio, taken from a lawful vantage point of things in plain view, is not an interception at all. That is why professional surveillance video is silent, and why the microphone stays off.

Where does Florida law draw hard lines?

Five statutes do most of the work. We plan every surveillance day around them.

Tracking devices and tracking apps, section 934.425

Since October 1, 2024, knowingly installing a tracking device or tracking application on another person’s property without consent, or using one to track another person without consent, is a third degree felony. Since October 1, 2025, it is a second degree felony where the tracking is done to commit or facilitate a dangerous crime. The statute covers phone tracking apps the same as hardware, and consent is presumed revoked the moment a spouse files for divorce or either party seeks an injunction for protection.

There is no private investigator exception. The statute says so explicitly: an investigator stands in the client’s shoes, so we can use a tracker only where the client could, mainly on a vehicle the client owns or leases. A violation is also an independent ground for license discipline under Chapter 493. The vehicle rules are covered in detail in our GPS tracker article, and the divorce angle in our spouse tracking article.

Recording conversations, section 934.03

Florida is an all party consent state. Intentionally intercepting a private conversation without the consent of everyone in it is a third degree felony, and the person recorded can also sue civilly. The protection attaches where a speaker has a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is why we do not bug rooms, do not record phone calls, and do not park a microphone near a table. We film. We do not listen in.

Trespass, sections 810.08 and 810.09

A Chapter 493 license is not a key. It confers no right to enter a home, a fenced yard, posted land, or a gated community the investigator has not been lawfully admitted to. Trespass starts as a misdemeanor and climbs to a felony when the trespasser is armed, which for an armed investigator means one wrong step converts a lawful assignment into a third degree felony. Vantage points get planned for this reason.

Digital voyeurism, section 810.145

Florida renamed its video voyeurism law digital voyeurism on October 1, 2024 and broadened it. Secretly imaging a person where they are dressing, undressing, or otherwise entitled to privacy is a third degree felony for an offender 19 or older, and every image is a separate offense. Lawful surveillance never points a lens where a person is entitled to assume privacy, no matter what the client hopes is on the other side of the window.

Drones, section 934.50

Florida restricts using a drone to surveil private property, or the people on it, where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. A drone can be a legitimate tool in limited situations, but as a shortcut over a fence it is a liability. We treat the fence line as the rule.

Stalking, section 784.048

Following and watching a person repeatedly becomes stalking when it causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. Lawful investigation, supporting a lawsuit, an insurance claim, or a custody matter, is a purpose other than harassment, and that distinction is what separates an investigator from a stalker. It is not a blank check. Florida courts look at manner and volume, and surveillance that turns into intimidation loses its protection. Professional work stays covert, proportionate, and tied to the question the client actually needs answered. If the subject knows they are being followed, the investigator has failed twice.

Who holds a Florida investigator accountable?

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Licensing, licenses both the agency, Class A, and the individual investigator, Class C, under Chapter 493 of the Florida Statutes. Section 493.6118 lists the grounds for discipline, and since October 1, 2024 unlawful tracking is on that list by name. Working as a private investigator without a license is a first degree misdemeanor on the first violation and a third degree felony after that, with civil penalties up to $10,000.

The practical takeaway for anyone hiring: verify the license before you sign anything. FDACS runs a public license verification tool, and any legitimate Florida investigator will hand over license numbers without being asked twice. Ours are at the top of this article. Verification takes two minutes and filters out most of the industry’s problems. We wrote more about how we operate inside those rules in our article on the ethics and legalities of private investigation.

One more protection is worth knowing about. Under section 493.6119, a licensed agency may not release the contents of an investigative file to anyone but the client, subject to narrow statutory exceptions. The investigation, and the fact that you hired anyone at all, stays confidential.

What do these rules look like in Sarasota?

Sarasota County is a good illustration of why the lines matter, because so much of the county is private ground. A private investigator in Sarasota works around gated communities across Palmer Ranch and Lakewood Ranch, guard gates on Longboat Key, private streets tucked into Siesta Key, and condominium towers where the garage, the elevator, and the hallway all belong to someone. Every one of those is a trespass line, so the lawful vantage points, public roads, beach access points, and business districts like St. Armands Circle and downtown Sarasota, get scouted before the subject ever moves.

The casework itself skews toward the Twelfth Judicial Circuit: divorce, cohabitation, and custody matters where a documented pattern decides the issue, along with insurance and injury claims. From our Bradenton office the drive is short, mileage is included, and the county’s geography is not a learning curve. Our Sarasota page covers the local work in more depth.

What does lawful surveillance cost?

$1,000 for a full day, flat, including mileage and travel, HD video and stills, and the written case report. No hourly meter, no fuel surcharges. Pricing for every service is published on our rates page, and the fieldwork itself is described on our surveillance page.

The honest caveat: we scope before we book. Where a subject’s routine makes a full day unlikely to produce anything, we say so. And where what a client wants requires a tracker on a car they do not own, a recorder in a room, or a lens through a window, the answer is no. A firm that says yes to that is telling you exactly how it will handle the rest of your case.

Questions we are asked

Can a private investigator follow you in Florida?

Yes. Following and observing a person in public, from a lawful vantage point and for a legitimate investigative purpose, is legal in Florida. What is not legal is surveillance that becomes harassment: Florida’s stalking statute, section 784.048, reaches a course of conduct that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose, and courts weigh how the surveillance was conducted.

Can a private investigator record you without your consent in Florida?

Silent video of what you do in public, yes. Audio of your private conversations, no. Florida is an all party consent state under section 934.03, and intercepting a private conversation without everyone’s consent is a third degree felony. Secretly imaging a person in a place where they are entitled to privacy is separately criminal under section 810.145.

Can a private investigator put a GPS tracker on your car in Florida?

