Memphis, Tennessee: 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: No city door-to-door permit was found. Memphis has two chapters that use the word “solicitor,” and neither fits a rep selling at a front door. Chapter 6-36 folds solicitors and canvassers into “itinerant vendor/peddler,” but only for selling on public streets, highways or rights-of-way from a temporary or transient location, and it asks for a state business license under T.C.A. title 67, chapter 58 (6-36-1, 6-36-2). Chapter 6-64 is a permit for charitable, religious, educational or benevolent solicitation only (6-64-1). The city Permits Office does not list a solicitor or peddler permit among the licenses it processes.
• Where it comes from: No city office issues a door-to-door permit that could be found. The license that 6-36-2 points to is a state-law business license (T.C.A. title 67, chapter 58), not a city solicitor permit. Ask the Shelby County Clerk where it is issued.
• Fee: None found for knocking. The city code sets no door-to-door permit fee.
• Hours you may knock: Not published. No section of the Memphis code that could be found sets hours for residential door-to-door sales.
• Code: Memphis Code of Ordinances Chapter 6-36, Itinerant Vendors and Peddlers (6-36-1 to 6-36-6); Chapter 6-64, Public Solicitation. Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 5965, enacted December 16, 2025 (Supp. No. 32).
• Worth knowing: If a crew also works sidewalks or events, Chapter 6-36 bars itinerant vendors within 200 feet of listed areas, including the downtown loop, the Beale Street historic district and the Elvis Presley Estate (6-36-5). Chapter 6-36 cites the state transient vendor law, T.C.A. 62-30-101 et seq.; whether it reaches your product is a question for the county clerk.
• Read it yourself: Memphis Code Chapter 6-36 · Memphis Code Chapter 6-64 · City of Memphis Permits Office · Memphis Code, currency statement · checked 18 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does Memphis or Shelby County require any permit for door-to-door sales of a service at homes? Does each rep need anything beyond the company's Tennessee business license? Are there set hours for residential solicitation? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________