The Doorstep Playbook

Door-to-Door Permit Rules in California: 53 Cities Checked

So far 53 cities in California have been checked. Each one links to its own card, which cites the ordinance and shows the date it was checked.

Anaheim

  • Permit: Yes — two things per rep.
  • Fee: The solicitor’s permit fee is “an amount established by the Revenue Manager” (4.52.020.010); the code prints no figure and no city page read posts one. The business license tax is in the code (3.32.060): a rep soliciting retail sales for future delivery pays one hundred dollars per year, or ten dollars per year if the company holds a principal’s license, which costs two hundred fifty dollars annually and requires a list of every rep (3.32.060.020 and .030). A rep who peddles and delivers on the spot pays fifty dollars per year, or ten dollars under a principal’s license (3.32.060.010). The city’s FAQ adds a minimum $37 non-refundable processing charge on any initial or renewed license application.
  • Hours you may knock: The solicitor sections of Chapter 4.52 (4.52.010 to 4.52.040) set no knocking hours. No clock times appear in them.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Bakersfield

  • Permit: Yes: a Residential Solicitation Registration, per person.
  • Fee: The code says each registrant pays a fee not to exceed the cost of registration (5.18.040 D). The Master Fee Schedule for 2026-27 lists Resident Solicitation, For-Profit, at 23 dollars “Each” under Business Regulation. Read together that is 23 dollars per registered rep; the fee schedule itself does not spell out what “Each” means.
  • Hours you may knock: No residential solicitation between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. of the following day (5.18.050 D). Only on the dates written on the registration (5.18.050 C).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Berkeley

  • Permit: Yes. Berkeley requires each individual peddler or solicitor to hold both an unrevoked City license and a Police Department permit before going door to door ( 9.40.030 , 9.40.040 ).
  • Fee: A five-dollar application fee to the Police Department to cover processing (9.40.040), plus a $258.00 annual peddlers-and-solicitors business license tax per person under 9.04.200 and the flat-rate fee table at 9.04.235, then a one-dollar permit renewal fee each year after the first (9.40.080).
  • Hours you may knock: Eight a.m. to seven p.m. It is unlawful for any person to peddle or solicit before the hour of eight a.m. or after the hour of seven p.m. of any day (9.40.180).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Chula Vista

  • Permit: Yes. Each peddler, solicitor or transient merchant "must secure a Personal license," and nobody else may use it (5.40.030).
  • Fee: $75.00 per person, per year, not prorated, when the rep or the company owns no taxable property in the city; $25.00 per person, per year when it does. Both figures are on the city's Business License Taxes and Fees page and in the master tax schedule (5.07.030, rows 5.40.010 and 5.40.020). The city page lists it as a fee charged in addition to the regular business license tax. The code also charges an investigation fee with the application (5.02.040(E)(8)) and a fee for the police identification card (5.02.190); neither amount is in the pages read. The city adds a $4.00 state disability access fee to every license application.
  • Hours you may knock: The code sets no knocking hours. Chapter 5.40 (Peddlers) and Chapter 5.02 were read in full and neither has an hours section.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Clovis

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Partly found. Clovis' code has no dedicated peddler, canvasser or door-to-door solicitor permit chapter — Chapter 5.25 (Solicitation) only bars aggressive/abusive solicitation, median solicitation without a permit, and ignoring a posted "No Soliciting" sign.
  • Fee: No solicitor-specific fee is published. The general Business Registration fee is based on estimated gross receipts, with a minimum of $76 for a qualifying home-based business under $5,000 in gross receipts, per the city's Business Licenses page — not a per-rep solicitor fee, and no separate police-clearance fee for vending businesses was found.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 5.25 sets no knocking-hours restriction for door-to-door solicitation.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Concord

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone 18 or older engaging in peddling or solicitation in Concord must carry a valid solicitor's permit issued by the Police Chief, and the sponsoring company must also hold a City business license (5.90.020).
  • Fee: 41.00 for the Application and Investigation fee, per the City's Fees and Charges for Various Municipal Services schedule (Door-to-Door Solicitation Permit, effective 7/1/2019) — the schedule prints its amounts without a dollar sign, but they are in dollars. The code (5.90.050) says the amount is set by that resolution and covers processing and investigating the application.
  • Hours you may knock: 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. — the code bars entering private property, knocking on doors, or otherwise disturbing residents "between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m." (5.90.120).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Corona

