Hemet, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages. The clerk questions below cover the gap.

• The answer: Yes — a city business license, in the peddlers and solicitors category, and on top of it a certificate of compliance is likely. Hemet has no separate peddler chapter; door-to-door sits inside Chapter 18, Businesses. It is unlawful to transact and carry on any business in the city without first getting a license and paying the prescribed fee (18-45(a)). The definition reaches a fiber or solar rep squarely: a solicitor is anyone who goes house to house in the city and peddles, hawks, vends or sells goods, or who solicits or takes orders at retail for services, goods, wares or merchandise for future performance or delivery, and the term "solicitor" includes and means a peddler (18-44).
• Where it comes from: The license collector, who the code defines as the city manager or an authorized designee or representative charged with running the business license tax program (18-44). Application is made to the collector, who may send a copy to other departments before advising whether the business meets state law and city ordinances (18-46(a), (b)).
• Fee: Peddlers and solicitors are a fixed-fee category in the code: $100.00 for six months minimum, or $10.00 per day for a minimum of three days (18-61). The entry carries an asterisk, and the section says the symbol "*" indicates that a certificate of compliance may be required. The certificate is its own step and the code names a further cost in it — the applicant's fingerprints plus the required state processing fee — without printing a city figure (18-45(g)). Annual license fees are due January 1 and delinquent after January 31 (18-47(a)).
• Hours you may knock: Hemet does not publish knocking hours. Chapter 18 sets none. Chapter 53, Personal Conduct, Article II is an aggressive solicitation ordinance rewritten whole by Ord. No. 1990 on January 11, 2022 — it governs asking for money or selling in public places, near banks, ATMs, medians and driveways, not the time of day a rep may knock a front door. Chapter 46, Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions, has no solicitation section. Ask the clerk before you set a knocking window.
• What the rep carries: Chapter 18 names no badge and no photo ID card for a door-to-door rep. The license itself shows the kind of business licensed, the name and location of the business, the amount of the license fee, the expiration date, and whatever else the collector wants on it (18-46(d)). No license issued under the article is transferable (18-46(f)).
• What takes the time: The certificate of compliance is what takes the time. It asks for business and residence addresses, the nature of the business, where it will be conducted, the proposed route of operations, the names and addresses of three responsible people who have known the applicant more than three years, how long the applicant has been in this business and where, any convictions for violation of any law, and fingerprints plus the state processing fee (18-45(g)). The collector may also require a certificate of compliance at discretion for a category the article does not list. Misrepresenting a material fact to get a license, permit or certificate of compliance is a misdemeanor (18-59).
• Code: Hemet Code of Ordinances Chapter 18, Businesses, Article II, Business Licenses — 18-44; 18-45; 18-46; 18-47; 18-61 — with the aggressive solicitation rules in Chapter 53, Personal Conduct, Article II. Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 2072, enacted March 10, 2026 (Supp. No. 69, Update 2), with online content updated May 26, 2026.
• Worth knowing: The fee category is a floor, not a ceiling: $100.00 buys six months minimum, and the day rate is $10.00 per day for at least three days, so a short blitz still costs $10.00 times three at least (18-61). Handbill and sample distribution is priced separately and much higher — $250.00, plus $25.00 per person, plus $25.00 per day — so leaving door hangers is not a cheap add-on to a knocking campaign (18-61). Interstate commerce is exempted, but only after a verified statement is filed with the collector, a written statement goes to the chief of police, and the city attorney recommends the exemption (18-45(d)). A separate license is needed for each business and each branch or location (18-45(c)).
• Read it yourself: Hemet Code of Ordinances Chapter 18, Businesses, Article II, Business Licenses · Hemet Code of Ordinances Chapter 53, Personal Conduct · Hemet Code of Ordinances Chapter 46, Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions · Hemet Code of Ordinances, title page · checked 20 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether a certificate of compliance is required for a door-to-door sales team, and what the fingerprint and state processing charge comes to
• Whether the $100.00 six-month fee covers the company or is charged per rep
• Whether the city enforces any hours for knocking, since the code publishes none

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________