Is door-to-door solicitation legal? We had nasty looking people coming thru our neighborhood yesterday?

Question

They were going door to door trying to sell cleaning products. They were in an old conversion van with no company listed on it and their license plate was missing. This was right at the time the school bus comes thru & drops the kids off. It made me very nervous having strangers coming thru my neighborhood when some of the kids go home to an empty house. Should I call the police next time they come thru?

Answer 1

CALL The police for sure -- most of these 'solicitors' have no business license and are just going through to case the area for potential crimes.

Answer 2

I used to do door to door sales, and a lot of towns/cities require you to have a permit(some don't). If you get caught without having a permit you can be in big trouble. But if I were you I would call the police, no license plate sounds highly suspicious. And usually if your doing door to door, you want to look presentable.
Leave it to the police they can check them out and if your town has rules regarding door to door sales they can enforce it.

But as far as it being legal I never came across a town that said it was outright against the law to sell going door to door, just different stipulations,,,,,your town might not even require a permit.

Answer 3

Funny thing about that. There were 3 men in my neighborhood and 2 came to my door together. They were very rude when I declined. The 3rd man came to my door a few minutes later and I yelled through the door to go away. They kept leaving and coming back to my driveway and would stand there for a few minutes. I called police on non-emergency line and asked to have a cop come through the neighborhood. You would have thought I asked them to rob a bank. They were so rude about it. I would call the cops and have them check it out. I put a no solicitors sign on my door and have not seen any solicitors since.

Answer 4

I think in most communities it is legal unless a sign is posted on your door or in an apartment complex a sign is posted at the entrance. But the next time something looks suspicious or just doesn't feel right, I would call Police just to be on the safe side.

Answer 5

no body has the right to enter into anybody's private property except by due process of law . Door to can vassing is not illegal. But the owner of any property has the right to ell anybody to keep off his property. Just put up a notice thjat no canvassing or solicitation within th eproeperty is permissible . the canvassers will keep off.

Answer 6

In many cities, a permit (to sell door-to-door)is required to be purchased from city hall. The permit is usually a nominal fee, generally $5. The purpose of the permit is to inform city personnel, mainly law enforcement, of who is going to door-to-door. Never hurts to be cautious and inform law enforcement of door-to-door activity. I recommend calling the PD/City Hall and inquire if there is an ordinance regulating this.

Answer 7

Yes call the police, if they happen to come to your door.,ask them if they are licensed and bonded by the city. that usually throws them off a little. they need to show you something. that of course depends on your city ordinances.and yes you most defiantly should call the police, I would do it while they are at my door. Especially if children are around.

Answer 8

Door-to-door solicitation is legal, but there are laws determining what they can do and how they can do it. If it makes you uncomfortable the call the police and ask them to come around an check it out.

Answer 9

First you can ask if they have a permit. You have to have a permit to sell door to door. If you wish not to confront them (highly suggested) you can call your local police (Don't call 911 find out the non-emergency number) and have them check it out.

Answer 10

Better to be safe than sorry, always call 911 or the police to check out something that makes you uneasy.