Livermore, 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 — each person gets a solicitor's permit from the police department before selling or soliciting at residences or in a residential neighborhood (5.36.010). That covers selling or taking orders for goods or services house to house. The applicant also gets a city business license and posts a bond (5.36.030(B), (C)). The chapter does not apply to selling only to established businesses (5.36.010).
• Where it comes from: The Livermore Police Department takes the application, fingerprints, photo and fee; the business license and bond go to the city finance division (5.36.020, 5.36.030). The permit is issued as an identification card (5.36.030(D)).
• Fee: A processing fee in the amount set by resolution of the City Council, paid to the police department (5.36.030(A)). The resolution could not be read, so the amount is not on this card. The business license fee is separate and was not read.
• Hours you may knock: Chapter 5.36 sets no knocking hours. The rest of the Livermore code could not be searched, so whether another chapter sets hours is not confirmed.
• What the rep carries: The identification card, carried at all times while selling or soliciting and shown on request (5.36.050).
• What takes the time: Police fingerprints and a photograph, plus an application listing arrests and their outcome and addresses for the past year (5.36.020). The city issues the permit within seven calendar days after the application is submitted and the fee paid (5.36.030(D)). A felony or moral-turpitude misdemeanor conviction is grounds for denial unless the Chief finds mitigating circumstances (5.36.060).
• Code: Livermore Municipal Code, Chapter 5.36 — Solicitors (5.36.010 to 5.36.080), last amended by Ord. 2065 (2018) per the section history. Read on the Code Publishing copy; the city's code is now hosted on eCode360, which could not be opened, so the currency of this copy is not confirmed.
• Worth knowing: A rep who takes payment or a deposit before delivery must first file a cash deposit or bond with the finance division; the bond is $5,000 through a surety admitted in California, and it stays in force 90 days after the permit expires. The bond rule does not apply to a person engaged in interstate commerce (5.36.070). The permit and card expire one year after issuance or when the business license expires, whichever is sooner, and renewal repeats the full application (5.36.040).
• Read it yourself: Livermore Municipal Code, Chapter 5.36 — Solicitors (Code Publishing copy) · Livermore Municipal Code — Code Publishing notice of move to eCode360 · checked 22 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• The current solicitor permit fee per rep set by council resolution, and the business license fee for the company
• Whether any section outside Chapter 5.36 sets hours for door-to-door solicitation
• Whether a sales rep who collects no money at the door still has to post the bond in 5.36.030(C)

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________