Miami Private InvestigationsQuick answer
- What it is: Chapter 493 of the Florida Statutes, "Private Investigative, Private Security, and Repossession Services," administered by the FDACS Division of Licensing.
- Who needs a license: anyone who, for consideration, advertises or performs private investigation, plus every agency, branch and manager.
- Unlicensed work: a first-degree misdemeanor the first time; a third-degree felony after that, with a civil penalty of up to $10,000 (s. 493.6120).
- What a PI may do: lawful surveillance, public-records research, voluntary interviews, locating people, and gathering evidence for court.
- What a PI may not do: record private conversations without all-party consent, plant a tracker without consent, trespass, pretext, hack, or pose as police.
Film and television suggest that a private eye can get any information by any means. Florida law says otherwise. A license under Chapter 493 is permission to do investigative work for pay, and it comes with a disciplinary code, but it confers no police powers and no exemption from the privacy and criminal laws everyone else follows. This guide cites the 2025 edition on flsenate.gov so you can read each section yourself.
What is Florida Statute Chapter 493?
Chapter 493 regulates three related industries: private investigation, private security and repossession. Part I (sections 493.6100 to 493.6132) holds the general provisions shared by all three: definitions, exemptions, eligibility, discipline and penalties. Part II (sections 493.6201 to 493.6203) covers private investigative services specifically: the license classes and the experience and training each one requires. The FDACS Division of Licensing issues licenses and enforces the chapter and its rule, 5N-1, F.A.C.
The chapter starts from a broad definition. "Private investigation" means obtaining information about, among other things, crimes or wrongs; a person's "identity, habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts, affiliations, associations, transactions, reputation, or character"; the credibility of witnesses; missing persons and heirs; lost or stolen property; the causes of accidents, losses or injuries; and "securing evidence" for use in trials or arbitration (s. 493.6101, F.S.). A private investigator is "any individual who, for consideration, advertises as providing or performs private investigation," so advertising alone triggers the law.
Who is exempt from a PI license?
Section 493.6102 lists people the chapter does not reach, so long as they stay within their own role. The exemptions most often asked about are:
- Law enforcement officers performing official duties.
- Insurance investigators and adjusters licensed by a state or federal authority, when working within the scope of that license.
- An unarmed investigator employed solely, exclusively and regularly by one employer, investigating that employer's own business.
- Attorneys in the regular practice of their profession, and Florida CPAs acting within public accounting.
- Banks, credit unions, consumer credit reporting agencies and firms furnishing credit or financial-standing information.
- Genealogy researchers working from public records and historical databases.
Anyone outside these categories who is paid to investigate needs a license, whatever title they use.
What license classes does Chapter 493 create?
Section 493.6201 sets out the investigative classes. Each is tied to a role, not a rank:
| Class | Required for |
|---|---|
| A | Any business that engages in business as a private investigative agency (one location per license). |
| AA | Each branch office of a Class A agency. |
| AB | Each additional or branch office of an entity holding both Class A (investigative) and Class B (security) licenses. |
| C | "Any individual who performs the services of a private investigator." |
| CC | An intern doing investigative work under the direction and control of a sponsoring licensee. |
| MA | The manager of a Class A agency or a Class AA branch office. |
| M | The manager of a combined Class A and B agency, or of a Class AB branch office. |
| G | A statewide firearm license, required for any licensee who bears a firearm (s. 493.6115). |
Both MA and M are managers; MA runs a purely investigative office, while M runs one that also holds a security license. Our own agency license is Class A, number A1800135. The experience, exam and internship rules for each class are in our separate guide to getting a Florida PI license.
What is the penalty for investigating without a license?
Unlicensed practice is a crime under s. 493.6120, F.S. Performing regulated services without the required license is, on a first violation, "a misdemeanor of the first degree." A second or subsequent violation is "a felony of the third degree," and the department may also seek a civil penalty of up to $10,000. The statute gives a narrow grace period for activity within 90 days after a license expires. Separately, a licensee who employs or knowingly assists unlicensed people can be disciplined (s. 493.6118(1)(n)).
For a client, the risk goes beyond the operator's exposure: someone who ignores the licensing law may ignore the recording and tracking laws too, and evidence gathered that way can be excluded.
What can get a licensed investigator disciplined?
Section 493.6118(1) lists the grounds on which FDACS can discipline a licensee. For anyone hiring an investigator, the most relevant are:
- (e) Willful betrayal of a professional secret, or any unauthorized release of information gathered in the work. Confidentiality is a legal duty, not a courtesy.
