JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During an Emergency Operations Center meeting, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Florida State officials addressed preparations ahead of now Hurricane Dorian.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody specifically urged residents to report price gouging as soon as possible.
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- Price Gouging Info: Florida attorney general encourages residents to report price gouging, use new app ahead of storm
A new app, NO SCAM, was designed specifically for reporting price gouging during a state of emergency in real-time.
The state says the app enables the user to send pictures of prices, keep receipts, write a report, report prices on similar products in the same area, as well as send supporting information straight to the Attorney General's Office.
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What does Florida’s law cover? The price gouging statute mentions “essential commodities.”
The Florida Attorney’s General’s Office says this includes food, water, ice, chemicals, petroleum products and lumber to protect or fix properties. Not covered: Alcoholic drinks and cigarettes.
State law defines price gouging as a “gross disparity” between the current price and the average for the previous 30 days, but gives no strict statistical definition of how much is too much.
There have been prosecuted cases or settlements after past storms, the broader effect frequently amounts to deterrence — making individual businesses think twice about jacking up prices.
LIVE UPDATES: Tracking Tropical Storm Dorian
To report price gouging use the NO SCAM app or call 1-866-9-NO-SCAM.
(NO SCAM is free, and you can download it to your Apple or Android device by searching NO SCAM in the app store or Google Play)
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