Rochester Hills, Michigan: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — an itinerant merchant license from the City Clerk (78-161). An itinerant merchant includes anyone going house to house taking or attempting to take orders for goods or for services to be performed in the future, and the term includes peddlers and canvassers (78-131). The fee is charged per individual covered by the license, and the application is for the individual who will sell (78-162(1), 78-164).
• Where it comes from: The Rochester Hills City Clerk, on the clerk's forms (78-162). A denial can be appealed in writing to the city council (78-169).
• Fee: $75.00 per individual. Where an out-of-state background check is needed, the city may add that state's background check fee (54-501).
• Hours you may knock: 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. while daylight saving time is in effect, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. when it is not (78-198).
• What the rep carries: The city-issued license, carried and displayed at all times while soliciting, on a lanyard or so the photo and information are clearly and continuously visible (78-199).
• What takes the time: A criminal background check through Michigan's ICHAT (78-163(5)). A 2x2 head-and-shoulders photo taken within 60 days, the rep's driver's license number and physical description, and the dates, times and places the team will work (78-162). A felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude bars the license (78-163(2)). No processing time is published.
• Code: Rochester Hills Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78 — Peddlers, Solicitors and Itinerant Merchants, Article III — Itinerant Merchants (78-131 to 78-208), with the fee in Chapter 54 (54-501). Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 202, adopted April 27, 2026 (Supplement 53).
• Worth knowing: The license lasts 90 days; reapply for more time (78-166). No door-to-door sales where a "no solicitors," "no trespassing" or similar notice is posted, except by invitees (78-204). Material changes to the application must be reported to the clerk within seven calendar days (78-196). The definition leaves out agents of utility companies or of firms franchised by referendum or by a franchise ordinance passed after an affirmative advisory vote of the electorate (78-131).
• Read it yourself: Rochester Hills Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78 — Peddlers, Solicitors and Itinerant Merchants · Rochester Hills Code of Ordinances, Chapter 54, Article IX — Peddlers, Solicitors and Itinerant Merchants (fees) · Rochester Hills Code of Ordinances — landing page · checked 22 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• How many business days the ICHAT check and license issuance usually take
• Whether the license can be dated for the full 90 days from the first day of work
• What the added out-of-state background check fee is for reps who live outside Michigan

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________