Everett, WA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Everett Municipal Code Chapter 5.36 covers hawkers, peddlers, canvassers and solicitors going house-to-house or street-to-street within Everett, Snohomish County. EMC 5.36.020 makes it "unlawful for any person to engage in the business of peddler, solicitor or canvasser as defined herein within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining a license and permit therefor." A "canvasser" or "solicitor" is defined at 5.36.010(B) as anyone taking orders for goods, merchandise or future services house-to-house, whether or not compensated, but the definition expressly excludes anyone soliciting business establishments for resale.

The license application (5.36.040) must go to the city clerk with a description of the business and goods, employer name and credentials if the applicant is employed, the length of time the license is wanted, and a description of any vehicle used, including its license number. Applicants (or their managers/owners) must not have been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude or fraud, or released from a related prison or parole term, within the ten years before applying (5.36.030). The fee under 5.36.050 is $25 per year, or $5 per day for a hawker, peddler or huckster working a public street or public place.

Nonprofit, charitable or religious corporations distributing goods only through local resident members are exempt (5.36.060). Everett also bars any peddler or solicitor from claiming an exclusive spot in the public right-of-way or working a stationary location without a special permit, and from operating anywhere a police officer judges the area too congested (5.36.070); that same section flatly bans peddling, hawking and soliciting inside the downtown core bounded by California Street, Pacific Avenue, Rockefeller Avenue and McDougal Avenue. Sound devices, horns, bells and loudspeakers used to attract sales attention are banned under 5.36.080 except as allowed by the city's noise chapter.