Riverside, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: The soliciting chapter sets rules but no solicitor permit. What the code does require is a city business tax certificate before doing any business in Riverside (5.04.040), and the soliciting chapter says it does not replace that (5.08.060).
• Where it comes from: Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.08, Soliciting, and Chapter 5.04, Taxes, Licenses and Regulations. Business tax certificates come from the city's Business Tax office in Finance.
• Fee: No permit fee, because Chapter 5.08 has no permit. The business tax depends on the business category in 5.04.300. The printed rate for itinerant peddlers and salesmen, people selling goods they carry with them, is $30.00 daily for each peddler, salesman or employee, and 5.04.330 adjusts every tax each November 1 by the consumer price index, so the amount charged today is not the printed one. The code lists no separate rate for a solicitor who takes orders.
• Hours you may knock: No door to door solicitation before 8:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. (5.08.040). A No Soliciting sign can post tighter hours and they bind you.
• What the rep carries: The business tax certificate. A certificate holder soliciting or peddling with no fixed place of business in the city keeps it on their person at all times while working (5.04.200 B).
• What takes the time: Nothing in Chapter 5.08: no background check, bond or badge. The time is in registering for the business tax certificate; the code gives no processing time.
• Code: Riverside Municipal Code 5.08.010 to 5.08.060 (Ord. 6898, 2006, amended through Ord. 7757, 2026) and 5.04.040, 5.04.200, 5.04.300, 5.04.330. Municode showed the code as "Version: Aug 3, 2026 (current)" on the day checked.
• Worth knowing: A posted sign reading "Soliciting at this location is a violation of law", or similar wording, makes the knock unlawful unless you were invited (5.08.020 B). Leave when asked (5.08.020 A). No stepping over the threshold or putting a foot in the door unless the occupant allows it (5.08.030 D). One loose end: the veterans' tax-free certificate provision in 5.04.090 T says the applicant "must obtain a solicitors permit issued by the City Police Department", but the Police Department's File for a Permit page lists no solicitor permit.
• Read it yourself: Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.08, Soliciting · Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.04, Taxes, Licenses and Regulations · Riverside Police Department, File for a Permit · checked 18 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Does the Police Department still issue a solicitors permit, and does a for-profit door-to-door rep need one? Which business tax category covers reps who take orders at the door, and what is this year's amount? Does each rep need a business tax certificate, or does the company's certificate cover the crew? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________