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — a solicitors permit is required before anyone knocks ( 5.34.030 ).
  • Fee: The code does not state a dollar amount — it says the permit fee is "established by resolution of the City Council" (5.34.060). The city's Citywide Master Fee Recovery Schedule PDF could not be read (it is a scanned, non-searchable document); the amount is not confirmed from a primary source.
  • Hours you may knock: 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. — "No person shall practice or engage in soliciting between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m." (5.34.120).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Elk Grove

  • Permit: Yes — a solicitation license for the company and a separate solicitor permit for each rep, both from the Chief of Police (4.04.010).
  • Fee: $36 annual license fee per solicitor, plus a $49 Department of Justice background-check fee, per the city's Types of Business Licenses page.
  • Hours you may knock: Nov 1 to Feb 28 (29 in a leap year): 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. Mar 1 to Oct 31: 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., 10:00 a.m. on Sundays (4.04.035(A)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Escondido

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — a temporary business permit, one per individual rep.
  • Fee: $5 per day — "The fee imposed for operating a temporary business shall be $5 per day." (16-30), on top of a separate, unquantified application processing fee that "may be adjusted from time to time by resolution of the city council" (16-21).
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. No permitted-hours or curfew for door-to-door peddling or soliciting was found in Chapter 16 (Licenses and Business Regulations), Chapter 17 (Offenses), or Chapter 18 (Community Services Department, which regulates vending/peddling only inside city parks, not residential door-to-door).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Fairfield

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. It is unlawful to conduct business as a solicitor, peddler or itinerant merchant in Fairfield without a permit issued by the Director of Public Safety, before any business license is issued (5B.2).
  • Fee: $273 for a new Solicitor ID Card/Permit, or $164 to renew, plus State fee and applicable DOJ and fingerprint rolling fees — per the City's FY2026-27 Master Fee Schedule, effective July 1, 2026. The code (5B.4) says the permit fee itself is set by City Council resolution.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 5B sets no general knocking-hours restriction for solicitors or peddlers going door to door; the only time-of-day rule in the chapter bars stopping or parking a vending vehicle within 300 feet of a public elementary or middle school between 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on a school day (5B.10).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Fontana

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone who travels house to house or place to place selling or taking orders for future delivery, resident or not, must first get an investigation from the Police Department and pay a business license tax (15-36).
  • Fee: Not confirmed as a flat number. Section 15-36 sets the fee as "a business license tax fee based upon tax rate schedule E," a graduated table tied to gross receipts (one visible bracket: "$1.00 per thousand dollars or fraction thereof over $50,000.00"), not a single dollar figure. The specific peddler fee section (15-708) and the solicitors-and-canvassers fee section (15-773) exist but this run could not load their text.
  • Hours you may knock: Not found. No clock-time restriction turned up in Chapter 15, Article II; the cross-referenced Articles XIV and XV of the same chapter were not readable this run and may hold one.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Fremont

  • Permit: Yes: a vending permit, and the city's permit page lists door to door solicitors by name.
  • Fee: $275 per applicant in the Vendors and Solicitors column of the city's fee table: $162 permit plus $113 background check fee ($162 + $113 = $275). The page says the fees apply to new and renewing applications and have been in effect since July 15, 2021. The code only says the fee is set by council resolution (5.35.130(b)).
  • Hours you may knock: In residentially zoned areas, 8:00 a.m. to one half-hour after sunset (5.35.150). Commercial and industrial zones get longer hours under the same section.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Fresno

  • Permit: Yes — a city business license (business tax certificate) as a General Solicitor , priced per person.
  • Fee: The FY 26 Master Fee Schedule lists "Soliciting Business, General (FMC 7-1232)" at 3.00 per person per day or 14.00 per person per month, in dollars. The schedule prints the amounts without a dollar sign.
  • Hours you may knock: Not set. The code has no hours rule for house-to-house sellers. Chapter 9, the business regulation chapter, has no article for solicitors or peddlers going to homes; its solicitation article covers contributions.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Fullerton