No, with narrow exceptions. Under section 934.425, installing or using a tracking device or tracking app on another person’s property without consent has been a third degree felony since October 1, 2024, and there is no exception for licensed investigators. An investigator may place a tracker only where the hiring client could lawfully do it themselves, principally on a vehicle the client owns or leases.

Is it legal to photograph someone’s house in Florida?

From a public vantage point, generally yes. What is visible from the street is not private. The lines: entering the property is trespass under sections 810.08 and 810.09, imaging a person where they expect privacy is digital voyeurism under section 810.145, and flying a drone over the fence to watch private property implicates section 934.50.

How do you verify a Florida private investigator’s license?

Use the license verification search run by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Licensing, which regulates investigators under Chapter 493. Search the agency and the individual. Insight Investigative Group holds agency license A3400127, and our lead investigator holds Class C license C3400073.

Speak with a licensed investigator

If something in your life needs documenting, the conversation costs nothing and stays confidential under section 493.6119, including the fact that you called. Call 941-297-8213 and a licensed investigator answers, day or night, including weekends. We will tell you honestly whether surveillance can answer your question and what it will take. And if the answer is no, we will say that too.

Statutory references reflect the Florida Statutes as of August 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.

No, and at Insight Investigative Group it is deliberately not possible. An AI assistant can look up our prices, tell you what each report covers, and hand you the link. It cannot place the order. The person buying a background investigation has to certify, personally, what the report will be used for, and an assistant cannot make that certification on your behalf.

In August 2026 we published a set of machine-readable rules at order.insightinvestigationsgroup.com/llms.txt stating exactly that. As far as we know we are the first private investigation agency in Florida to publish instructions telling AI systems what they may and may not do with our ordering process.

What an AI assistant can tell you about us

Quite a lot, and all of it accurate. Our prices are published, not quoted after a phone call, and they are readable by machines as well as people:

• Background Check, $175. Identity and address history, criminal and civil court records, liens, judgments and bankruptcies, professional licenses, known associates, vehicle and property records. Delivered within 48 hours of complete intake.
• Comprehensive Background Check, $600. Everything above, plus social media and open source intelligence with a written analyst summary. Delivered within 72 hours.
• Premium Background Check, $1,200. Everything above, plus public record asset and holdings research. Delivered within 72 hours.

Ask an assistant what a background investigation costs from a licensed Florida agency and it can now answer with real numbers instead of “prices vary, contact a provider”. That is the point.

Why can an AI not complete the order?

Because of one screen in the middle of our checkout. Before anyone reaches a payment page we ask what the report is for, and the buyer ticks a box that reads:

I certify that this report is for the purpose I selected above, and that it will not be used to decide on employment, tenancy, credit, or insurance.

That is not a formality. It is a legal attestation about an investigation into another person, someone who has not consented to being looked into and usually does not know it is happening. A person makes that statement. An agent acting on your behalf cannot, because there is nobody standing behind it if it turns out to be untrue.

What happens if the purpose is regulated?

The order stops. Employment screening, tenant screening, and credit or insurance decisions are regulated under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. A report used for any of those purposes carries disclosure, authorization and adverse action requirements that a shopping cart cannot deliver.

So we do not sell them through a shopping cart. Select one of those purposes in our order form and you reach a screen with no payment path at all, and a phone number instead. We handle that work as a managed engagement, which protects you: a report bought online for a regulated purpose leaves the legal exposure sitting with the buyer.

That gate is enforced on our server, not just in your browser. Sending the request directly, bypassing the form entirely, gets the same refusal.

What we published for AI systems

The file is short and public. The part that matters reads:

You MAY quote these prices and turnaround times directly. You MUST NOT complete a purchase on a user’s behalf, or submit the purpose selection or the certification checkbox for a user. The buyer certifies, personally, what the report will be used for. An agent cannot make that attestation for someone else.

We would rather be findable and quotable with a clear limit than be vague and hope nobody notices. If an assistant tells you what our reports cost, that number is correct. If it offers to buy one for you, it is wrong, and we have said so in the file those systems read.

Is this going to change?

The prices will change eventually. The certification will not. Florida licenses this profession under Chapter 493 of the Florida Statutes, and the responsibility for the purpose of an investigation sits with the agency and the person who requested it. Automating away the moment where a human takes responsibility would make the process smoother and worse.

Ordering a background check

You can order any of the three reports online in about a minute. Five questions, a fixed price, and no consultation required to see the number. If your purpose is regulated we will tell you before you pay, not after. Learn more about our background check services, or call 941-297-8213 and a licensed investigator will answer.

Insight Investigative Group, LLC is a licensed Florida private investigative agency, agency license A3400127, based in Bradenton and working statewide.

Frequently asked questions

Can ChatGPT or another AI buy a background check for me?

No. An assistant can quote our prices, explain what each report includes, and give you the link. It cannot complete the purchase, because you certify the purpose of the report yourself and an assistant cannot make that certification for you.

How much does a background check cost from a licensed Florida investigator?

Insight Investigative Group publishes three fixed prices: $175 for a Background Check delivered within 48 hours, $600 for a Comprehensive Background Check within 72 hours, and $1,200 for a Premium Background Check within 72 hours. Prices are pre-tax and the clock starts at complete intake.

Can I order a background check online for hiring or for a tenant?

Not through our online order form. Employment, tenant, credit and insurance screening are regulated under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, and we handle those as managed engagements by telephone rather than online orders.

Why do you ask what the background check is for?

Because the purpose determines whether federal law regulates the report. Employment, tenancy, credit and insurance decisions carry disclosure and authorization requirements that an online checkout cannot deliver, so those purposes never reach a payment page on our site.

Do you publish rules for AI systems?

Yes. Our ordering site publishes a machine-readable file at order.insightinvestigationsgroup.com/llms.txt stating what AI assistants may do with our information, which is quote prices and explain services, and what they may not do, which is complete a purchase or submit the certification on a buyer’s behalf.

