Fresno requires a city-issued solicitor permit for door-to-door commercial sales under Fresno Municipal Code Chapter 6. Applicants submit to a Fresno PD background check and receive a photo ID card. Religious, political, and charitable canvassing is exempt. "No Soliciting" signs are enforceable against commercial visits.
Fresno Municipal Code Chapter 6, Article 5 regulates solicitors, peddlers, and itinerant merchants. Any person going from house to house in the city to take orders for goods or services must first apply to the City Clerk, submit fingerprints for a Fresno Police Department background check, and receive a photo identification card that must be worn or carried while soliciting. Permits are typically valid for one year and are revocable for cause.
Fresno's ordinance recognizes the constitutional limits set in Watchtower v. Stratton (2002): religious, political, and charitable canvassing is exempt from the permit requirement because requiring a license for such expressive activity would be an unconstitutional prior restraint. Commercial solicitation is restricted to daylight hours, generally 9:00 AM to sunset, and commercial canvassers must respect posted "No Soliciting" signs at any residence.
Commercial soliciting without a permit, failing to display the city-issued ID, soliciting after dark, or ignoring a posted "No Soliciting" sign is a misdemeanor punishable by fines up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment up to six months. Permits may be revoked for fraud or repeated violations.
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