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — the Fullerton Police Department issues permits for "Peddlers" and "Solicitors" as two of its listed permit categories, in addition to a business license.
  • Fee: Not published in a source read this session. The Police Department's general "Fee Schedule" webpage lists administrative and records fees but no peddler/solicitor permit fee; a separate permit fee schedule referenced on the permits page ("Fees schedule for Police Department Permits") could not be opened as a working link.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published in a source read this session — Chapter 3.36's own hours-of-solicitation section (if any) could not be reached.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Garden Grove

  • Permit: Yes — a written permit from the Police Chief for each canvasser or solicitor before going door to door (5.20.030).
  • Fee: $100 for a Single Solicitor's Permit (per individual), or $250 for a Principal Solicitor's Permit, per the city's User Fees for Various City Services schedule (Police Services). The code itself sets no dollar figure — the fee is set by City Council resolution (5.20.110).
  • Hours you may knock: 8:00 a.m. to one-half hour after sunset (5.20.100).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Glendale

  • Permit: Yes, per rep.
  • Fee: Not a number in the code. "The license application fee and renewal fee shall be established by resolution of the city council and may be amended from time to time" (9.14.040 C); this run could not open Glendale's current Citywide Fee Schedule to read the dollar figure it sets.
  • Hours you may knock: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. It is unlawful to go up to, ring the bell at, or knock on a residence "after 9:00 p.m. or earlier than 8:00 a.m.," unless the resident invited the visit (9.14.110 C).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Hayward

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — a business license, specifically for "canvassing and soliciting," is required per person.
  • Fee: $33.35 per person, per quarter — "Every person conducting, managing or carrying on the business of CANVASSING or SOLICITING for the purpose of soliciting, canvassing or taking orders from house to house... shall pay a quarterly license fee of thirty-three dollars and thirty-five cents ($33.35) per person." (8-1.50). Where payment or a deposit is collected in advance of final delivery, the canvasser must also post a $670 bond or cash deposit with the Tax and License Administrator (8-1.51).
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. No permitted-hours or curfew provision for canvassing/soliciting was found in Hayward Municipal Code Chapter 8, Article 1.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Huntington Beach

  • Permit: Yes. A rep going house to house without a fixed place of business in the City, taking orders for future delivery of goods or services, is a "solicitor" or "canvasser" under the code (5.04.010) and needs a City business license before working (5.08.010), on top of the door-to-door conduct rules in Chapter 9.90.
  • Fee: No flat dollar figure is set specifically for an in-person solicitor or canvasser working door to door. Chapter 5.16 prices a "Telephone Solicitor or Canvasser" at $49.00 per person (5.16.290) and a novelty "Peddler" (immediate delivery) at $17.00 or $97.50 by vehicle (5.16.230), but neither definition matches a rep who takes orders for future delivery in person. Absent a specific classification, the general rate applies: the first three employees are $75.00, and every license has a $75 per year minimum (5.16.010, 5.16.020).
  • Hours you may knock: No citywide clock-time window is set. Instead, it is unlawful to solicit at a property at all once asked to leave (9.90.020 A), and unlawful to solicit at any time posted on a "No Soliciting" sign at that specific property (9.90.020 E) — hours are set door by door, not by the City.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Irvine

  • Permit: The code's Solicitations chapter has no solicitor permit: three sections covering definitions, hours and posted signs.
  • Fee: No solicitor permit fee, because there is no solicitor permit. The city business license is $78.37 for a business with fewer than 10 employees and $156.88 new for 10 or more, per company, for a 12-month term, per the city's Business Licensing page. The page says the fee includes the mandatory $4 State of California ADA fee.
  • Hours you may knock: Without a prior appointment: not before 9:00 a.m., not after sunset, not on Sunday and not on any national holiday (2-10-902).
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Lancaster

