Broker non-compliance complaint (state AG)

When to use this template

Use this complaint when a broker has had every reasonable chance to honor your removal request and didn't. It escalates the dispute from a private demand to a state-level enforcement matter. The AG won't always intervene immediately, but your filing becomes part of the broader pattern of complaints that drive enforcement decisions.

Three triggers for escalation:

• You've sent the broker a removal request twice with no meaningful response.
• The statutory clock under your state's law (10 business days under NJ's Daniel's Law — the state statute that lets covered officers and judges sue brokers that don't take their home address down — the federal Lieu Act window for federal judges, or your state's analogous period) has expired.
• The broker removed your listing and then re-listed you within six months. That re-listing is its own violation in most jurisdictions.

If you haven't sent at least one opt-out request letter yet, send that first. The AG complaint without a paper trail is just a complaint.

What to attach

The complaint stands or falls on your evidence. Attach all of it:

1. Copy of your original opt-out request — letter, email, or both. Dated.
2. Proof of delivery — read receipts, certified-mail return cards, email server delivery confirmations. Whatever you have.
3. Any broker response — auto-replies, partial removals, requests for additional verification, claims that they removed the listing.
4. A dated screenshot of the broker URL still showing your information — taken as recently as the day you file the complaint. The URL bar, the date stamp, and your visible information all in one frame.
5. Your follow-up demand and any response to it. Two requests with no compliance is a stronger record than one.
6. For NJ-covered persons — a copy of your Daniel's Law demand letter, the date the ten-day clock started, and the date it expired.

A weak complaint with one screenshot and a vague timeline gets shelved. A strong complaint with dated evidence at every step gets read.

Which AGs are most active

The AGs with the most visible broker enforcement records as of 2026:

• California — Active CCPA/CPRA enforcement. The California Privacy Protection Agency runs alongside the AG and accepts consumer complaints directly. See the California state guide.
• Illinois — BIPA enforcement set the template. The AG has expanded to broker-side complaints since the state's 2024 broker-registration regime. See Illinois.
• New Jersey — Active because of Daniel's Law and the volume of Atlas Data Privacy Corp filings. The AG coordinates with private litigation in many cases. See New Jersey.
• New York — The AG's privacy bureau handles both consumer complaints and broker-side enforcement. See the 50-a guide and New York.
• Texas — Texas Data Privacy and Security Act gives the AG a direct enforcement hook. See the TX ACP guide and Texas.
• Florida — Active on the agency-confidentiality side via §119.071. See the Marsy's Law guide and Florida.

If your state isn't on this list, file anyway. The complaint goes on the record even where the AG hasn't been actively enforcing. Patterns across states feed national enforcement decisions, and your filing is part of that pattern.

Set realistic expectations

Be honest with yourself about what happens after you file.

State AGs are not removal services. They don't reach into a broker's database and pull your record. They don't issue takedowns on a one-off complaint. What they do:

• Stack complaints to spot bad actors.
• Open investigations when there's enough volume.
• Negotiate settlements that force company-wide changes (often called consent decrees — a court-enforced settlement that requires the company to change its practices).
• Hand the worst cases to court or the feds.

Your single complaint may not produce a fast individual remedy. What it produces is leverage. Brokers track AG complaint volumes against their company name, and a documented filing changes how they treat your follow-up correspondence.

For the broker-side fix while the AG complaint sits in the queue, keep working the opt-out letter path and, if you're covered, the Daniel's Law demand. If your address has already been posted publicly, run the doxxed-right-now playbook for the parallel takedown work that doesn't depend on the AG. The three tracks run together.

How to send it

The point of all this isn't the filing. It's getting your address off pages your kids' schools' parents can pull up in three seconds.

Most state AGs accept complaints two ways:

• Online consumer-complaint portal — fastest. Almost every AG runs one. Upload your evidence as PDF attachments.
• Mail — if your state requires a notarized signature or hard-copy filings, follow that path. Certified mail with return receipt.

Keep your own copy of the full filing. If the broker re-violates later, the prior complaint is part of the new evidence package.

What if multiple states apply

If you live in one state but the broker is incorporated in another, file in both. A NJ resident dealing with a Florida-incorporated broker has standing to file with both AGs. The brokers' state of incorporation often produces faster traction because that AG has direct jurisdiction over the entity.

For the underlying federal regime that may also apply if you've moved across states, see the DPPA guide — driver's license and motor vehicle data has its own federal complaint path.

Download the template

The downloadable PDF is at the fileSlot URL above. The template includes blanks for your state, the broker name and URL, the dates of your prior demands, and a checklist of attachments. Fill it in, attach your evidence, and file.