McAllen, Texas: 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: Likely yes, though the chapter is written mainly for vendors selling from a stand or space rather than pure door-to-door. McAllen's Code defines "itinerant vendor" broadly as anyone conducting temporary or transient business in the city "selling or offering for sale any goods or merchandise, or exhibiting for sale or exhibiting goods or merchandise for the purpose of taking orders for the sale thereof," and requires a license before doing so (78-26, 78-41). The code does not spell out a separate door-to-door home-solicitation permit or hours rule the way most peer cities do.
• Where it comes from: McAllen Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78 (Peddlers and Solicitors), Article II (Itinerant Vendors), Division 2 (License). Applications go to the city secretary (78-42).
• Fee: $100.00, paid before the license issues (78-44).
• Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 78 sets no clock-time restriction on soliciting or selling.
• What the rep carries: The license itself, which must be displayed prominently and conspicuously wherever the sale is conducted (78-48). The code writes this as a premises-display requirement, not a wearable badge, which does not map cleanly onto door-to-door work.
• What takes the time: A $2,000.00 surety bond, filed with the city secretary before the license issues, conditioned on paying damages from any fraudulent, wrongful or illegal act in the conduct of the business, and running for the life of the license plus two years after (78-43). The application must be filed at least 10 days before the contemplated sale begins (78-42).
• Code: McAllen Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78, Article II, §§ 78-26 through 78-49; see also Article I, §§ 78-1 through 78-7 (outdoor display and sale permits, a related but separate $100.00 permit for open-air/seasonal sales at a location).
• Worth knowing: A license lasts only as long as the sale runs, and never more than 120 days from issuance, then it must be renewed (78-47). It is not transferable and authorizes only the one person who obtained it, though that person may have helpers assist (78-46).
• Read it yourself: McAllen Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78, Article II — Itinerant Vendors · McAllen Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78, Article I — In General · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does the Chapter 78 itinerant vendor license actually apply to a rep who only knocks on doors and never sets up a display or premises? Is there an unwritten department policy on solicitation hours, since the code sets none? Is the $2,000 bond required per individual rep, or can one company bond cover the whole team? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________