Chula Vista, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes. Each peddler, solicitor or transient merchant "must secure a Personal license," and nobody else may use it (5.40.030). The code's definition of solicitor covers anyone going house to house taking orders for goods or "for service to be performed in the future," and it includes canvassers (5.02.010(I)). Every solicitor must also register with the Chief of Police and get an identification card, and that applies even to interstate-commerce solicitors who are excused from the license tax (5.02.190).
• Where it comes from: The application goes to the city's Finance Department (5.02.040), and a solicitor license is issued only on the written approval of the Chief of Police (5.02.090). The police identification card comes from the Chief of Police (5.02.190).
• 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.
• What the rep carries: The license, shown on request to any police officer or city license or code enforcement officer (5.02.170), and the police identification card, valid for one year (5.02.190). The code does not say the card must be worn.
• What takes the time: Fingerprints given to the Police Department when the application is filed, two 2-by-2-inch photos, a felony-conviction statement, the last three cities worked, a copy of the order form or contract used, and the Police Chief's written approval before the license issues (5.02.040(E), 5.02.090). 5.40.020 refers to a bonding requirement but the pages read do not state the bond amount.
• Code: Chula Vista Municipal Code Chapter 5.40 Peddlers (5.40.010 to 5.40.050), Chapter 5.02 (5.02.010 definitions, 5.02.040 application, 5.02.090 Police Chief approval, 5.02.170 exhibit on demand, 5.02.190 identification card), and the master tax schedule at 5.07.030.
• Worth knowing: Soliciting or peddling goods or services is banned outright in any public area within a three-mile radius of the intersection of Heritage Road and Otay Valley Road (5.40.050). Insurance salesmen are exempt from the license and the solicitor's identification card (5.02.020).
• Read it yourself: Chula Vista Municipal Code Chapter 5.40 Peddlers · Chula Vista Municipal Code Chapter 5.02 Business Licenses Generally · Chula Vista Municipal Code 5.07.030 Master tax schedule · City of Chula Vista, Business License Taxes & Fees · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: What are the investigation fee and the police identification card fee for a solicitor? Is there a bond for solicitors with no taxable property in the city, and how much? Does the city enforce any hours for door-to-door sales? How long does Police Chief approval take after fingerprints are submitted? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________