Manteca, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — two documents. It is unlawful to work as a peddler or solicitor in Manteca without first getting both a city-issued business license and a solicitor and peddler permit (5.68.020). The permit is per rep: fingerprints and a photograph of the applicant go in with it, no one but the permit holder may use it, and the holder may not transfer it (5.68.030(I), (J); 5.68.080). A "solicitor" goes house to house or place to place selling or taking orders for future delivery of goods, wares, merchandise, services or other things of value; a "peddler" does the same for goods already in hand (5.68.010).
• Where it comes from: The Manteca Police Department is the permitting authority (5.68.010). The sworn application goes to the chief of police, on a form provided by the city clerk (5.68.030). The police department's own Forms & Permits page says solicitor's permits are handled by the Records Department Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., with renewals Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. as well as from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 pm, and that a solicitor's permit needs a letter on letterhead from the business the applicant works for stating that the applicant represents them.
• Fee: The chapter itself sets no number — the application fee is set by resolution of the city council (5.68.030, 5.68.040(A)). The figure is in the Police Department Fee Schedule codified as Title FS, IV of the code, which lists Solicitor permit, all at 80.00 in the Current Fee column and 32.00 in the DOJ column; that schedule prints its amounts without a dollar sign. On top of that sits the business license tax: canvassers, solicitors and peddlers are $300.00 per year, or at the licensee's option $13.00 per day for each person so engaged (5.16.020).
• Hours you may knock: No knocking between six p.m. and nine a.m. — the section bars entering private property, knocking on doors or otherwise disturbing people in their residences in those hours, and it binds a peddler or solicitor whether licensed or unlicensed (5.68.100). The section names no days off.
• What the rep carries: The solicitor and peddler permit itself, displayed and made clearly visible at all times while soliciting or peddling (5.68.070). It is unlawful for anyone other than the permit holder to use it (5.68.080).
• What takes the time: Fingerprints, taken by a local law enforcement agency, and one photograph of the applicant taken within the last six months, two inches by two inches, head and shoulders (5.68.030(I), (J)). The application also wants a copy of a current California driver's license or DMV identification card, a copy of the current city business license, the addresses where the applicant transacted business and lived for the past two years, full identification of the employer or principal, and prior convictions (5.68.030). The chief of police may refuse a permit over a felony conviction in the five years before the application, a misdemeanor involving a sex offense or violence in the same five years, sex-offender registration, a fraud judgment in the last five years, or no proof of authority to act for the principal (5.68.050(A)).
• Code: Manteca Municipal Code Chapter 5.68, Solicitor and Peddler Permitting Program (5.68.010 to 5.68.150, added by Ord. O2023-13), with license tax rates in Chapter 5.16, Licenses for Revenue and Regulation and the permit fee in Title FS, Fee Schedules, IV, Police Department Fee Schedule. eCode360 states the code includes legislation through Ord. No. O2026-07, adopted April 21, 2026.
• Worth knowing: A posted "No Peddlers," "No Solicitors," "No Solicitation" or similar sign at the entry to the premises or the principal building makes entry unlawful, licensed or not (5.68.090). Every permit runs July 1 to June 30 no matter when it is issued, so one bought in spring dies on June 30 (5.68.060(A)), and the principal's business license term controls the permit of its agent or employee (5.68.060(B)). A rep offering only goods or services with an asking price of less than fifteen dollars per item is exempt from the permit and its fees, but is still bound by the sign and hours sections (5.68.040(B)). Violation is an infraction (5.68.150). Denial or revocation is appealable to the city manager or a designee, de novo (5.68.130).
• Read it yourself: Manteca Municipal Code Chapter 5.68, Solicitor and Peddler Permitting Program · Manteca Municipal Code Chapter 5.16, Licenses for Revenue and Regulation · Manteca Municipal Code Title FS, Fee Schedules · Manteca Police Department, Forms & Permits · Manteca Municipal Code, table of contents · checked 20 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether every rep needs their own solicitor permit or one permit can name the whole team
• Whether the DOJ column amount is charged on renewals as well as new applications
• How long the fingerprint check runs before the permit is handed over

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________