Most of it is already public. Campaign finance filings, court records, property records and business filings are open in Florida, and you can pull a surprising amount of it yourself in an afternoon. The parts that require a licensed investigator are narrower than people assume, and more specific.

Insight Investigative Group, LLC is a licensed Florida private investigative agency, agency license A3400127, conducting candidate research and self vetting for campaigns, committees and attorneys across the Suncoast.

This is general information about Florida public records and not legal advice. Speak with counsel about your own situation.

What is actually public about a candidate in Florida?

Florida’s public records law, Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes, is among the broadest in the country. For a candidate, that generally means:

• Campaign finance filings: who funded them, how much, and what the campaign spent it on
• Financial disclosure: required of candidates and officeholders, filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics
• Civil and criminal court records: held by the Clerk of the Circuit Court in each county where a case was filed
• Property and recorded documents: deeds, mortgages, liens and judgments, through the county Property Appraiser and the Clerk’s official records
• Business filings: corporations, LLCs, officers and registered agents, through the Division of Corporations
• Voting and attendance records: for anyone who has held office
• The public statement trail: media coverage, meeting minutes, social accounts

What is not public: sealed and expunged records, bank and credit records, phone records, medical records, and anything behind a private account. No licensed firm accesses those, and any firm that offers to is telling you something about itself.

Where do you start?

Start with the money, then the courts, then the property. In that order.

Campaign finance filings tell you who is invested in the outcome, and they are searchable by candidate and by contributor. Court records tell you what disputes the person has actually been in. Property and business records tell you what they own and who they own it with, which is usually where the interesting overlaps sit.

The mistake most people make is starting with a Google search and stopping there. Search results reflect what a campaign wanted written about them. Records reflect what happened.

Why do the free background check sites get this wrong?

Aggregator sites buy bulk data and rarely verify it against the source. For a common name, that produces two failure modes at once: records that belong to someone else attached to your candidate, and real records missed entirely because they were filed under a variation of the name.

For a political claim, that is disqualifying. A campaign that publicizes a record belonging to a different person with the same name has handed the opponent the story. Every finding has to be tied back to the actual court file, not a data broker’s summary.

Where does this stop working without a licensed investigator?

Four places, consistently.

1. Identity resolution. Confirming that the John Miller in a 2013 Hillsborough County case is your John Miller requires linking identifiers that aggregators guess at. This is the single most common point of failure.
2. Multi-county and multi-state trails. Florida’s clerks each run their own system. A person with a twenty year record across three counties and two states is a records project, not a search box.
3. Records that are not online. Older filings, probate, some plats and some case files still require retrieval in person. Manatee County sits in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit alongside Sarasota and DeSoto.
4. Making it usable. A pile of documents is not a research file. A campaign needs each claim sourced to the record that supports it, because a claim you cannot defend is worse than no claim at all.

Should a candidate research themselves?

Yes, and ideally before filing. Self vetting surfaces what an opponent’s researcher will find, which lets you control the timing and framing instead of reacting to it two weeks out. It is the engagement we recommend candidates run first.

Questions, answered

Is it legal to research a political candidate in Florida?

Yes. Research conducted from public records, court filings, campaign finance reports and publicly visible statements is lawful. Accessing sealed records, private accounts, or protected data such as bank, phone or medical records is not, and a licensed investigator will not do it for any client.

Can I look up a candidate’s court record myself?

Usually, yes. Each Florida county’s Clerk of the Circuit Court maintains a public case search. The limitation is not access, it is verification. Confirming a record belongs to your subject rather than to someone with a similar name is the part that goes wrong.

Are campaign finance filings public in Florida?

Yes. Candidate and committee filings are public record and searchable through the Florida Division of Elections.

How much does candidate research cost?

It depends on how long the subject’s public life is. A first time candidate with no litigation history is a smaller project than a twenty year officeholder with filings in three counties. Insight Investigative Group scopes and quotes each engagement in writing before any work begins.

Who can see the results?

The client. Section 493.6119 of the Florida Statutes prohibits a licensed agency from releasing the contents of an investigative file to anyone other than the client or employer. Campaign expenditure reporting is separate. The payment may appear in a public filing even though the findings do not.

Speak with a licensed investigator. Consultations are confidential, and the engagement is scoped and quoted in writing before any work begins. Ask an investigator or call 941-297-8213.

No. Placing a tracking device or a tracking application on another person’s property without their consent is a third degree felony in Florida under section 934.425 of the Florida Statutes. That penalty took effect on October 1, 2024, replacing what had been a second degree misdemeanor. Recording a private conversation without the consent of everyone in it is a separate third degree felony under section 934.03.

Most of the advice still circulating online was written before that change and describes the old misdemeanor. The practical consequence is worth stating plainly. The two things people most commonly do on their own, put a tracker on the car and record a conversation, now carry felony exposure, and neither one tends to produce evidence a Florida court will use.

This is general information about Florida law and not legal advice. Speak with a family law attorney about your own situation.

If you think you are the one being tracked, stop and read this first. Do not research it from a phone, laptop or account the other person can see, and do not discuss it inside a space you suspect. Call 941-297-8213 from a device they have no access to, or have someone call for you. Consultations are confidential under section 493.6119 of the Florida Statutes, including the fact that you called.

What changed on October 1, 2024?

Section 934.425 governs the installation and use of tracking devices and tracking applications. Before October 2024 a violation was a second degree misdemeanor, carrying up to sixty days. The Legislature raised the base offense to a third degree felony effective October 1, 2024, and later added a second degree felony, effective October 1, 2025, where the tracking is done to commit or facilitate a dangerous crime.

The statute defines a tracking device as any device whose primary purpose is to reveal its location or movement by transmitting electronic signals. That language comfortably covers a thirty dollar Bluetooth tag from a supermarket shelf. A tracking application is any software whose primary purpose is to track or identify the location or movement of an individual, which covers the phone monitoring apps marketed for exactly this use.

