'Do Not Call' Violators, Solicitors Top Floridians' Complaints in July

Violations of the states Do Not Call list, people seeking contributions, and landlord-tenant issues continue to dominate the complaints received at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

More than 4,800 complaints were filed by consumers in July to the 1-800-HELP-FLA consumer hotline, during which time the department also received 35,026/39,394 calls and 4,049/11,641 emails for consumer assistance and information.

The hotline handled 3,300 calls in June. Meanwhile, the overall calls are down from 39,394 and emails have dropped from 11,641, both in June.

The calls and emails resulted in 342 investigations being started by the department, including six criminal investigations.

The state also added 37,310 numbers -- submitted from 18,494 individuals -- to Floridas Do Not Call list in June.These numbers will be effective Oct. 1.Currently, there are 314,626 numbers and 172,629 subscribers on the list.