Frequently Asked Questions

You can add or remove a corporate owner or officer online through the MQA Online Services Portal, or by submitting a Massage Establishment Change of Corporate Officer/Designated Establishment Manager/Interested Party (DH-MQA 5040) by email to mqa.massagetherapy@flhealth.gov, or by mail to:

Florida Department of Health
Board of Massage Therapy
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin C-06
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Some changes to establishment owner information may indicate that a change of ownership has occurred; a new license is required pursuant to 480.043(9)(a), Florida Statutes:

A license issued to an individual, a partnership, a limited liability company, or another entity may not be transferred from the licensee to another individual, corporation, limited liability company, or another entity.

Some examples of change of ownership which will require a new license include:

• A license originally issued to an individual (sole proprietor), where the individual has changed.
• A license originally issued to an individual (sole proprietor) which now operates under a Limited Liability Company or Corporation.
• A license originally issued to a partnership where the partners have changed.
• A license issued to a Limited Liability Company whose members have changed.
• A license issued to a Corporation which has dissolved and reincorporated.

If a new license is required, additional information about submitting a new application can be found here.

To report a criminal pleading or conviction within 30 days as required, you will need to submit a complaint against yourself using the Health Care Provider Complaint Form.

The form, which includes submission instructions, can be found here.

If you are a licensed massage therapist advertising your practice under any name that is not your legal name, or, if you are an establishment who is advertising under a “doing business as” or D/B/A name, you will need a fictitious name registration for the purposes of that advertisement.

To register for a fictitious name or find more information about fictitious name registration, visit the Division of Corporations website at www.sunbiz.org.

If you are a licensed massage therapist advertising your practice under any name that is not your legal name, or, if you are an establishment who is advertising under a “doing business as” or D/B/A name, you will need a fictious name registration for the purposes of that advertisement.

If you have registered a new fictitious name or have updated a prior fictitious name registration associated with your license, updating your licensing record helps reduce compliance issues related to advertising rules.

For massage establishments:

If you have registered a new fictitious name, or have updated your previous registration, submit your updated fictitious name registration by email to mqa.massagetherapy@flhealth.gov, or by mail to:

Florida Department of Health
Board of Massage Therapy
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin C-06
Tallahassee, FL 32399

For massage therapists:

You do not need to submit fictitious name registration updates related to advertising your practice to the board office.

The Department of Health’s license verification portal can be used to search for licensees in your area, and can be searched by license type, city, county and zip code.

You can verify the Designated Establishment Manager (DEM) of a massage establishment using Department of Health’s license verification portal. To do so:

• Search for the establishment license.
• Select the license you wish to view the DEM for.
  You will be taken directly to the verification of the license if your search returned only one result.
• Select the Supervising Practitioner tab.

To submit a complaint, visit the Florida Health Care Complaint Portal at https://complaint-portal.mqa.flhealthsource.gov.

Answer the questions in the portal to determine how the complaint should be submitted. The portal will provide options based on the type of complaint you describe and will give further instructions.

To report sexual misconduct, visit the Florida Health Care Complaint Portal at Florida Health Care Complaint Portal. You may submit reports of sexual misconduct anonymously.

If you are reporting sexual misconduct as part of your responsibility as the Designated Establishment Manager (DEM) of a massage establishment, make your report using Health Care Provider Complaint Form, found here. Submission instructions are included as a part of the form.

A copy of your inspection results is provided by the inspector at the conclusion of your inspection and can be requested at any time following an inspection.

If you are an applicant requesting the results of an initial inspection or the establishment owner or Designated Establishment Manager (DEM) of a licensed massage establishment, you may request inspection results by email to mqa.massagetherapy@flhealth.gov or by mail to:

Florida Department of Health
Board of Massage Therapy
4052 Bald Cypress Way Bin C-06
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Please include your file number (for applicants) or license number (for licensees) and the approximate timeframe in which the inspection was completed.

Inspection results are public record. If you are not requesting inspection results related to your own application or license, you may submit a public records request. Information about public records requests can be found here.

You can become a massage therapist by meeting all licensing requirements, submitting an application and fees, and receiving a license. Additional information on the application process and requirements can be found under Licensed Massage Therapist in the Board website’s licensing tab.

You can open a massage establishment by meeting all licensing requirements, submitting an application and fees, and receiving a license. Additional information on the application process and requirements can be found under Licensed Massage Establishment (New Business or Change of Ownership) in the Board website’s licensing tab.

Information about licensing requirements and applying can be found in the licensing section of this website.