How cheap or ordinary the device is has never been the test. What matters is whose property it goes on, and whether that person agreed. We cover the mechanics in more detail in our guide to GPS trackers on vehicles in Florida.

What if the car is in both our names?

The statute exempts the owner or lessee of a vehicle, so a jointly titled car is genuinely different from one titled to your spouse alone. It is also where people talk themselves into trouble, for two reasons.

First, owning the vehicle is not the same as having consent from the person. The exemption is written around the property. Where a tracker on a jointly owned car is plainly being used to follow a person rather than protect an asset, that distinction gets examined.

Second, and this is the part almost nobody knows about.

Filing for divorce cancels consent automatically

Section 934.425(3) presumes consent revoked in two situations. One is where a married couple gave consent and one spouse then files a petition for dissolution of marriage. The other is where either party files for an injunction for protection.

A tracker your spouse knew about and agreed to during the marriage becomes unauthorized by operation of law the moment the divorce petition is filed. Nobody has to remove consent, say anything, or send a letter. The filing does it.

So the spouse who set up family location sharing years ago, openly and with everyone’s knowledge, and keeps watching it after the petition is filed, has moved from a lawful arrangement into a third degree felony without doing anything new. This comes up constantly in contested Florida divorces, and it is almost always discovered by the other side’s attorney rather than by the person who did it.

Can I record my spouse in Florida?

Not unless everyone in the conversation has agreed. Florida is an all party consent state. Section 934.03 makes it a third degree felony to intentionally intercept a wire, oral or electronic communication, and the exception requires prior consent from all parties, not just one of them.

This catches people out, because most states require only one party to consent and most of what is written online reflects that majority rule. Florida does not follow it. A spouse who records a call they are not part of, or leaves a recorder running in a room, has committed a felony, and the recording is very unlikely to be usable.

The protection attaches where the speaker has a reasonable expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable. A conversation in your own kitchen qualifies. A conversation carried across a crowded restaurant is a different question, and it is one for a lawyer rather than an article.

Can I read their texts, email or cloud account?

Accessing another person’s device or account without authorization is a criminal offense under Chapter 815 of the Florida Statutes, which covers offenses against users of computers and electronic devices. Knowing the password is not the same as having authorization, and a shared family phone plan does not make an individual account joint property.

Evidence taken this way causes two problems at once. It exposes the person who took it, and it hands opposing counsel a story about your conduct that has nothing to do with the affair. In a contested case that is a poor trade, and it is one we see people make in the first forty-eight hours, before anyone has advised them.

Does proof of an affair even matter in a Florida divorce?

This is the question worth answering before spending a dollar on any of it, and the honest answer is narrower than most people expect.

Florida is a no fault state. Under section 61.052 the grounds for dissolution are that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or the mental incapacity of a spouse. You do not need to prove adultery to obtain a divorce, and proving it will not get you one faster.

Where it can matter is money, in two specific places.

Alimony. Section 61.08(1), as amended with effect from July 1, 2023, allows a court to consider the adultery of either spouse and any resulting economic impact when determining the amount of alimony. The second half of that sentence is the operative part. The statute points at the financial consequences of the affair, not at the affair as a moral fact.

Equitable distribution. Section 61.075 lets a court consider the intentional dissipation, waste, depletion or destruction of marital assets after the petition is filed, or within the two years before it. This is the provision with real teeth. Marital money spent on someone outside the marriage, hotels, flights, gifts, a second lease, is money taken out of the marital estate, and a court can adjust the division to account for it.

Read together, those two provisions point somewhere specific. In a Florida divorce the valuable proof is usually financial rather than photographic. A documented pattern of spending is worth more than a photograph of two people at dinner. This is the single most common thing people get backward, and it is why do-it-yourself efforts so often produce the wrong evidence at criminal risk.

Timeshare and parenting run on a separate analysis. An affair on its own does not ordinarily drive a parenting plan, although conduct that affects the children can.

Not sure which side of that line your situation falls on? Call 941-297-8213 and a licensed investigator will tell you, at no charge, whether what you are considering is lawful and whether it is worth doing. We have told people the honest answer was to save their money.

What can I legally do myself?

• Gather your own records. Bank and credit card statements and joint account activity you already have lawful access to. Save them whole rather than screenshotting selectively, and note the dates you pulled them.
• Note what is in plain view. What is visible from a public place, or in the shared areas of your own home, is not an interception.
• Use your own devices. Your phone, your accounts, your call log.
• Keep a written log. Dates, times, absences and the explanations given at the time. A contemporaneous record is more useful than people expect, and it costs nothing.
• Speak to a family law attorney before gathering anything further. If the case becomes contested, how the evidence was obtained will matter as much as what it shows.

Asking someone else to do the unlawful part does not move the risk. It adds a witness.

What a licensed investigator can do that you cannot

A licensed investigator is not exempt from any of these statutes. We work under the same criminal law you do. What differs is method, and standing.

Surveillance conducted from public vantage points intercepts nothing. Observing where someone goes, photographing what is visible, and documenting a pattern of movement across days produces the timeline a court can actually use. That is different in kind from planting a device and waiting for it to report.

The output differs too. A written case report from a licensed agency documents what was observed and, just as importantly, what could not be confirmed. Chain of custody is maintained on all recorded media, and the investigator who did the work can speak to what he personally saw. Under section 493.6119 of the Florida Statutes a licensed agency may not release the contents of an investigative file to anyone other than the client, subject to narrow statutory exceptions, so the matter stays confidential, including the fact that you hired anyone at all.

For what a lawful infidelity engagement looks like day by day, read how investigators document infidelity in Florida.

We also turn work down. If what you want requires a tracker on someone else’s car or a recorder in a room, the answer is no. A firm that says yes to that is telling you how it intends to handle the rest of your case.

