Kalamazoo, MI Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Section 25-1.A of the Kalamazoo City Code requires anyone peddling or acting as a transient merchant to hold a license from the City Clerk before engaging in the activity, with licenses expiring April 30 each year and displayed conspicuously wherever the business is conducted, per § 25-1.E. Recognized religious or charitable organizations holding a valid charitable-solicitation license under MCLA § 400.271 et seq. are exempt from the peddler's license itself. Section 25-2.A spells out the application: written, filed with the City Clerk, proof of identity by Michigan driver's license, state ID, or equivalent, the applicant's name and any alias, the area and manner of the proposed selling activity, the length of the license requested, the applicant's criminal record, prior experience as a peddler or transient merchant, disclosure of any prior license revocations, and authorization for the City Clerk and Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety to run a background check that can include fingerprinting under § 25-2.B(4).

Section 25-2.D requires the Clerk to deny an application where the applicant or their employer owes unpaid City taxes or debts, and separately bars issuance to anyone convicted within 10 years of theft, dishonesty, receipt of stolen property or embezzlement, or of any felony within five years, or convicted within 10 years of violating Chapter 24 or Chapter 25 itself. Door-to-door peddler's licenses carry an extra, absolute bar: no such license may issue to a person convicted of a listed offense under Michigan's Sex Offenders Registration Act, MCLA § 28.722(d). A denied applicant may appeal to the City Manager within 10 days under § 25-4.