- (f) Fraud, deceit, negligence, incompetency or misconduct in regulated work.
- (h) Failing to maintain the commercial general liability insurance required by s. 493.6110.
- (i) Impersonating a law enforcement officer, including by uniform, badge, credentials or unofficial lights.
- (k) Knowingly violating, or advising or assisting a violation of, any statute or court order.
- (l) Soliciting business for an attorney in return for compensation.
- (y) Installing or placing a tracking device in violation of s. 934.425.
Licensees must also carry their license and agency ID card while on duty, and an agency must print its license number in print and directory advertising and in any written bid (s. 493.6111, F.S.). A missing license number on an ad is a warning sign in itself.
What a Florida PI can and can't legally do
Chapter 493 decides who may investigate. Other statutes decide how. A license does not override any of them.
What a licensed investigator may do
- Conduct surveillance of a person in public places and from anywhere the investigator is lawfully present, with photos and video of what is openly visible. See our surveillance investigations.
- Research public records such as court dockets, property records and business filings, and run background research that complies with federal and state reporting law (background investigations).
- Interview witnesses who agree to talk. People may decline, and no one may be threatened into answering.
- Locate people and assets: missing persons, heirs, witnesses and evasive defendants (skip tracing).
- Use motor vehicle records only for a purpose the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act permits; a licensed agency gets no broader access than that purpose (18 U.S.C. 2721(b)(8)).
- Carry a firearm only with a Class G license; a Class C or CC licensee who is 21 or older and holds a Class G may carry concealed while on duty (s. 493.6115).
What no license allows
- Recording private conversations without the prior consent of all parties (s. 934.03, F.S.), a third-degree felony. The rule covers conversations held with a justified expectation of privacy (s. 934.02).
- Placing a tracking device or app on another person's property, or using one to follow them, without consent (s. 934.425, F.S.). A PI is exempt only where the client would be. Details are in our GPS tracker guide.
- Trespassing into a structure, vehicle or posted property (s. 810.08 and s. 810.09), including a fenced or posted yard.
- Posing as police (s. 843.08), wearing unauthorized badges or indicia of authority (s. 843.085), or putting the state seal on any ID (s. 493.6124). A license gives no power of arrest.
- Pretexting for phone records (s. 817.484, F.S.; 18 U.S.C. 1039) or for bank customer information (15 U.S.C. 6821).
- Accessing computers, phones or accounts without authorization, a third-degree felony under s. 815.06, F.S.
- Harassing a subject. Stalking law targets conduct that causes substantial emotional distress and "serves no legitimate purpose" (s. 784.048).
For how these rules play out when a spouse is the subject, read what a PI can legally do in a Florida infidelity case.
Is a licensed investigator's evidence usable in court?
Lawfully gathered evidence is judged like any other evidence under the Florida Evidence Code. It must be relevant (s. 90.401, s. 90.402) and authenticated as what it claims to be (s. 90.901), and the investigator who made the observations can testify to them as a fact witness. Illegally intercepted communications, and anything derived from them, may not be received in evidence at all (s. 934.06). That is why method matters as much as result.
A well-run engagement produces a chronological written report, the original time-stamped media, a record of how it was stored, and testimony when needed. We report what happened and never promise an outcome.
What affects the time and cost of a lawful investigation?
We quote each case after a consultation and do not publish a price list. The factors are the same across most matters: the question you need answered, how much field time it takes, how many investigators and vehicles are involved, how many days of coverage, records research and travel, and whether you need court-ready documentation and testimony.
How do you check that an investigator is licensed?
Search the individual on the FDACS licensee search and the agency on the FDACS agency search. Complaints go through the FDACS complaint form. For a step-by-step walkthrough, including what the contract should say, see how to hire a licensed private investigator in Florida.
Why attorneys and families work with us
- FDACS agency license A1800135
- ★ 4.9 from 88 Google reviews
- Veteran-led team
- Investigators who work in English and Spanish
Attorneys have recorded video testimonials about working with us. See what attorneys say.
Related guides and services
The job in plain English.
When a request crosses the line.
License lookups, contracts and confidentiality, step by step.
Requirements for entering the field.
Section 934.425 and its narrow exceptions.
Field investigation and testimony for litigators.
Lawful documentation of a partner's conduct.
Lawful research into people and companies.
Available across Florida
Chapter 493 applies statewide. We work from our office at 4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Suite 470, Coral Gables, and our investigators travel where the case goes.