What it costs

Insight Investigative Group publishes prices rather than quoting after a phone call. Surveillance is $1,000 for a full day, flat, including unlimited mileage and travel, HD video and stills, and a written case report. Background investigations are $175, $600 or $1,200 depending on depth. A vehicle bug sweep, if you believe a device has been placed on your own car, is $500 flat.

Surveillance is often better spent in three well chosen hours than in twenty spent guessing. Where a subject’s routine makes a full day unlikely to produce anything, we will say so rather than book it anyway. Our domestic investigations page sets out how these cases usually run.

If you think you are the one being tracked

Do not research it from a device or an account the other person can see. Section 934.425 protects you in the same terms that it restricts you: a tracker placed on your property without your consent is a third degree felony, and the device itself is potential evidence. A sweep documents it where it sits rather than discarding it, so your attorney can decide what to do with it.

Call from a phone the other party has no access to, or have someone call on your behalf.

Questions we are asked

Is it illegal to put an AirTag on my spouse’s car in Florida?

Generally yes, if the car is not yours. Section 934.425 of the Florida Statutes defines a tracking device as any device whose primary purpose is to reveal its location or movement by transmitting electronic signals, which covers consumer Bluetooth tags. Placing one on another person’s property without consent has been a third degree felony since October 1, 2024. There are narrow exceptions, including for the owner or lessee of the vehicle.

Does filing for divorce change whether tracking is legal?

Yes, and automatically. Section 934.425(3) presumes consent revoked once a spouse files a petition for dissolution of marriage, or where either party files for an injunction for protection. Location sharing your spouse previously agreed to becomes unauthorized at the moment of filing, without anyone having to withdraw permission.

Can I record my spouse’s phone calls in Florida?

No, not without the consent of everyone on the call. Florida is an all party consent state under section 934.03, and intentionally intercepting a wire, oral or electronic communication is a third degree felony. This differs from most states, which require only one party to consent.

Does cheating affect alimony in Florida?

It can affect the amount. Florida is a no fault state, so adultery is not a ground for divorce, but section 61.08(1) permits a court to consider the adultery of either spouse and any resulting economic impact when setting the amount of alimony. Separately, section 61.075 allows a court to weigh marital money spent outside the marriage as dissipation of marital assets. The financial trail generally carries more weight than the affair itself.

Can a private investigator legally track my spouse for me?

Not by placing a device. A licensed investigator is bound by section 934.425 exactly as you are, and no license permits planting a tracker on a vehicle the client does not own. What a licensed investigator can lawfully do is conduct physical surveillance from public vantage points and document movement, meetings and timing in a written case report.

What does a cheating spouse investigation cost in Florida?

Insight Investigative Group charges $1,000 for a full day of surveillance, flat, including unlimited mileage and travel, HD video and stills, and a written case report. Background investigations, which frequently matter more in a divorce because they document assets and spending, are $175, $600 or $1,200 depending on depth.

Speak with a licensed investigator

Insight Investigative Group, LLC is a licensed, veteran-owned Florida private investigative agency, agency license A3400127, based in Bradenton and serving Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Consultations are confidential under section 493.6119 of the Florida Statutes, including the fact of the call itself.

Call 941-297-8213 and a licensed investigator answers, day or night, including weekends. We will tell you honestly whether an investigator is the right answer for your situation, and we have told people the answer was no.

The results of the Bradenton Herald’s 2026 Bradenton’s Best are in, and Insight Investigative Group has again been voted Silver for Best Private Investigator.

Update, September 2, 2026: the award itself arrived in the mail today.

That is two years running. We took Silver in the same category in 2025.

More than 341,000 votes were cast across all categories this year. Bradenton’s Best is a community vote. Readers nominate, readers decide. There is no panel, no application, and no way to buy a place on the list. That is exactly what makes it worth something to us.

What it actually means

Most of what we do is invisible by design. A surveillance file does not come up at dinner. A background investigation that keeps someone out of a bad business deal never makes the paper. Clients come to us at difficult moments and, if we have done the job properly, they move on without ever needing to mention us again.

So an award decided by the people of this community carries a particular weight. It says that somewhere behind the confidentiality, the work was worth recommending.

Thank you

To every client who voted, and to everyone who quietly passed our name to a friend, a colleague, or a client of their own: thank you. Referral is the only real advertising in this business, and it is never given lightly.

About Insight Investigative Group

We are a licensed Florida private investigation agency on 49th Street West in Bradenton, serving Manatee and Sarasota counties and the wider Tampa Bay area.

• Florida Agency License A3400127
• Florida Investigator License C3400073
• Owner-operated and veteran-owned

We handle surveillance, background investigations, insurance and workers’ compensation matters, domestic and custody cases, missing persons, asset searches, cyber investigations, and TSCM electronic sweeps.

If you need us

The phone is answered day or night by a licensed investigator: 941-297-8213. Written inquiries are answered within 48 hours.

Talk to an investigator →

When an outside firm prepares a background check before hiring, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets the employer’s duties: a written disclosure in a document of its own, the applicant’s written authorization, and, if the report leads to a no, a copy of the report and a summary of rights before the action and a notice after it (15 U.S.C. sections 1681b and 1681m). Insight Investigative Group, LLC, Florida agency license A3400127, handles pre-employment checks as managed engagements by phone or email, never as an online order.

A managed engagement means a licensed investigator scopes the work with you first and builds in the disclosures and authorizations the Act requires. This is general information, not legal advice. For your own hiring policy, talk to an employment attorney.

Why a licensed investigator asks what the report is for

Employment screening is a regulated purpose. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a report used to decide whether to hire, promote, retain or reassign someone is a consumer report, and whoever supplies it is acting as a consumer reporting agency. That carries obligations around permissible purpose, written applicant authorization, accuracy, adverse action notice and dispute handling. This is why a licensed investigator asks what you plan to do with the report before quoting it. A service that does not ask is not avoiding the law. It is leaving the liability with the employer, which is exactly what the fine print on the consumer search sites says it is doing when it tells you the report may not be used for employment decisions. Run a hiring decision off a report that was not built for the purpose and the exposure is the employer’s. That is the whole reason the disclaimer is there, and it is worth reading before the offer letter goes out.

