Homestead, Florida: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — a city license before any peddler, solicitor or canvasser does business in the city, with a police background check on each applicant and a city identification card for each licensee (16-342(a), (b)). A solicitor-canvasser is anyone taking orders for goods or for services to be furnished now or in the future, on foot or by phone (16-341). A business with its principal place of business in Homestead or Miami-Dade County and a city or county business tax receipt is exempt — unless it set up in the city mainly to canvass or solicit (16-347).
• Where it comes from: The city's code enforcement and/or licensing department takes the application; the police chief investigates and approves or disapproves; if the police do not sign off, the city council decides (16-342(b), 16-343, 16-345, 16-346).
• Fee: A fee of thirty-five dollars ($35.00) for the police background check (16-345). The code's schedule of local business taxes lists "Peddler, solicitation, per permit" at 579.00 (16-40, no dollar sign in the table). The article's own license-fee section was repealed (16-348, reserved). Proof of insurance is also required, in an amount the city sets (16-342(c)).
• Hours you may knock: Between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.; soliciting at any other hour is unlawful (16-356).
• What the rep carries: A city badge with the rep's name and photograph, worn on the front of the outer garment the whole time he is soliciting (16-352), and the license, shown to any citizen who asks (16-354).
• What takes the time: Fingerprints and a photograph taken by the police department (16-343(6), (7)), the police chief's character and business investigation (16-345), and proof of insurance (16-342(c)). No processing time is published.
• Code: Homestead Code of Ordinances, Chapter 16, Article XIV — Peddlers, Solicitors and Canvassers (16-341 to 16-358); tax schedule in Article II (16-40). Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 2026-01-04, enacted January 21, 2026 (Supp. No. 87).
• Worth knowing: At the first contact at a home, the rep must state who he is, the company he represents, that the purpose is a sale, and what is being sold; a contract made in violation is void and the buyer gets his money back (16-350, 16-351). Ordinance No. 2026-03-07, adopted 3/18/26 and not yet in the online code, amends the schedule of local business taxes (16-40) to the NAICS system, so the 579.00 line may have changed. Receipts expire September 30 (16-23).
• Read it yourself: Homestead Code Chapter 16, Article XIV — Peddlers, Solicitors and Canvassers · Homestead Code Chapter 16, Article II — Local Business Tax Receipts · Homestead Code of Ordinances — Municode landing page · checked 21 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The current business tax for a door-to-door solicitor after Ordinance No. 2026-03-07, and whether it is per rep or per company
• The minimum insurance the city requires for a solicitor license
• How long the police background check takes

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________