Ridgewood, NJ Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Chapter 218, adopted August 5, 2003 by Ordinance No. 2834 and amended August 8, 2007 by Ordinance No. 3075, requires every peddler, solicitor or canvasser working the Village of Ridgewood, Bergen County, to register before knocking on a single door. Section 218-3A makes it unlawful to "ply or conduct his trade or solicitation within the Village of Ridgewood without having first obtained a certificate of registration from the Village Clerk," and § 218-3B extends the same bar to any employee or agent whose principal has not registered.

Section 218-4A directs the applicant to file a registration statement with the Ridgewood Police Department before soliciting, disclosing the applicant's name and address, whether the registrant is an individual, partnership, corporation or association, the names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver's license information of everyone who will canvass, the goods or services involved, the dates the campaign will run, any vehicle to be used, and every other municipality where the applicant has solicited in the past 12 months. Under § 218-5, the Police Department reviews the statement and forwards it to the Village Clerk, who must issue a certificate within 48 hours or specify what is missing; a denied applicant can appeal to the Village Manager within five days.

Registrants must carry a Village-issued identification card at all times while soliciting (§ 218-8), and § 218-9 sets every certificate and card to expire on December 31 of the year issued, with no proration of fees. Section 218-7 exempts state-regulated persons, newspaper subscription sellers, and noncommercial political, religious or charitable canvassers from registration, though charities must still notify the Village Clerk's office of their activity.