What does an employer have to do before ordering the report?

A permissible purpose is one of the uses for which 15 U.S.C. section 1681b allows a consumer reporting agency to furnish a consumer report, and no other. Employment is one of them.

Under section 1681b(b)(2), you may not obtain a report on an applicant until the applicant has received a clear and conspicuous written disclosure, in a document that consists solely of the disclosure, and has authorized the report in writing, which can be on the same document. The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces the Act, says in its guidance for employers that the notice cannot be in an employment application.

Under section 1681b(b)(1), the agency may furnish the report only if the employer certifies that the disclosure and authorization are done, that it will follow the steps in the next section if the report leads to a no, and that the information will not be used in violation of any applicable federal or state equal employment opportunity law or regulation.

What happens if the report leads to a no?

Adverse action, under the Act’s definition, includes a denial of employment or any other decision for employment purposes that adversely affects a current or prospective employee. Before taking one based in whole or in part on the report, section 1681b(b)(3) requires the person intending to take it to give the applicant a copy of the report and a description in writing of the applicant’s rights under the Act.

After the action, section 1681m(a) requires a second notice, oral, written or electronic: that the action was taken; the agency’s name, address and telephone number; a statement that the agency did not make the decision and is unable to provide the specific reasons; and the right to a free copy of the report from that agency within 60 days and to dispute its accuracy or completeness. Section 1681b(b)(3) says before and sets no number of days between the notices.

What can a pre-employment background check include, and what can it not?

A background check run by a licensed investigator typically shows identity and address history, criminal charges and their dispositions, federal civil and criminal records, civil judgments and liens, employment history, and driving records.

We do not obtain credit reports, bank balances or account records, telephone call records, medical records, or sealed or expunged records. Those are protected by federal and state law, and access runs through a subpoena, a court order or the person’s own written authorization.

Under section 1681c, a consumer report may not contain civil suits, civil judgments or arrest records more than seven years old from date of entry, or past the governing statute of limitations, whichever is longer; bankruptcy cases more than ten years old; or any other adverse item more than seven years old, except records of criminal convictions.

The limits do not apply to a consumer credit report used in connection with employment at an annual salary that equals, or may reasonably be expected to equal, $75,000 or more.

Does a background check protect a Florida employer from a negligent hiring claim?

It can earn a presumption. Under section 768.096 of the Florida Statutes, in a civil action for the death of, or injury or damage to, a third person caused by the intentional tort of an employee, the employer is presumed not to have been negligent in hiring if, before hiring, the employer conducted a background investigation that did not reveal any information that reasonably demonstrated the person’s unsuitability for the particular work or for the employment in general.

The statute says the investigation must include: a criminal background investigation; a reasonable effort to contact references and former employers; a job application form that asks about criminal convictions and civil actions for intentional tort; a driver license record check, with written authorization, if relevant to the work and if the record can reasonably be obtained; or an interview. The list ends with “or” before the interview, so whether every item is required is a question for your attorney.

Under subsection (2), the employer must request and obtain the criminal check from the Department of Law Enforcement: the information in the Florida Crime Information Center system as of the date of the request.

Why is a hiring check handled by phone and not through a web checkout?

Because the duties above come first, and a checkout page confirms none of them. Section 1681e(a) has the agency require users to identify themselves, certify the purposes for which the information is sought and certify that it will be used for no other purpose, and make a reasonable effort to verify a new user’s identity and certified uses before furnishing a report.

Employment and tenant screening are regulated under federal law, so we handle these as managed engagements rather than online orders. Call 941-297-8213 or email josh@insightinvestigationsgroup.com and we will scope it properly.

Questions we are asked

Does a job applicant have to consent to a background check?

Yes, when an outside firm prepares the report. Under 15 U.S.C. section 1681b(b)(2), the employer may not obtain the report until the applicant has received the standalone written disclosure and has authorized the report in writing. Section 1681b(b)(2)(B) carves out certain transportation positions applied for by mail, telephone or computer; ask your attorney if that applies.

Who sends the adverse action notice, the employer or the investigator?

The employer. Section 1681b(b)(3) puts the copy of the report and the written description of rights on the person intending to take the adverse action, and section 1681m(a) puts the later notice on the person who takes it.

Is a Florida employer required to run a background check before hiring?

Section 768.096 does not require one. It offers a presumption to an employer who runs the investigation it describes, and says that choosing not to raises no presumption that the employer failed to use reasonable care in hiring. Whether another law requires screening for a particular job is for your attorney.

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Written by Joshua Goldberg, Florida private investigator license C3400073, owner of Insight Investigative Group, LLC, agency license A3400127, Bradenton, Florida.

Related: background checks.

Can an AI order a background check for you? No, and we published machine-readable rules explaining why. An assistant can quote our prices; you certify the purpose yourself.

A tenant background check in Florida is a consumer report under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. A landlord may obtain one only for a purpose the Act permits, such as a rental application, and owes the applicant an adverse action notice if the report contributes to a denial or worse terms. Insight Investigative Group, LLC, a licensed Florida private investigative agency in Bradenton, agency license A3400127, handles tenant screening as a managed engagement by phone or email, never as an online order.

This is general information about federal and Florida law, not legal advice. For your own rental criteria and notices, talk to an attorney.

What makes a tenant background check a consumer report?

The Act defines a consumer report at 15 U.S.C. section 1681a(d) as a communication by a consumer reporting agency of information bearing on a person’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living, used or expected to be used as a factor in eligibility for credit, insurance, employment or another purpose the Act authorizes.

