Fauquier County, VA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: No-Knock Registry (2026)
Key Facts
- No-sign rule
- Sec. 18-5(3)
- Effect
- Sign alone bars entry, no registry needed
- Must leave when asked
- Sec. 18-5(2)
- Max penalty
- $2,500 fine / 30 days jail
- Enforced under
- General penalty, Sec. 1-7
- Exemptions
- Sec. 18-6 (invited guests, charities, farm sellers)
Summary
Fauquier County backs up its solicitor permit system with entry limits: Sec. 18-5 bars anyone from soliciting under false pretenses, from remaining after being told to leave, or from entering a residential property at all once the owner has posted a 'No Soliciting' sign. Soliciting without a permit is likewise prohibited outright.
No person shall: ... (1)Enter into or upon a residential premises in the county under false pretenses to solicit for any purpose or for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares, merchandise or services.(2)Remain in or on any residential premises after the owner or occupant has requested any such person to leave.(3)Enter upon any residential premises for soliciting, when the owner or occupant has displayed a "No Soliciting" sign on such premises. ... Wherever in this Code or in any ordinance or resolution of the county ... any act is prohibited or is declared to be unlawful or any offense or a misdemeanor ... and no specific penalty is provided for the violation thereof, the violation of any such provision of this Code ... shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) or by imprisonment for a period of not more than thirty (30) days in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 18-5 lists five prohibited acts for solicitors in unincorporated Fauquier County. Subsection (1) bars entering a residential premises under false pretenses to solicit or to seek orders for goods, wares, merchandise or services. Subsection (2) prohibits remaining on the premises once the owner or occupant has asked the person to leave. Subsection (3), the county's version of a no-knock rule, makes it unlawful to enter any residential premises for soliciting at all once the owner or occupant has displayed a 'No Soliciting' sign there; the posted sign alone is enough to make entry unlawful, with no separate registry to check.
Subsection (4) prohibits soliciting anywhere in the county without the Sec. 18-2/18-3 permit, and subsection (5) bars knowingly giving false information, or withholding required information, when applying for that permit. These prohibitions apply chapter-wide except for the categories Sec. 18-6 exempts, such as invited guests, unpaid civic or charitable volunteers with identification, newspaper carriers, regular route deliverymen, sellers of fresh farm products, and persons licensed under Title 38.1 of the Code of Virginia. Because Chapter 18 has no penalty clause of its own, a violation of any Sec.
18-5 prohibition, including ignoring a posted 'No Soliciting' sign, falls under the Code's general penalty in Sec. 1-7, which covers any Code violation that carries no specific fine of its own.
Violations & Fines
A Sec. 18-5 violation, including entering past a posted 'No Soliciting' sign or refusing to leave when asked, is punished under the general penalty in Sec. 1-7: a fine of not more than $2,500.00, imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both, with each continuing day treated as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a 'No Soliciting' sign actually stop solicitors legally in Fauquier County?
What if a solicitor won't leave after I ask them to?
What is the penalty for ignoring a 'No Soliciting' sign?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fauquier County
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