How much can APD fine a licensed group home?

Up to $1,000 per violation per day, with the aggregate capped at $10,000, under section 393.0673, Florida Statutes. Rule 65G-2.0041(3)(c), F.A.C. repeats the $1,000 limit and states that no fine may exceed the statutory limitation.

What is the APD Licensing Disciplinary Chart?

Form 0041 (December 2025), incorporated by reference into Rule 65G-2.0041(8), F.A.C. and available at flrules.org reference Ref-18973. Incorporated by reference means it carries the force of the rule itself, not the weight of guidance.

Does a first offence get a fine?

Not for a minor violation. Rule 65G-2.0041(1) states that first offences of minor violations receive a Notice of Noncompliance before disciplinary action, and 65G-2.004 provides that the Notice is issued unless the violation is corrected before the on-site monitoring that identified it is completed.

Can APD still act if I give up the licence?

Yes. Rule 65G-2.0041(6), F.A.C. states that expiration or relinquishment of a licence pending disciplinary action does not render the proceeding moot, and the Agency may continue to pursue action for violations that occurred while the licensee managed the facility even after they cease operating it.

What does APD consider when deciding a penalty?

Eleven factors under Rule 65G-2.0041(2), F.A.C., including the severity of the violation, how many people it affected, whether the licensee reported it within the required timeframes, whether remedial action was taken and how quickly, whether the licensee cooperated, and whether the same violation has happened before.

Licensing09/08/2026·9 min read

What an APD Violation Actually Costs: $1,000 a Day, and the Clock Runs Until You Fix It

Florida amended its licensing discipline rule on 26 March 2026 and published a disciplinary chart nobody is reading. The number that matters is not the fine — it is that each day counts as a new violation, so one uncorrected finding reaches the $10,000 statutory maximum on day ten.

How much does an APD licensing violation cost in Florida?

Up to $1,000 per violation per day, capped at $10,000 in total — and each day counts as a new violation. Section 393.0673, F.S. sets both limits. Rule 65G-2.0041(1)(a), F.A.C. makes every day a violation continues a separate one. So the question is not really what a finding costs. It is how long it sat there.

Florida amended its licensing discipline rule on 26 March 2026 and published a chart setting out what each violation leads to. The chart is incorporated into the rule, which means it carries the force of law rather than the weight of advice — and almost nobody in this market has opened it.

Here is what the rule and the statute behind it actually say, read from the state record.

The number everyone asks about, and the one that matters

Rule 65G-2.0041(3)(c), F.A.C. allows administrative fines where each fine shall not exceed $1,000 per violation, and s. 393.0673, F.S. sets the ceiling as $1,000 per violation per day with the aggregate not to exceed $10,000.

A thousand dollars is survivable. The sentence directly above it is the expensive one:

“Each day a violation occurs, or continues to occur, constitutes a separate violation and is subject to a separate and additional disciplinary action.” — Rule 65G-2.0041(1)(a), F.A.C.

One violation, left uncorrected

Ten days to the statutory maximum.

$1,000

$5,000

$10,000

Days along the bottom. Rule 65G-2.0041(1)(a), F.A.C. makes each day a separate violation; s. 393.0673, F.S. caps each at $1,000 per violation per day and the total at $10,000. The Agency weighs eleven aggravating and mitigating factors before landing anywhere on this scale — it is a ceiling, not a schedule.

That is a ceiling and not a schedule — the Agency weighs eleven factors before it lands anywhere on that scale, and most findings never approach it. But the shape of the rule is the point: the penalty is driven by duration, not by the severity of the thing itself. A small problem nobody noticed for a month is arithmetically worse than a serious one fixed the same week.

A first minor violation usually gets a warning first

This is the part that should stop anyone panicking. Rule 65G-2.0041(1) states that first offences of minor violations receive a Notice of Noncompliance before disciplinary action, under s. 120.695, F.S.

And 65G-2.004 adds a detail worth knowing: the Notice is issued unless the violation is corrected before the on-site monitoring that identified it is completed. Fix it while the reviewer is still standing there and it does not become a Notice at all.

Three ways one violation quietly becomes several

The rule stacks in a way most operators do not expect. Each of these is a separate and additional violation, not a continuation of the first:

Missing a Corrective Action Plan deadline. 65G-2.0041(1)(b): failure to comply with the terms of a Corrective Action Plan or settlement agreement is a separate violation, subject to a separate administrative proceeding.
Not finishing a Plan of Remediation on time. 65G-2.0041(1)(c) says so explicitly — “beyond the violation for which it was implemented.” The fix for a problem can become a second problem.
Not paying a fine, or breaching a moratorium. 65G-2.0041(5): failure to pay any fine or adhere to a moratorium, suspension or other measure is itself a separate violation.

Fines are not the only tool, and they can be combined

Under 65G-2.0041(3) the Agency may impose a moratorium on admissions, or the suspension, denial or revocation of the licence including non-renewal, as well as fines. And 65G-2.0041(4): more than one type of disciplinary action may be imposed for a single violation.

For most operators a moratorium on admissions costs far more than the maximum fine ever could. An empty bed you are not allowed to fill is a revenue problem that runs for as long as the moratorium does.

The eleven factors — and what they reward

Rule 65G-2.0041(2) lists what the Agency weighs. Read them as a list of what helps you, because several are entirely within your control:

The severity of the violation, and how many people it affected
Whether it involved abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment, death or serious injury — and the connection between that and the violation
Any remedial actions taken to correct it, and the timeliness of those actions
Whether the licensee committed it willfully, was aware of it, was willfully ignorant of it, or attempted to conceal it
Whether the licensee reported it within the timeframes the chapter requires
Whether the licensee cooperated with the Agency or investigators
Whether the same or a similar violation has happened before, and how long ago
Whether more than one employee was involved

Three of those are about speed and records: what you did, how fast, and whether you reported it on time. None of that is about being a better operator on the day of the review. It is about what you can show for the months before it.

Handing the licence back does not end it. Rule 65G-2.0041(6), F.A.C. states that the expiration or relinquishment of a licence pending disciplinary action does not render the proceeding moot, and that the Agency may continue to pursue action for violations that occurred while you managed the facility even after you cease to own, lease or operate it.

It gets sharper. Under Rule 65G-2.005(1)(e), having voluntarily relinquished a licence in lieu of an investigation or administrative complaint is itself a ground on which the Agency shall deny a future licence application — to you or to a controlling entity. Walking away is not a clean exit, and it follows you to the next application.

What this changes about how you run the place

Nothing in this rule rewards being ready on review day. It rewards two things you either have or do not: a short gap between a problem starting and you noticing, and a record of what you did about it and when.

That is the honest reason a date that slips is expensive. Not the citation — the days. A lapsed credential that sits for five weeks is not one problem, and by the time somebody points it out, the arithmetic has already happened.

Sources

This article is general information for Florida APD group-home providers, not legal advice or a guarantee of compliance. Rules change and vary by region — always confirm the current requirement with the cited source and your APD regional office.