Hendersonville, Tennessee: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — a permit from the city before any peddler, canvasser, solicitor or transient merchant plies his trade in city limits, and a permit may be used only by the one person it was issued to, so it is one per rep (9-101). The chapter does not define "solicitor".
• Where it comes from: The City Recorder takes the sworn application and issues the permit after a background check, once privilege taxes are paid and the bond is filed (9-103, 9-104).
• Fee: $100.00 paid when the application is filed, to cover the cost of investigating it (9-103(10)). Each permittee also files a $1,000.00 surety bond with the City Recorder (9-106) and pays all applicable privilege taxes before the permit issues (9-104(3)); the privilege tax amount is not in this chapter.
• Hours you may knock: No solicitation before 9:00 a.m., and it must stop by 5:00 p.m. (CST) or 6:00 p.m. (CDST) (9-109).
• What the rep carries: The permit, shown at the request of any police officer or citizen (9-110).
• What takes the time: A sworn application with physical description, home and local address, employer credentials, a 2-inch photo, two local property owners as references (or other evidence of reputation), any convictions, and the last three cities worked (9-103). A background check by a reputable company, including states next to Tennessee (9-104(1)). The surety bond (9-106). No processing time is published.
• Code: Hendersonville Code of Ordinances, Title 9 — Business, Peddlers, Solicitors, Etc., Chapter 1 — Peddlers and Solicitors (9-101 to 9-117). Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 2026-04, enacted April 14, 2026 (Supp. No. 4).
• Worth knowing: The city keeps a Do Not Solicit Registry; the City Recorder gives each permit holder a web link to it, no permit holder may enter a listed residence to solicit, and a conviction revokes the permit for one year (9-117). Permits expire with the rep's privilege license and renew without cost if a new privilege license is obtained within thirty days (9-114).
• Read it yourself: Hendersonville Code of Ordinances, Title 9, Chapter 1 — Peddlers and Solicitors · Hendersonville Code of Ordinances — landing page · checked 23 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The privilege tax a door-to-door sales company or rep must pay before the permit issues
• Whether the $100.00 fee and the $1,000.00 bond are per rep or can cover a whole team
• How many business days the background check takes

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________