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

Section 6.72.010 of the Placentia Municipal Code makes it unlawful for any solicitor, peddler or canvasser to engage in business within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining a permit. Section 6.72.020 defines a canvasser or solicitor as anyone traveling from place to place, house to house or street to street taking or attempting to take orders for future delivery of goods or services, and a peddler as a person with no fixed place of business in the city who offers tangible goods or services for immediate sale and payment. Anyone invited into the city by the person being solicited, by telephone, mail or other means, is still classed as a solicitor or peddler and needs a permit first.

The sworn application under Section 6.72.030 goes to the city license and tax collector. It asks for the applicant's name and description, permanent and local addresses, the nature of the business, the employer if any, the length of time desired, where the goods are produced, a two-inch by two-inch head-and-shoulders photograph taken within sixty days, fingerprints with two property-owner references, a statement of any convictions, and a physician's statement dated not more than ten days before filing. Fingerprints and references are waived for an applicant holding a valid state license that requires them. The processing fee is three dollars, and the general peddler license fee in Section 5.08.320 is $60.00 per year per person.

Section 6.72.050 requires solicitors to file a surety bond of one thousand dollars, or two thousand dollars for a common firm covering all its applicants, approved by the city attorney. Section 6.72.060 issues an identification card with the word Permit legible from ten feet, worn on the front of the outer garment, and Section 6.72.070 requires permit holders to exhibit their licenses at the request of any citizen. Annual permits expire on the thirtieth of June following issuance, and the city license and tax collector can revoke a permit under Section 6.72.100 for fraud, any violation of the title, a conviction involving moral turpitude, or conduct that is a menace to public health, safety or welfare.