  • Permit: Yes — a general business license before peddling, vending, or taking orders door to door (5.04.020).
  • Fee: $101 for the new business license application, plus the $107 Basic Business License Fee (0–25 employees), per the City of Lancaster Citywide Fee Schedule effective October 1, 2025.
  • Hours you may knock: Nine a.m. to six p.m. — peddling, vending, or soliciting orders is prohibited prior to nine a.m. and after six p.m., unless the occupant initiated contact first (Art. II, § 5.04.240(A)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Long Beach

  • Permit: Yes — a city business license, taxed under the Peddling category.
  • Fee: The city's rate table effective July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 lists Peddling at 180.88 dollars per day; the per-year figure on the same line is misprinted, so get it from the city. Every application also carries a $4 state-mandated ADA fee. The code's base figures are $905.80 annually or $90.58 each day, stated in year-2000 dollars and adjusted since (3.80.253).
  • Hours you may knock: No peddling in any area zoned residential "from eight (8:00) p.m. until nine (9:00) a.m. of the following day" (5.66.040). Note that Chapter 5.66 defines peddling around selling goods with delivery on the spot, which is narrower than the tax definition.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Los Angeles

  • Permit: No solicitor permit.
  • Fee: No permit fee, because there is no permit. The section sets no fee. The Office of Finance page on registering for the certificate does not list a registration charge; it says some business classifications owe a minimum payment at registration.
  • Hours you may knock: No entering another's premises to solicit between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. of the following day (41.43.1(b)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Modesto

  • Permit: Effectively no cold-knocking, and yes to a license if you do it anyway.
  • Fee: $200.00 per location, in advance, good for up to one quarter (90 calendar days), for anyone conducting the business of an itinerant vendor without a fixed City place of business (6-1.223). A separate group rate exists only for a sponsored bazaar, fair, trade show or swap meet, not for a door-to-door sales team.
  • Hours you may knock: None currently set. The code's "Limited Hours" section for peddlers (4-7.402) was repealed in 1984 and no replacement hours restriction was found.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Moreno Valley

  • Permit: Yes — a peddler's or solicitor's permit, per person.
  • Fee: The code sets the Chapter 5.10 permit fee by City Council resolution rather than a number in the chapter itself (5.10.040). The city's own Business License Categories and Application Fees schedule lists "Peddler/Solicitor - per peddler" under Category A, with a $61 application and processing fee for all classifications plus a Category A gross receipts tax of $.25 per $1,000 of gross receipts (.00025 x gross receipts).
  • Hours you may knock: Eight a.m. to eight p.m. No person may practice as a peddler or solicitor between the hours of eight p.m. and eight a.m. (5.10.110).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Oakland

  • Permit: Yes. It is unlawful to solicit or take orders from house to house without a police certificate (5.48.020).
  • Fee: The Master Fee Schedule, Police Department, lists the application filing fee for a Peddler's Police Certificate at 69.25 per certificate and 22.70 for the annual renewal, in dollars. The schedule prints these amounts without a dollar sign. The code itself sets no fee.
  • Hours you may knock: Not set. Chapter 5.48 has no hours rule for peddlers or solicitors.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Oceanside

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — a solicitor's license for the business and a solicitor's identification card for each individual before going door to door.
  • Fee: Not published. The code requires payment of 'the fee for solicitor's license' before an identification card issues (§ 30.3, § 30.6), but states no dollar amount, and no line item for a solicitor's license or ID card fee appears in the city's current Business License Application Fees sheet or its Consolidated Fees, Taxes, and Assessments Schedule (both effective July 2026).
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 30 sets no clock-hour restriction on when a solicitor may knock; instead a resident can refuse entry by posting a 'no soliciting' sign (§ 30.10).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Ontario

  • Permit: Yes — a solicitor/canvasser permit, per individual, or the person is guilty of a misdemeanor (3-1.701, 3-1.702).
  • Fee: $10 per applicant to cover the cost of investigating the application, paid to the License Official (3-1.704).
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Article 7 (Solicitors and Canvassers) sets no clock hours for door-to-door solicitation.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Orange

