Madera, CA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

53 covers itinerant peddlers, solicitors, and photographers who work door to door, house to house, or from the streets and public places without a permanent place of business in Madera. The application goes to the License Tax Collector and must list the applicant's name and addresses, the goods or services offered, and a description of every person who will actually solicit on the applicant's behalf. Anyone taking advance payments or deposits must post a $1,000 cash deposit or surety bond, held by the city for 90 days after the license expires, to cover refunds if goods or services are never delivered.

The standard license fee is $600 per calendar year, or $50 for any partial month if the applicant wants a shorter license. Every individual who will actually solicit, whether principal or employee, must be fingerprinted at the Police Chief's office; the city keeps one fingerprint card and forwards another to the FBI and the state Department of Justice. Exemptions exist for honorably discharged veterans soliciting alone under Cal. & Prof. Code § 16001, growers selling their own farm produce, interstate commerce claimants, and minors under 14 selling newspaper or magazine subscriptions, but each exemption still requires the application, fingerprinting, and identification card.

Every licensee and solicitor must carry the license or identification card at all times while working and produce it on demand from a police officer or the person being solicited.