Greenwood, Indiana: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — a solicitor license (4-103). A solicitor is anyone going house to house, without an invitation or appointment, mainly to take orders for goods for future delivery or for services to be performed in the future (4-101(a)(7)). The city's application checklist says each person fills out the Solicitor Application and pays the fee per person, so it is one license per rep.
• Where it comes from: The City Controller (Finance Department, 300 South Madison Avenue) takes the sworn application and refers it to the Police Department; the Board of Public Works and Safety is the issuing authority (4-101(a)(1), 4-103(a), (b)).
• Fee: $100.00 application fee per person, and a $1,000.00 surety bond for each applicant — several applicants can share one bond (the checklist's example: 4 applicants = $4,000 Bond) (4-105; city checklist). One renewal for a second 180 days costs $25.00 (4-103(d), 4-105(a)). Payment is cash or check only, due at application.
• Hours you may knock: No solicitation on residential properties between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. (4-108(e)).
• What the rep carries: The license, on his or her person at all times while soliciting, shown on request to any officer or any person called on (4-106(f)). The license is not transferable (4-106(e)).
• What takes the time: Each person fills out the application, a city limited criminal history request, and an Indiana State Police background check run within the past six months, printed and attached (city checklist). The application also lists a supervisor, three business references and the boundaries of the area to be worked (4-103(a)). The checklist says processing takes two weeks once all paperwork and fees are in, and nothing goes to the Police Department until everything is submitted. Certain convictions within seven or ten years block the license (4-103(c)(1)).
• Code: Greenwood Municipal Code, Chapter 4 — Fees, Licenses, Permits, and Franchises, Division VIII — Peddlers, Solicitors, Transient Merchants, Street Vendors and Mobile Food Trucks (4-101 to 4-109), as amended by Ord. No. 17-19. Read from the code pages the city attaches to its application packet (printed from American Legal on 5/14/2019); the live code on American Legal could not be read.
• Worth knowing: No knocking or ringing where a "No Solicitation" sign is posted, and each rep must look for one (4-102, 4-108(c), (d)). A 4-108 violation is a $2,500.00 fine per property (4-109(a)). Employees of a video service franchise company holding Indiana direct marketing authority under Ind. Code 8-1-34 are exempt from the Division (4-101(b)(8)). Violations by any agent or employee are charged to the licensee (4-104(a)).
• Read it yourself: City of Greenwood — peddler and solicitor application packet with Division VIII code text (PDF) · Greenwood Code of Ordinances on American Legal (not readable — blocked) · checked 23 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether Division VIII has changed since the 2019 code printout in the application packet, especially the hours in 4-108(e)
• Whether reps for a fiber or video provider fall under the video service franchise exemption in 4-101(b)(8), and what proof the city wants
• Whether the two-week processing time still holds

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________