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. Every person selling or soliciting orders for goods, wares, merchandise or services house to house, place to place, or on the streets needs a Certificate of Identification before starting (5.66.010).
  • Fee: The code sets no dollar figure — each application is accompanied by "a permit fee in such amount as is established from time to time by resolution of the City Council" (5.66.100). The current resolution amount was not found on a primary source this session.
  • Hours you may knock: Not found. Chapter 5.66 sets no knocking-hours restriction, and no separate hours ordinance for commercial door-to-door solicitation was located.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Oxnard

  • Permit: Yes, per person.
  • Fee: Not a number in the code. The annual vendor permit fee is "established by resolution of the city council," and the applicant separately pays an annual fee for the state DOJ fingerprint report (11-46 B, C) — neither dollar figure appears in Chapter 11 itself.
  • Hours you may knock: In residential areas, no person may peddle, canvass or solicit before 7:00 a.m. or sunrise, whichever is later, or after 7:00 p.m. or sunset, whichever is earlier (11-48).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Palmdale

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: No door-to-door solicitor permit was found in the Palmdale Municipal Code.
  • Fee: None for knocking; the code names no door-to-door permit. The general business license tax amount was not read this session and is not stated here.
  • Hours you may knock: Not set. No section in Title 5 (Business Licenses, Taxes and Regulations) or Title 9 (Public Peace, Morals and Welfare) fixes hours for door-to-door sales.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Pasadena

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: No door-to-door solicitor permit was found in the Pasadena Municipal Code.
  • Fee: None for a solicitor permit; there isn't one. The company's business license tax depends on its classification under Chapter 5.16 and was not worked out here. The only "solicitor or peddler" tax line in the code is the special New Year's Day (Tournament of Roses) tax in 5.16.070, which is a one-day event tax, not a door-to-door permit.
  • Hours you may knock: Not set. Former § 9.36.130 (hawkers and peddlers), which had set noise-based hours, was repealed by Ord. No. 7436 on October 28, 2024 and the section is now Reserved. No replacement hours rule for door-to-door sales was found.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Pomona

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — every peddler or solicitor needs a City of Pomona business license.
  • Fee: $37.50 per day or $149.00 per quarter for a peddler or solicitor working on foot (50-412(19)(a)); $61.50 per day or $327.25 per quarter by vehicle, plus $19.50 per day or $74.00 per quarter for each helper working with a vehicle-based peddler (50-412(19)(b)) — per the city's 2026-27 Business Tax Schedule.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. No permitted-hours or curfew provision for peddling or soliciting was found in Chapter 50 (Taxation) or in the part of Chapter 30 (Licenses, Permits and Miscellaneous Regulations) that could be read.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Rancho Cucamonga

  • Permit: Yes — a Solicitation Permit for each rep before any commercial door-to-door solicitation (9.31.020(A)).
  • Fee: $179 for a new Solicitation Permit ($119 to renew), covering investigation and the identification card required under RCMC Chapter 9.31, per the city's Master Fee Schedule. The city also charges a flat-rate business tax of $50 a year (or $10 a day) on peddlers and persons soliciting, canvassing or taking orders (Municipal Code § 5.04.350).
  • Hours you may knock: Sunrise to sunset — it is unlawful to solicit at any residence from sunset in one day to sunrise the next (9.31.010(D)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Riverside

  • Permit: The soliciting chapter sets rules but no solicitor permit.
  • Fee: No permit fee, because Chapter 5.08 has no permit. The business tax depends on the business category in 5.04.300. The printed rate for itinerant peddlers and salesmen, people selling goods they carry with them, is $30.00 daily for each peddler, salesman or employee, and 5.04.330 adjusts every tax each November 1 by the consumer price index, so the amount charged today is not the printed one. The code lists no separate rate for a solicitor who takes orders.
  • Hours you may knock: No door to door solicitation before 8:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. (5.08.040). A No Soliciting sign can post tighter hours and they bind you.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Roseville

