Madera, 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 business license under the itinerant peddlers and solicitors section for anyone without a permanent place of business in the city who sells goods or services door to door, including by taking orders for future delivery (6-1.53(A)). The company gets the license and every rep who actually solicits gets an individual identification card (6-1.53(D)). This is from the city's own posted copy of Title VI, printed in 1999; the current code could not be read.
• Where it comes from: The License Tax Collector takes the application and issues the license and the ID cards (6-1.53(B)(1), (D)). Each rep goes to the Police Chief's office to be fingerprinted when the application is made (6-1.53(B)(6)).
• Fee: $600 for the calendar year or any part of it, or a minimum of $50 for any month, paid in advance (6-1.53(B)(5)). The city's Business Licenses page adds a $50 non-refundable application fee. A company that takes money before delivery also posts a $1,000 cash deposit or bond (6-1.53(B)(4)).
• Hours you may knock: Not published in the itinerant peddlers and solicitors section. The current code on American Legal could not be read, so no hours rule was confirmed.
• What the rep carries: The rep's identification card, with the rep's photo, kept on the person at all times while working and shown to anyone solicited or to any police officer on demand (6-1.53(D), (E)).
• What takes the time: Two small photos of each rep, a copy of any order form or contract, and the names, ages and addresses of every rep go in with the application (6-1.53(B)). Each rep is fingerprinted by the police, and the prints go to the FBI and the state Department of Justice (6-1.53(B)(6)). Orders for future delivery are written in duplicate, with a copy to the customer (6-1.53(F)(2)). No processing time is published.
• Code: Madera Municipal Code, Title VI, Chapter 1 — Business Licenses (6-1.53, Itinerant Peddlers, Solicitors, and Photographers), as posted by the city in a PDF whose pages are marked 1998 S-5 and 1999 S-7. The current code is hosted on American Legal Publishing and was not read.
• Worth knowing: No ringing the bell or knocking at a residence with a "no peddlers" sign or words of similar import in public view (6-1.53(I)).
• Read it yourself: City of Madera — Business License Ordinance, Title VI (PDF posted by the city) · City of Madera — Business Licenses · checked 23 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether the itinerant solicitor license is still $600 a year or $50 a month under 6-1.53, and whether it is charged per company or per rep
• What hours door-to-door sales are allowed, and the code section
• How long the police fingerprint check takes before the ID cards are issued
• Whether a fiber company that takes no money at the door still needs the $1,000 bond

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________