San Mateo, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: No separate solicitor permit in the code. The list of businesses that need a city permit (5.15.010) does not include solicitors or peddlers. What the code does require is a business tax certificate before carrying on any business in the city (5.06.010), and it has its own tax line for solicitors (5.24.220). Going house to house taking orders for goods or services to be delivered later makes a rep a "solicitor" (5.03.300).
• Where it comes from: San Mateo Municipal Code Title 5, Business Licenses and Regulations: 5.24.220, Solicitor, and 5.15.010, Permit Required, on the City of San Mateo Law Library. The code's bureau of business taxes and permits and the Tax Collector issue the certificate.
• Fee: No permit fee, because there is no solicitor permit. The business tax for a solicitor, in the code's own words, is "seventy-five dollars per quarter and five dollars per day for each person in excess of two employees within the City in such business" (5.24.220). The code does not say here whether that figure has since been adjusted.
• Hours you may knock: None set. Title 5 (business regulations) and Title 10 (peace, safety and morals) were read in full and neither has a time-of-day rule for door-to-door sales.
• What the rep carries: The business tax certificate: anyone without a fixed place of business must carry it at all times while doing the business it was issued for (5.06.070). Where the bureau deems it necessary it also issues an identification card for each employee, to be carried and shown on demand (5.12.110).
• What takes the time: Nothing solicitor-specific in the code: no background check, fingerprinting or bond for solicitors. A company claiming an interstate commerce exemption from the tax files a verified statement, a photograph and fingerprints with the bureau (5.48.010).
• Code: San Mateo Municipal Code 5.03.300, 5.06.010, 5.06.070, 5.12.110, 5.15.010, 5.24.220 (Ord. No. 2004-10), and Chapter 5.48, Peddlers and Solicitors—Exemptions.
• Worth knowing: Chapter 5.48 is titled Peddlers and Solicitors but holds only exemptions: interstate commerce, disabled veterans, growers of their own produce, and periodicals. Its editor's note points to 5.24.230 for the solicitor tax, but on the page the solicitor tax is 5.24.220; 5.24.230 is racing-form vendors.
• Read it yourself: San Mateo Municipal Code 5.24.220 Solicitor · San Mateo Municipal Code 5.15.010 Permit Required - Application · San Mateo Municipal Code 5.03.300 Solicitor (definition) · San Mateo Municipal Code 5.06.010 Tax Payment and Certificate Required · San Mateo Municipal Code 5.06.070 Posting-Carrying · San Mateo Municipal Code 5.12.110 Identification Card · San Mateo Municipal Code Chapter 5.48 Peddlers and Solicitors—Exemptions · San Mateo Municipal Code Title 10 Peace, Safety and Morals · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Is the solicitor business tax still the amount printed in 5.24.220, and is it charged per company or per rep?
• Does the bureau issue employee identification cards to door-to-door reps, and what does it need for each one?
• Does the city enforce any hours for door-to-door sales that are not in Title 5 or Title 10?

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________