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — a City of Roseville business license carrying the door-to-door solicitation special condition, plus a door-to-door solicitor's permit from the Police Department, before soliciting (10.36.010).
  • Fee: $50 for the initial Solicitor Permit application ($30 to renew), plus a $32 Department of Justice fee and, if applicable, a $17 FBI fingerprinting fee, per the city's User and Regulatory Fee Study effective July 1, 2026.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Municipal Code Chapter 10.36 (Soliciting) sets no clock-hour restriction on when a solicitor may knock.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Sacramento

  • Permit: Yes, if the rep takes money up front.
  • Fee: $159 for the Solicitor/Canvasser permit, per the Revenue Division's permit table. The code puts no dollar figure on it: a nonrefundable application fee is "established by resolution of the city council" and is on top of any business tax under Chapter 3.08 (5.116.080). The city page does not say whether fingerprinting is extra.
  • Hours you may knock: Chapter 5.116 sets no knocking hours, and the city's permit page gives none. No other solicitation chapter appears in the Title 5 or Title 9 chapter lists.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Salinas

  • Permit: Yes — a city business license, not a separate solicitor permit.
  • Fee: $50 per day or $200 per quarter for “Soliciting, peddling and other transient business not at a fixed location in the city or otherwise covered in this chapter” (19-35). The code does not say in that line whether the tax is per company or per rep; “person” in the chapter excludes a salaried employee, defined to include someone paid on a commission basis with no ownership stake (19-1). Daily taxes are payable in advance each day, quarterly on the first day of January, April, July and October (19-20).
  • Hours you may knock: Seven a.m. to nine p.m. — “No solicitor shall ring the bell or knock on the door of, or attempt to gain entrance to, any residence after nine p.m. of any day and before seven a.m. of any day.” (24-5).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

San Bernardino

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone acting as a solicitor, as Title 5 of the San Bernardino Municipal Code defines it, must get a Business Registration Certificate from the City Clerk's office, and separately get an identification and registration card from the City Police Department.
  • Fee: Not a fixed number in the code. The Business Registration Certificate fee "shall be set from time to time by Resolution of the Mayor and City Council," and the police ID/registration card "requires a fee" with no amount given on the city's own regulations page (909-384-5742 for current figures). The city's Master Fee Schedule has no line item for a solicitor or peddler permit.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 5.04 sets no knocking-hours restriction for solicitors, and no separate solicitor-hours section was found in the code.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

San Diego

  • Permit: On paper, yes: the code tells every solicitor to register with the Police Department and get an identification card (33.1402).
  • Fee: None being collected. The code mentions an application fee (33.1405) but sets no amount, and the City Treasurer's police-permit fee table does not list a solicitor permit.
  • Hours you may knock: The code bars soliciting from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. local time, except by prior appointment (33.1410). That section is inside the range SDPD Order OR 22-02 says officers no longer enforce, but it is still the written rule.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

San Francisco

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: No door-to-door sales permit was found in the San Francisco codes.
  • Fee: None found for door-to-door sales, because no door-to-door permit was found. The Business and Tax Regulations Code Article 2 license fee list has no peddler, solicitor or canvasser line. The Vendor permit fee is set by a Public Works fee schedule the code tells the department to publish (5.9-5(d)); that schedule was not read.
  • Hours you may knock: None found. No section read sets hours for knocking on residential doors. Vendor permits carry their own permitted hours (5.9-6(f)), which applies to vending on City property.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

San Jose

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Not clearly. The San Jose code has no chapter aimed at door-to-door sales of services.
  • Fee: No fee is published for door-to-door sales as such. The San Jose Police Department permit fee schedule, effective July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, lists the peddler fees the police would charge if they treat the team as peddlers: Peddler Mobile Permit, new, $229; Employee License Fee $296; Identification Card $66 per two years. The Periodicals Canvasser permit is $172 per two years. County fingerprinting and PD ID card fees may be added. Both code chapters send you to this schedule (6.54.310, 6.20.050).
  • Hours you may knock: The code sets no hours for door-to-door sales as such. If the police treat the team as peddlers, peddling in residential areas is allowed only 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Savings Time (6.54.205).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Santa Ana

