Tustin, California: door-to-door solicitor permit

• The answer: Yes — a city business license. It is unlawful to carry on any business in the city without one (2512(b)). The tax schedule has a solicitor line covering itinerant merchants, peddlers, canvassers and solicitors, charged per day per person, with employees of licensees excluded (2523(d)). The residential solicitation rules in Chapter 5-8 carry no separate permit; the old permit sections are shown as omitted (5810 to 5816).
• Where it comes from: The Director of Community Development, who issues the application and enforces the chapter (2511(a), 2512(a), 2516). The city page lists a Business License Technician at 714-573-3144.
• Fee: The solicitor line in the tax schedule reads 10.00 per day per person, employees of licensees excluded (2523(d)); the schedule's dollar column starts at $25.00. For a company whose reps are its own employees, the code does not say which line applies — the general schedules run by gross receipts from $25.00 (2523(a)-(c)).
• Hours you may knock: No soliciting in residential zones between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., unless done by appointment (5817(a)(1)).
• What the rep carries: The code has no badge rule for solicitors. Anyone holding a license certificate who willfully fails to show it on demand of the Director or city staff commits a misdemeanor (2516).
• What takes the time: The city page says a Business Tax Certificate is typically issued within 2 weeks of a completed application, depending on the business. Chapter 5-8 sets no background check.
• Code: Tustin City Code, Article 2, Chapter 5 — Business License Tax (2511 to 2523) and Article 5, Chapter 8 — Regulation of Solicitation Activity (5817). Municode shows the code codified through Ordinance No. 1576, enacted May 19, 2026 (Rev. 31-2026, Update 1).
• Worth knowing: No knocking at a door with a "No Solicitors" sign, or anywhere inside a private-street HOA that posts "No Solicitors" at each vehicle entry (5817(a)(2)-(3)). No stepping over the threshold uninvited, no foot in the door, leave at once when asked, and no false statements about the purpose (5817(a)(5)-(8)). A written receipt is owed on request for anything over five dollars ($5.00) received (5817(b)).
• Read it yourself: Tustin City Code, Article 2, Chapter 5 — Business License Tax · Tustin City Code, Article 5, Chapter 8 — Regulation of Solicitation Activity · City of Tustin — Business Licenses · Tustin Code of Ordinances — landing page · checked 22 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down:

• Whether each door-to-door rep of a licensed company needs the per-day solicitor license under 2523(d), or only the company's license
• The current solicitor charge today, and whether it can be paid by the month or year instead of per day
• Whether a company based outside Tustin pays the gross-receipts rate or the solicitor rate

Clerk’s name ______________ Direct line ______________ Date called ______________