Pottstown, PA Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Chapter 13, Part 3 of the Borough Code, 'General Licensing,' folds door-to-door soliciting into its annual license scheme. Section 301(G) covers 'every sample merchant, salesman, or agent soliciting orders for future delivery of any goods and/or services' and requires an annual license fee, set from time to time by Borough Council resolution, paid by January 15 each year (half the annual fee if the business starts after July 15). A canvasser working for a religious, educational, charitable or political purpose is exempt from the fee, but must still register a name and address with the Borough Manager, or in the Manager's absence the Inspections Director, and separately with the Police Department, before soliciting any order.

Anyone not exempt must go through a heavier process: registering name and address, the firm's name and business references, and submitting to fingerprinting and identification by the Police Department and/or Borough Manager, before the Borough will decide whether the applicant's product or service and bona fides justify issuing the license. The same Part 3 also licenses adjacent door-to-door activity separately: Section 301(H) covers hucksters, vendors and peddlers selling merchandise by vehicle along Borough streets, who must carry their license and mark their vehicle with its number, and Section 301(I) covers peddlers, hawkers and agents with no permanent Borough residence selling furs, rugs, notions or other merchandise, who face the same registration, fingerprinting and license-fee structure as door-to-door solicitors, again with a religious, educational, charitable or political exemption.

A license issued under Section 301 can be revoked under Section 304 for any breach of its terms, with an appeal to Borough Council available under Section 305.