  • Permit: Yes: a business license, and it reaches every rep.
  • Fee: On the city's rate sheets effective 11/1/2025: Peddler/Solicitor (Principal) $ 440.00, plus $ 39.00 for each person engaged in peddling. A solicitor licensed on their own as principal is $275 annually, and an independent contractor solicitor is $ 39 annually. Each sheet adds a $ 4.00 State Disability Access fee and a $ 17.00 Registration Fee. The code prints older base amounts (21-120s) and adjusts them every November 1 by the consumer price index (21-120).
  • Hours you may knock: Not set. The peddler and solicitor sections of Chapter 21 give no knocking hours, and neither do the city's business license pages.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Santa Clara

  • Permit: Yes. It is unlawful to engage in solicitation or peddling in Santa Clara without a permit issued by the Chief of Police (5.05.020).
  • Fee: $377 for the Solicitor/Peddler Application plus a fingerprinting fee, $161 to renew, or $161 for an employee-only permit under an already-permitted business — per the city's own Fees & Fines schedule. The code itself (5.05.060) says the fee is set by Council resolution and applies to each individual solicitor or peddler.
  • Hours you may knock: 10:00 a.m. to one-half hour after sunset — soliciting or peddling is barred "between one-half hour after sunset and 10:00 A.M. of the following day" (5.05.170(c)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Santa Clarita

  • Permit: Yes: a solicitor's license, and the city does not issue it.
  • Fee: Not settled on paper. The county's fee table (County Code 7.14.010) lists Solicitor, Company (principal) at 175.00 the first year and 131.00 to renew, and Individual, not a principal, at the same 175.00 and 131.00. But Santa Clarita's code says fee references in Title 7 mean the fees set by City Council resolution (5.02.030), and the city's fee schedule for fiscal year 2026/27 has no solicitor line. Confirm the number with the county before you budget.
  • Hours you may knock: Eight a.m. to sunset, as the city code writes it (11.37.050 A). The county's own rule is later in the evening, but the city's section is the one written for Santa Clarita.
  • Checked: 18 September 2026

Santa Rosa

  • Permit: Yes — a Solicitor's and Peddler's Permit for each individual before going door to door, or it is a misdemeanor (6-44.030, 6-44.100).
  • Fee: $30 to the Police Department for processing the application, plus $32 charged by the Department of Justice for the LiveScan fingerprint check, per the city's Solicitor's and Peddler's Permit application.
  • Hours you may knock: Eight a.m. to nine p.m. — it is unlawful to contact a residential occupant between nine p.m. and eight a.m. unless invited or known to the occupant (6-44.090(D)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Simi Valley

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone acting as a solicitor, canvasser, peddler, hawker or transient merchant in Simi Valley must get a Solicitor's Permit from the Chief of Police before doing business (5-12.02).
  • Fee: The city's Summary of Service Charges effective July 1, 2025 lists the Solicitor's Permit Fee as “New $ 240.85” and “Renewal $ 96.34”. The code itself (5-12.11) says the fee is set by Council resolution, and exempts seniors over 65, juveniles under 18, and qualifying disabled veterans.
  • Hours you may knock: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. — the code bars going to or entering a residence, hotel or dwelling "between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m." to solicit, unless the occupant invites it (5-12.15).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Stockton

  • Permit: Yes, per rep.
  • Fee: The packet lists Fees: $319.25, made up of Annual Registration Tax $24.00, Annual Flat Rate Tax $50.00, Police Clearance Fees $241.25, and a State Disability Act Fee. The code sets the license at $50.00 per year per solicitor, $15.00 per quarter or $5.00 per day (5.08.270 B), and leaves the application and investigation fee to City Council resolution (5.08.270 E).
  • Hours you may knock: The code sets none. The solicitor section (5.08.270) has no hours, and 5.08.280, as amended 12/16/2025, only bars sellers from stopping, standing or parking on a public street, sidewalk or park outside the street-vendor rules. The aggressive solicitation chapter (9.36) sets no residential hours either. The city's packet still reprints an older 5.08.280 with a school-grounds rule (within three hundred feet, prior to 4:00 p.m. on school days); that wording is not in the current code.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Sunnyvale