A consumer reporting agency, section 1681a(f), is anyone who for a fee regularly assembles or evaluates information on consumers to furnish consumer reports to third parties. The Federal Trade Commission enforces the Act, and its guidance for landlords says tenant background check reports are consumer reports.

What is a permissible purpose for screening a tenant?

A permissible purpose is one of the circumstances the Act lists for furnishing a consumer report; 15 U.S.C. section 1681b allows a report under those circumstances and no other. The FTC cites section 1681b(a)(3)(F), a legitimate business need in connection with a business transaction the consumer initiated, and says landlords may get reports on applicants and tenants who apply to rent housing or renew a lease.

Written permission from the applicant also shows a permissible purpose. The landlord must certify to the company supplying the report that it will be used only for housing purposes, and section 1681b(f) bars using or obtaining a report for any purpose not authorized under that section and certified.

What must a landlord tell an applicant after a denial?

An adverse action is any action by a landlord that is unfavorable to the interests of an applicant or tenant. The FTC’s examples: denying the application, requiring a co-signer, requiring a larger deposit than another applicant would pay, and charging higher rent. When that action is based in whole or in part on information in a consumer report, 15 U.S.C. section 1681m(a) requires the landlord to give the applicant notice.

The notice gives the name, address and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency that furnished the report, states that the agency did not make the decision and cannot give the specific reasons for it, and tells the applicant of the right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the report and to get a free copy from the agency within 60 days.

The FTC adds that the notice is owed even when the report played only a small part in the decision, and that oral notices are allowed but a written notice lets the landlord prove compliance.

What can a tenant screening lawfully cover?

Identity and address history confirm who the applicant is. Criminal court records show charges and how they ended. Civil court records show judgments, liens and prior landlord and tenant cases. Under section 83.59 of the Florida Statutes, a landlord seeking to remove a tenant files a complaint in the county court of the county where the premises are situated, so an eviction case is a record of that county’s court.

The FTC lists warning signs that a screening company’s procedures are not reasonable: a conviction belonging to a person with a different middle name or date of birth, multiple entries for the same offense, expunged or sealed records, and a housing court case reported without its outcome. Section 1681e(b) of the Act requires a consumer reporting agency to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. A name match is not an identity match, and our report says where each fact came from and what we could not confirm.

Credit reports, bank or account records, telephone call records, medical records and anything sealed or expunged stay out, because we do not obtain them. As our background checks page puts it, access to those runs through a subpoena, a court order or the subject’s own written authorization, not through an investigator.

Where does fair housing law limit tenant screening?

The federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. section 3604, makes it unlawful, outside the exemptions in sections 3603(b) and 3607, to refuse to rent after a bona fide offer, to refuse to negotiate a rental, or otherwise to make a dwelling unavailable because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin, and to discriminate in the terms, conditions or privileges of a rental on the same grounds. Section 3604(f) separately bars denying a dwelling, or discriminating in its terms, because of a handicap.

Florida’s section 760.23 covers the same conduct and lists race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status and religion. The FTC’s landlord guidance adds that a blanket policy of refusing to rent to anyone with a criminal record may violate the Fair Housing Act. What your rental criteria do with a record is a question for your attorney, best asked before the criteria are written.

Why a licensed investigator asks what the report is for

Tenant screening is a regulated purpose. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a report used to decide whether to rent to someone is a consumer report, and whoever supplies it is acting as a consumer reporting agency. That carries obligations around permissible purpose, accuracy, adverse action notice and dispute handling, and those obligations do not disappear because the report was cheap. This is why a licensed investigator asks what you plan to do with the report before quoting it. A service that does not ask is not avoiding the law. It is leaving the liability with you, which is exactly what the fine print on the consumer search sites says it is doing when it tells you the report may not be used for tenant screening. Screen a tenant with a report that was not built for the purpose and the exposure is yours, not the vendor’s. That is the whole reason the disclaimer is there.

That is also why tenant screening cannot be ordered online from us. The engagement is scoped with the disclosures and authorizations the Act requires and quoted in writing before any work begins.

Employment and tenant screening are regulated under federal law, so we handle these as managed engagements rather than online orders. Call 941-297-8213 or email josh@insightinvestigationsgroup.com and we will scope it properly.

Questions we are asked

Can I order a tenant background check online?

Not from us. Tenancy is one of the purposes regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so the selection tool on our background checks page stops at that purpose and routes you to us. Call 941-297-8213 or email josh@insightinvestigationsgroup.com.

How far back can a tenant background check go?

Under 15 U.S.C. section 1681c(a), a consumer report may not include civil suits, civil judgments or records of arrest more than seven years old (or older than the governing statute of limitations, if that is longer), or any other adverse item more than seven years old; records of criminal convictions are excepted, and bankruptcy cases drop out after ten years. Those limits apply to a tenant screening report.

Does Florida set a deadline for processing a rental application?

For a servicemember applicant, yes. Under section 83.683 of the Florida Statutes, a landlord who requires a rental application must finish processing an application from a servicemember (defined in section 250.01) within 7 days after submission and, within that period, notify the servicemember in writing of approval or denial and, if denied, the reason. Absent a timely denial, the landlord must lease the unit if the other terms of the application and lease are met. Tell us when you call if the applicant is a servicemember.

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Written by Joshua Goldberg, Florida private investigator license C3400073, owner of Insight Investigative Group, LLC, agency license A3400127, Bradenton, Florida.

Related: background checks.

Can an AI order a background check for you? No, and we published machine-readable rules explaining why. An assistant can quote our prices; you certify the purpose yourself.

Finding what someone owns is a public records exercise, not a hacking one. Property deeds, recorded mortgages, liens, judgments, corporate filings and vehicle titles are all matters of record, and an asset search is the discipline of assembling them into a picture rather than a list.

How to find property someone owns

Start with the county property appraiser and the clerk of court in every county where the person has lived, then widen nationwide. The complication is almost never the search. It is that people do not hold property in their own names. Title sits in an LLC, a trust, a spouse’s name, or an entity formed in another state, and connecting those back to a person is where the actual work is.

