Mobile, AL Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Mobile Code § 55-21 defines a canvasser or solicitor broadly: any individual, resident or not, who travels by foot, wagon, automobile, motor truck or other conveyance from house to house, place to place, or street to street, or who solicits by telephone, taking orders for goods, wares, merchandise or personal property for future delivery, or for services to be furnished in the future, or who seeks donations of money or personal property for any purpose. Section 55-22 makes it unlawful for that person to operate within the city or its police jurisdiction without first obtaining a permit under this article, so the requirement reaches beyond Mobile's corporate limits into the surrounding police jurisdiction.

To apply, § 55-23 requires a sworn application in duplicate filed with the city's revenue department giving the applicant's name and description, home and local address, a description of the business and goods to be sold, employer information if applicable, and how long the permit is wanted. 00 to replace. If the investigation is satisfactory, § 55-25 has the chief endorse approval and the revenue department issues the permit; if not, § 55-26 has the revenue department notify the applicant no permit will issue. Every permit must show the permittee's name and address, the class of permit, the type of soliciting authorized, issuance date and duration, the permit number, and a description of any vehicle used, § 55-27.

Holding the permit does not excuse the permittee from any other city business license, § 55-28, and any officer may demand production of the permit from anyone seen canvassing, § 55-30. The revenue department or chief of police may revoke a permit under § 55-31 for fraud or misrepresentation in the application or in conducting business, any violation of the article, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, or conducting the business in a manner that breaches the peace or threatens public health or safety.