  • Permit: Yes — a peddler license, per individual.
  • Fee: $261 per peddler license, per the city's Master Fee Schedule (a $276 fee has been proposed but was not yet the adopted figure at the time this fee schedule attachment was published) (SMC Ch. 5.28). The code itself only says the fee is "sufficient to cover the cost to the city of processing the application" and "set by resolution of the city council" (5.28.050) — the dollar figure comes from that resolution's fee schedule, not the chapter text.
  • Hours you may knock: Eight a.m. to nine p.m. — "It is unlawful for any person described in Section 5.28.010 of this chapter, whether licensed or unlicensed, to enter upon any residential premises between nine p.m. and eight a.m." (5.28.080).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Thousand Oaks

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. No one may work as a peddler, hawker, transient or itinerant merchant, solicitor, drummer or canvasser in Thousand Oaks without a City permit.
  • Fee: Not published in the code. The code says only that "the fee for the processing of applications and permits pursuant to this chapter shall be as established by City Council resolution" (3-8.06); the resolution or fee schedule that sets the dollar amount is not posted anywhere this research could read it.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 8, Peddlers and Solicitors, sets no knocking hours, and no separate hours section for door-to-door sales was found elsewhere in the code.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Torrance

  • Permit: Yes. Anyone acting as a canvasser or solicitor in Torrance — going door to house taking or attempting to take orders for the sale of goods or services — needs a license (34.1.1, 34.1.2).
  • Fee: $100 per year for each person acting as a canvasser or solicitor, or, if a company licenses itself, $865 plus $32 for each person representing that licensee as canvasser or solicitor in the City (34.1.1).
  • Hours you may knock: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. — the code bars ringing a bell or knocking after 9:00 p.m. and before 9:00 a.m. (34.1.5).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Vallejo

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes. Vallejo requires a Peddler/Solicitor permit before selling or taking orders in the city outside a fixed place of business; the chapter's definition of "Solicitor" expressly "includes door to door salespersons" (5.02.010, 5.02.030(A)).
  • Fee: Not published. The code (5.02.030) does not state a dollar fee, and the city's own Sidewalk Vending, Peddler and Solicitor Program page and its Master Fee Schedule (last updated FY 2020-2021, before this ordinance existed) do not list one either.
  • Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 5.02's hours restrictions (5.02.050) apply only to sidewalk vending — roaming sidewalk vending in residential areas is limited to the operating hours of nine a.m. through six p.m. — and the chapter sets no separate knocking-hours rule for peddlers or solicitors.
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Victorville

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages.

  • Permit: Yes — every Solicitor, meaning each individual rep, must register.
  • Fee: Not published in the code text: "The amount of business license fee to be paid to the City by any person seeking any business license listed in Article 6 of this Chapter shall be as set forth in the master fee schedule adopted by City Council resolution." (16-7.05.020(a)). The dollar figure itself was not located in the time available.
  • Hours you may knock: Eight a.m. to seven p.m. in residential areas — "Solicitation in residential areas shall be prohibited between the hours of seven p.m. and eight a.m." (16-7.09.020(b)).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

Visalia

  • Permit: Yes. "No individual shall peddle or solicit without having a valid, and in effect, business tax certificate from the city" ( 5.32.030 ), and "no individual shall peddle or solicit without first having complied with the provisions of this chapter" ( 5.32.010 ).
  • Fee: The itinerant-business category that covers peddlers and solicitors is billed "either $20 per day, $365 per month, or a business tax which is calculated on gross receipts of $1.00 per thousand," plus a $26.50 application fee due at submission — per the city's Business Tax Brochure. The code itself (5.04.280) sets the rate structure but leaves the minimum/maximum dollar amounts to city council resolution.
  • Hours you may knock: Nine a.m. to sunset, or seven p.m., whichever comes first — "No individual shall peddle or solicit before the hour of nine a.m. of any day or after sunset or seven p.m. whichever is earlier." (5.32.040).
  • Checked: 19 September 2026

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