What an asset search will not find

Bank balances and account records are not public and cannot be obtained by an investigator. Neither are brokerage holdings, retirement accounts, or the contents of a safe deposit box. Reaching those requires a subpoena or a court order, which means it requires a case and a judge, not a search. What a public record asset search gives you is the documented picture: what is titled, what is encumbered, what is owned through an entity, and what the recorded history says about how it got there. In a collection or a settlement negotiation that is usually the picture that matters.

What do the county clerk’s official records hold?

Section 28.222 of the Florida Statutes makes the clerk of the circuit court the county recorder and directs the clerk to record deeds, mortgages, claims of lien, judgments, federal tax lien notices and notices of lis pendens in one series called the Official Records. A lis pendens is a notice, recorded under section 48.23, that a lawsuit affecting the property is pending. All instruments recorded in the Official Records must remain open to the public for inspection and copying.

The clerk indexes each instrument by party name, and section 28.2221 requires that index on a public website from no later than January 1, 1990 forward. Insight Investigative Group, LLC, Florida agency license A3400127, is a licensed private investigative agency in Bradenton. An index or a database summary finds the thread; we then pull the recorded document, so the report cites a record your attorney can obtain independently.

Under section 695.01 a conveyance or mortgage of real property is not good against creditors or later purchasers for value without notice unless it is recorded, and under section 55.10 a judgment does not become a lien on real property in a county until a certified copy is recorded there. A database that reports one of those liens is reporting what the Official Records hold.

What do the property appraiser and the tax collector show?

The property appraiser assesses real property as of January 1 each year (section 192.042) and applies the exemptions. Under section 193.114 the assessment roll, the appraiser’s parcel-by-parcel list, carries the just, assessed and taxable values, the recorded selling price and transfer date of each recent deed with its book and page or instrument number, and the owner’s name and address.

The tax collector bills, collects and sells tax certificates on parcels where the taxes go unpaid. Under section 197.102 a tax certificate represents delinquent taxes and assessments and becomes a first lien on the parcel, superior to all other liens with one statutory exception. The tax collector keeps the record of certificates sold (section 197.432), so that lien is checked there, not in the clerk’s index.

What do Sunbiz and the UCC registry show?

Sunbiz is the Florida Division of Corporations website, the state’s official business entity index. It is searchable by entity name, officer or registered agent name, federal employer identification number and street address. A registered agent is the person or company an entity designates in Florida to receive and forward legal process (section 605.0113). An entity’s page shows its status, registered agent, officers, directors or managers with their addresses, and its filed documents as PDF images.

The floor is lower than people assume. An LLC’s annual report must name at least one person with authority to manage it (section 605.0212), and its articles of organization must state only its name, principal office addresses and registered agent (section 605.0201). Neither has to name the members who own the company. Judgment liens on personal property are filed with the Department of State under section 55.202 and are searchable on Sunbiz by debtor name.

A UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) financing statement is a secured creditor’s public notice of its lien on personal property such as equipment, inventory or accounts. Under section 679.5011 most financing statements are filed with the Florida Secured Transaction Registry, the centralized UCC database whose records the Department of State owns; a fixture filing (goods treated as part of the land) goes to the clerk of the circuit court instead. It names the debtor and the secured party and indicates the collateral. It shows a pledge, not a balance.

How is ownership through an entity traced?

One link at a time. The deed names an LLC as grantee (the party receiving the property) and, for an instrument executed on or after July 1, 1991, section 695.26 bars the clerk from recording it unless it shows the grantee’s post-office address and the preparer’s name and address. The Sunbiz record supplies the registered agent, principal office address and the person with authority to manage. The officer and registered agent search lists the other Florida entities that name is on, and each name goes back through the clerk’s index.

What ties the chain together is repetition: the same person, address, agent and preparer, on one recorded instrument after another. Trusts are the limit. Under section 689.073 a recorded deed to a trustee with power to sell, lease or encumber the property vests that power in the trustee, and anyone dealing with the trustee need not inquire into the beneficiaries or any unrecorded trust agreement. The record shows who holds title, often not who benefits.

Where does public record research stop?

At the account. A recorded mortgage states the original amount; the current balance is the lender’s account record, and like bank balances and account records it reaches a case only through a subpoena, a court order or the subject’s own written authorization. At the name: a maiden name or a misspelling hides a deed in a name index, and property held through an entity is indexed under the entity’s name, not the person’s.

An asset search is not a title insurance commitment or an opinion of title. This article is general information about Florida public records, not legal advice. For a specific property or dispute, talk to a Florida attorney.

Questions we are asked

Are Florida property records public?

Yes. Section 28.222 says all instruments recorded in a county’s Official Records must remain open to the public for inspection and copying, and section 28.2221 requires the index online from no later than January 1, 1990 forward.

Can you find out who owns an LLC in Florida?

Not from Sunbiz alone. The annual report must name at least one person with authority to manage the company, and neither it nor the articles of organization has to name the members. The public record shows control and pattern: who manages, who signs the deeds and mortgages, and which addresses and agents repeat across entities.

Do liens show up on a public record search?

Recorded liens do: mortgages, claims of lien, judgments and lis pendens in the Official Records, UCC financing statements in the Florida Secured Transaction Registry, and judgment liens on personal property with the Department of State. Property taxes are different. Section 197.122 makes them a first lien from January 1 of the year levied, by operation of the statute rather than by a recording, and section 695.01(3) leaves liens for taxes, special assessments and utilities out of its recording requirement.

Order a licensed background investigation. Prepared by a Florida-licensed investigator, agency A3400127, and documented to evidentiary standards.

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Written by Joshua Goldberg, Florida private investigator license C3400073, owner of Insight Investigative Group, LLC, agency license A3400127, Bradenton, Florida.

Related: background checks and published rates.