Champaign, Illinois: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — a transient merchant license in the "Commercial Solicitor" class (25-55). A commercial solicitor or door-to-door salesperson is anyone going house to house selling goods or taking orders for goods for future delivery or for services to be performed in the future, without prior invitation (25-46). The application lists every person selling under the license, with a criminal background check for each (25-57(a)(3), (5)).
• Where it comes from: The City Clerk, on a sworn application; the Clerk refers commercial solicitor applications to the Police Department for review (25-57, 25-60). The city takes the application online on its Commercial Solicitor License page; the police page points questions to the Finance Department.
• Fee: A $ 25.00 application fee (printed with a space on the page) plus $200.00 annual fee per solicitor, per the city's Commercial Solicitor License page (the code sends fees to Chapter 19, 25-57(a)(20)). Before any license issues, the applicant also files a bond of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or a cash deposit, with the City Clerk; a merchant licensed three years without a suspension or disqualifying conviction is excused (25-59).
• Hours you may knock: No soliciting from any residential structure between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on any day (25-73) — 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., every day of the week.
• What the rep carries: The license or registration certificate, on the person at all times while soliciting, shown to any law enforcement officer or anyone the rep calls on who asks (25-75(a)).
• What takes the time: A criminal background check for each seller, covering four years of criminal history, and the police review (25-57(a)(5), 25-60). A license is refused if a seller was convicted within four years of offenses such as fraud, misrepresentation, trespass, assault or theft-related felonies (25-61(a)). The Clerk must issue or deny within fourteen (14) days of application or the permit is deemed granted (25-61(c)).
• Code: Municipal Code of Champaign, Chapter 25 — Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants, Article III (25-46 to 25-62) and Article IV regulations (25-65 to 25-77); 25-57 and 25-61 amended by C.B. No. 2025-138, 8-5-25.
• Worth knowing: No knocking or ringing where a "No Solicitors Invited" sign or similar notice is posted near the main or front entrance; a posted notice may exclude all solicitors or just one class (25-65(b)-(d)). Leave at once when asked (25-65(a)). The licensee or employer is held responsible for every act of a person soliciting on its behalf (25-76(b)). The application must give the boundaries of the area to be worked and the sales dates (25-57(a)(16), (17)).
• Read it yourself: Champaign Municipal Code, Chapter 25 — Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants · City of Champaign — Commercial Solicitor License · Champaign Police — Door-to-Door Soliciting · checked 21 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether the $200.00 annual fee is charged for each rep listed on one company license, or each rep files a separate application
• Whether one $1,000.00 bond covers the whole crew
• What the background check costs and how the Clerk wants it submitted

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________