Orange County, FL Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Florida Statutes Section 501.022 makes it unlawful to conduct a "home solicitation sale," defined in Section 501.021 as a sale, lease, or rental of consumer goods or services worth more than $25.00 arranged through a personal solicitation away from the seller's fixed place of business, without first holding a valid permit (Section 501.022(1)(a)). Applicants file a sworn application with the Orange County Clerk of the Circuit Court, who may charge a reasonable fee to cover administrative costs; the application must include the applicant's name, date of birth, race and sex, permanent and local addresses, employer, two color photographs, any criminal history, and a complete set of fingerprints taken by a law enforcement agency (Section 501.022(2)).

The Clerk forwards the fingerprints to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the application to the Sheriff for a background investigation, both of which must report back within 60 days (Section 501.022(3)). The statute exempts several categories from the permit requirement, including salespeople calling on a customer's own business, anyone invited to the premises by the resident, unsolicited telephone sales, catalog or sample sales for future delivery, licensed real estate or funeral/cemetery sellers under Chapters 475 or 497, and solicitors for a religious, charitable, scientific, educational, or veterans' organization holding a sales-tax exemption certificate under Section 212.08(7) (Section 501.022(1)(b)).

Approved applicants receive a laminated photo ID permit valid for one year, showing the permitholder's name, employer, signature, permit number, expiration date, and a phone number consumers can call to verify it; permitholders must carry that permit and show it to every prospective buyer before soliciting a sale (Section 501.022(7), (8)).