Oak Park, IL Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Village Code § 18-1-2 requires every person who engages in peddling, commercial soliciting or itinerant vending within Oak Park to obtain a license from the Village before doing business. The application, made on a form from the Village Clerk, must disclose the applicant's name, current and prior three years of residence addresses, a physical description, the employer's name and address for the current and prior three years, a description of what will be sold or solicited, the requested license period, any prior license application or revocation history in Oak Park or elsewhere, any conviction under this Article or a similar ordinance of another Illinois municipality, proof of authorization to solicit for the represented organization, and any felony conviction within the preceding ten years or misdemeanor or ordinance conviction within the preceding five years.

Section 18-1-3 puts the Village Clerk and the Police Department in charge of investigating each application. If the investigation turns up a felony conviction within the last ten years, or a misdemeanor, ordinance violation, or license revocation within the last five years, and that conviction reasonably relates to peddling or soliciting activity, the Village must refuse the license. Otherwise, once the applicant pays the license fee and complies with the Chapter 8 business-license rules, the Village issues the license within seven days of the application.

Fund solicitors get a narrower path under § 18-1-4: instead of the full license, they register with the Village Clerk at least three days before soliciting funds, using the same information required on the § 18-1-2 application, and pay no license fee. Organizations with a fixed Oak Park location for over two years are exempt from even that registration if they keep a current list of solicitors on file with the Clerk. Operating without the required license or registration, or violating any Article 1 rule, exposes a peddler to the Village's general penalty under § 1-1-5 and to license revocation under § 18-1-8.