Charlotte, North Carolina: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: No door-to-door solicitor permit appears in the Charlotte City Code. The only door-knocking chapter is Peddlers (Chapter 6, Article VIII), and it defines peddling as selling goods on foot or from a vehicle with the article handed over instantly on payment (6-431). A rep who signs up service for later install is not described by that definition. A rep who carries and hands over product is a peddler and needs "a proper license to peddle" (6-432).
• Where it comes from: The license in 6-432 is the old city privilege license, issued by the revenue collector under Chapter 13. The code does not name any office that registers order-taking solicitors.
• Fee: No solicitor fee exists in the code. Chapter 13 still prints a privilege license tax line, "Peddlers cash or money order .....$25.00" (13-76), but the state statute that authorized city privilege license taxes, G.S. 160A-211, reads "Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(a), effective July 1, 2015." Ask the city whether anything is still collected.
• Hours you may knock: For peddling in residential zones: unlawful "between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m."; while daylight saving time is in effect, "from 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m." (6-438). The code sets no separate hours for order-taking solicitors.
• What the rep carries: A peddler must keep the license and show it to any lawful officer on demand (6-432). Nothing is prescribed for order-taking reps. No one may claim to be approved by or affiliated with the city, the state, the chamber of commerce or the Better Business Bureau when they are not (15-21).
• What takes the time: Nothing in the code: no background check, fingerprinting, bond or badge for solicitors.
• Code: Charlotte City Code Chapter 6, Article VIII, Peddlers (6-431 to 6-439); Chapter 13, Licenses (13-76); 15-1 (handbills); 15-21 (misrepresentation by salespersons). Municode shows "Version: Mar 9, 2026 (current)".
• Worth knowing: A peddler may not hold any spot within one block or 300 feet for more than 30 minutes in any 24-hour period (6-437). Flyers left at a home must be handed to the occupant, put behind the outer door, fixed to the doorknob, or wrapped on the porch so they cannot blow around (15-1). Article VIII violations carry a civil penalty "not to exceed $500.00" (6-439).
• Read it yourself: Charlotte City Code Ch. 6, Art. VIII, Peddlers · Charlotte City Code Ch. 13, Licenses · Charlotte City Code Ch. 15, Art. I · N.C. G.S. 160A-211 · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does the city require anything of a rep who takes orders door to door and delivers nothing on the spot? Is any peddler license or fee still issued or collected now that G.S. 160A-211 is repealed? Does the city enforce posted "No Soliciting" signs under any ordinance, or only as trespass? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________