Warren, Michigan: 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: Almost certainly yes, but which of two licenses applies is not settled by the code text alone. Warren's Chapter 24 (Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants) has no article for a generic commercial "solicitor" — the word "Solicitors" in the chapter title turns out to mean Article VI, Charitable Solicitations only (canvassing for charitable, religious, or community-action groups). A for-profit fiber sales rep does not fit Peddler (goods/wares/merchandise sold on the spot, § 24-16) and is expressly carved out of Transient Merchant (that definition excludes "a person soliciting orders by sample, brochure or sales catalog for future delivery," § 24-71(b)). The closest fit is Route Salesperson — anyone, self-employed or not, who "travels ... calling at various residences with the intention of ... offering any service, for immediate or future delivery" (§ 24-111) — which explicitly covers services and residential calls, but is written around a person on "a regularly established route," which is an imperfect fit for a short-term door-to-door blitz.
• Where it comes from: The City Clerk's office issues the license; the Police Commissioner investigates the applicant's moral character before any peddler, route salesperson, or transient merchant license is issued (§ 24-33, § 24-128).
• Fee: $55.00 per applicant for a Route Salesman license, plus a required $1,000 surety bond, per the city's fee schedule (Chapter 18, § 18-18, item 36). A Peddler license, if that category applied instead, is also $55.00 per applicant (item 28) with no bond requirement in the text read.
• Hours you may knock: Not set specifically for route salespersons in the sections read. Peddlers are barred outside 9:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m. (§ 24-18), and charitable solicitors/canvassers face the same window under § 24-155 — but Article V (Route Salespersons, §§ 24-111–24-131) contains no equivalent hours section of its own.
• What the rep carries: The license itself, produced on request to a police officer (§ 24-113, § 24-164 for minors); a 2x2 inch photo and fingerprints are part of the application (§ 24-127).
• What takes the time: Fingerprints, a 2x2 inch photo taken within 60 days, and — if food is sold — a doctor's certificate of freedom from contagious disease, all go with the application (§ 24-127). The Police Commissioner runs a moral-character investigation and must approve before the Clerk issues the license (§ 24-128); the applicant must also post a $1,000 surety bond (§ 24-130).
• Code: Warren City Code, Chapter 24 (Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants), Article II (Peddlers, §§ 24-16–24-37), Article IV (Transient Merchants, §§ 24-71–24-102), Article V (Route Salespersons, §§ 24-111–24-131), Article VI (Charitable Solicitations, §§ 24-146–24-156), and Chapter 18 (Licensing) § 18-18 for fees — all hosted on Municode Library.
• Worth knowing: Whichever license applies, minors face separate rules under Article VII: no peddling, soliciting, or canvassing during school hours (unless legally excused), none after sunset or 8:00 p.m. (whichever is earlier), and none at a wind chill or temperature of 15°F or below (§ 24-161, § 24-162). An honorably discharged veteran with 180+ days of active duty, or a service-connected disability, can sell their own goods without a fee under state law (MCL 35.441), cited at § 24-129(b).
• Read it yourself: Warren City Code, Chapter 24: Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants · Warren City Code § 18-18, Fee and Insurance/Bond Schedule · City of Warren, Peddler Business License Application (PDF) · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: Whether a for-profit door-to-door fiber sales rep is licensed as a Peddler, a Route Salesperson, or something else entirely — the code text does not cleanly say; What hours apply to that license, since Route Salespersons (unlike Peddlers) have no stated hours section; Whether the $1,000 bond is per individual rep or can be posted once for the company. Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________