Florida Sued Over DMV Appointment Chaos That Left Residents In Overnight Lines

Case Overview: A class action lawsuit claims the State of Florida and local tax collectors allowed an appointment scalping operation to flourish, forcing residents into overnight lines for DMV services.

Consumers Affected: Florida residents who were impacted by alleged appointment scalping and forced to wait overnight for DMV services.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

A new class action lawsuit claims the State of Florida, along with Miami-Dade and Broward tax collectors, turned a blind eye to an appointment scalping operation that forced residents to line up overnight, sometimes in unsafe conditions, just to get services from their local DMV.

The lawsuit accuses the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) and its partners of negligence. It alleges they allowed a black market for DMV appointments to flourish unchecked, putting people at risk and violating their rights to access public services in a safe and fair manner.

Residents Forced to Camp Overnight for DMV Services

Among the plaintiffs is 17-year-old Alexandra R. Wild, who was reportedly told by DMV employees at the Pompano Beach Citi Centre office to return at midnight and wait overnight for a chance at being served. The lawsuit claims the agency provided no lighting or security, exposing Wild to harassment and emotional trauma while she camped out to get her driver’s license.

Her mother, Jennifer Sassone, was shocked by the instruction and assumed there would be proper oversight. Instead, she and her daughter found themselves in a chaotic environment, one the lawsuit says is emblematic of broader mismanagement across Florida's DMV system.

Attorney Michael Pizzi, who filed the complaint, said the DMV’s failure to act on known appointment scalping created a dangerous atmosphere. According to the lawsuit, some individuals suffered lasting effects and may require medical or mental health care.

Lawsuit Accuses State of Allowing Appointment Scalping

The root of the issue, according to the complaint, is a widespread scalping operation where automated bots and fake accounts snapped up appointment slots and resold them for $25 to $250. These scalpers allegedly operated in plain sight of DMV employees, with no intervention.

While Florida lawmakers passed a bill this spring to outlaw the practice, making it a first-degree misdemeanor to sell DMV appointments, Pizzi argues the real issue is government inaction. The lawsuit accuses the DMV of having knowledge of the scalping schemes and the overnight lines but failing to provide adequate staffing, scheduling systems, or safeguards for the public.

Other States Face DMV Related Lawsuits

This isn’t the only legal action facing DMV systems across the country. In New York, the Trump administration previously sued over the state’s “Green Light” law, which grants driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants and limits federal access to DMV data.

In Oregon, a judge recently tossed a class action seeking damages for a massive 2023 data breach that exposed license and ID information for millions of residents.

And in South Carolina, a legal fight with the ACLU was resolved after the state DMV corrected a glitch that automatically blocked 17-year-olds from pre-registering to vote—an issue that had implications for tens of thousands of teens preparing for their first election.

The current lawsuit, which seeks at least $10 million in damages plus attorneys’ fees and court costs, asks the court to certify it as a class action, potentially covering up to 10 years of alleged mismanagement and affecting a vast number of Florida residents.

Have you experienced long lines or issues getting a DMV appointment in Florida? Share your story below.