Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 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 Mobile Seller's License from the City Clerk's License Division. The city's license page says it is required for any direct seller, and a direct seller includes "any person who sells goods or takes orders for later delivery of goods on any public way or door-to-door." It is listed under individual licenses, so read it as per person. The city's Frequently Forgotten Ordinances page adds that door-to-door salespersons must register with the police and wear an identification badge. Both pages speak of goods; neither says how a rep selling only a service is treated. The code chapter itself is a PDF the city's site refused to serve, so the ordinance text was not read.
• Where it comes from: City Clerk, License Division — the Licenses and Permits page — and the Common Council's Frequently Forgotten Ordinances page, which cites Code 95-15: 2, 3, 4 for the police registration, badge and sign rules.
• Fee: $150 for a Mobile Seller's License, good for 12 months, expiring one year from the date of issuance, per the License Division's page. The page lists no separate badge or registration fee; the fee chapter of the code (Chapter 81) was not read.
• Hours you may knock: A Common Council ordinance passed 9/20/2011 (File 110540, effective 10/7/2011) created 95-15-6: no door-to-door in-person solicitation of any residential occupant for any commercial or fundraising purpose between 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. That is the ordinance as passed in 2011; the current code text was not read, so confirm it still stands.
• What the rep carries: An identification badge, worn. The city's page says door-to-door salespersons must register with the police and wear an identification badge (Code 95-15: 2, 3, 4, as the city cites it). The license page lists a photo requirement with the application.
• Code: The city cites Milwaukee Code 95-15 (Door-to-door Solicitation); Common Council File 110540 amended 95-15-5 and created 95-15-6. The code's current table of contents titles Chapter 95 “Home Improvement Contractors and Salespersons” and Chapter 92 “Mobile and Secondhand Sales,” so check the section number with the clerk. The chapters are PDFs that could not be opened.
• Worth knowing: A resident may post a “solicitors prohibited” sign near the doorbell, and salespersons are expected not to approach (Code 95-15, per the city's page). Selling home improvement work needs its own Home Improvement Salesperson's License for any person who solicits or sells away from the licensed business location.
• Read it yourself: City of Milwaukee License Division, Licenses and Permits · Milwaukee Common Council, Frequently Forgotten Ordinances · Milwaukee Code of Ordinances, Table of Contents · Milwaukee Common Council File 110540, hours of door-to-door solicitation · Milwaukee Common Council File 110540, Legislation Text (PDF report) · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does a rep selling a service (internet, solar, pest control) door-to-door need the Mobile Seller's License, or only reps selling goods? Is the 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. ban in 95-15-6 still the rule, and what is the current section number? How does a rep register with the police and get the identification badge, and is there a fee? How long does a Mobile Seller's License take to issue? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________