BOCA RATON, Fla. — A local insurance company says it is worried about losing business after a long period of time new rule The law, enforced by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, requires people who want to register a car with a foreign passport to have documentation showing they are legally present in the United States.

Those trying to register the car with a passport must be of United States origin or have an unexpired passport issued by the government of another country, marked by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Other valid documents include an unexpired I-94, a valid permanent resident card, and an unexpired immigrant visa issued by DHS.

Previously people only needed a valid foreign passport.

Rosana Giani and Adelio Deassun, owners of Novus Insurance in Boca Raton, said a significant percentage of their business comes from undocumented immigrants. They say the new policy makes it harder to recruit additional business and serve customers who have already paid for services.

“We could not deliver the plates that we had to deliver to our customers because they were sent back,” Giani said. “They changed the rules and didn’t let anyone know we had new rules.”

They also said that if an immigrant’s car is totaled and is insured, this new policy will not allow him to move the license to a newer car without proper documentation.

“Let’s get your car out of the mud and try to fix that (complete) car,” Giani said. “Yes, this is a nightmare.”

Both Deassun and Giani said the policy reduced their business by about 60% because people were afraid to renew their registration even if they were grandfathered in under the old policy.

WPTV

“I’m scared of how I’m going to pay my rent next week,” Giani said. “…We will start selling frozen candy. I don’t know.”

The married couple is considering closing their business after 24 years or moving to another state, such as California.

Three different local auto dealers who say many of their customers are undocumented immigrants told WPTV’s Ethan Stein that they had a hard time selling cars after the new policy went into effect in September.

WATCH: WPTV spoke with car dealership owners who say the rule is losing sales

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Michael Melendez, owner of Mike Auto Sales, estimates his sales were down 75% last month. He said the administrative rule, which does not require the enactment of a new law, makes it harder to sell cars to undocumented immigrants, even if they are former customers.

“They are great, hard-working people,” Melendez said. “Recently, someone came to me who had bought a car before and was unaware of this rule. I said, ‘Listen, I’d love to sell you another car, but I can’t.’ I’m losing this whole business. This is driving me crazy.’”

The rule was not adopted by the legislature but was created by a state agency overseen by the governor’s office. Emails obtained by WPTV show that the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) on Sept. 5 asked state tax collectors to enforce the rule starting Sept. 23, giving auto dealers just two weeks to comply with the rule.

WPTV reached out to FLHSMV, which directed us to documents posted on the Florida Administrative Code and Administrative Record website. These documents show that the state felt the policy was necessary to “provide documentation clarity” for the term “valid passport” in state law.

“The purpose of this rule is to clarify the documents that must be submitted before registration of a vehicle,” the document said. “The effect of this will be to allow the department to ensure compliance with state law when processing the vehicle registration application.”

The state also said they believe the law would not harm small businesses or increase regulatory costs by $200,000.