9 California towns, 8 quoted. Of these, 4 have codes that bar uninvited soliciting at homes, 3 have permit, registration or hours rules, 1 is unclear and 1 is not published online. Each row
links its source and shows the date read.
Published October 20, 2026
Counts
California towns by rule
Rule
Towns
Uninvited home soliciting barred
4
Permit or license required
1
Registration required
1
Hours or sign rules
1
Unclear wording: ask the clerk
1
Code not published online
1
California state law
Read on the legislature's or official code publisher's own site.
§ 1689.5(a): "“Home solicitation contract or offer” means any contract, whether single or multiple, or any offer which is subject to approval, for the sale, lease, or rental of goods or services" (continues: "made at other than appropriate trade premises in an amount of twenty-five dollars ($25) or more") · § 1689.6(a)(1): "the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation contract or offer until midnight of the third business day, or until midnight of the fifth business day" (if the buyer is a senior citizen)
Town by town
Antioch
Hours or sign rules
“It shall be unlawful for any person to peddle or solicit on any premises … posted with a clearly visible sign bearing the words “No Peddlers or Solicitors” or other words of the same purport or effect.”
Peddling or soliciting is unlawful on premises posted with a No Peddlers or Solicitors sign. No door-to-door permit or hours rule found; code current only to December 2024.
County
Contra Costa County
Section
Title 5 Ch. 2 Art. 3, Sec. 5-2.301
Hours / signs
Sec. 5-2.301: peddling or soliciting is unlawful on premises posted No Peddlers or Solicitors. No door-to-door hours rule found.
Code version
American Legal, Antioch Code of Ordinances 2025 S-41 (current), Current through Ordinance 2243-C-S, passed 12-10-2024
“unlawful for any person to engage in business as a canvasser or solicitor, calling at residences … without the previous consent of the occupant for the purpose of soliciting orders, sales … without first having registered in the office of the Sheriff.”
Unincorporated; Plumas County code applies. Canvassers and solicitors calling at residences must register with the Sheriff. A separate itinerant vendor license covers sales for immediate delivery.
County
Plumas County
Section
Title 5 Ch. 2, Secs. 5-2.01 to 5-2.06; cf. Ch. 1 Art. 2, Secs. 5-1.201, 5-1.207
Permit
Secs. 5-2.01 to 5-2.04: register with the Sheriff; 25 dollars per day or 100 dollars per month plus state fingerprint fee; certificate issued unless evidence of bad character; carry and show it.
Code version
Municode, Plumas County Code, Codified through Ordinance No. 2025-1159, enacted June 10, 2025 (Supp. No. 20); online content updated August 26, 2025
“The practice of going in and upon private residences … by solicitors … not having been requested or invited … for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise … is hereby prohibited and declared to be a nuisance.”
The code prohibits and declares a nuisance uninvited calls at private residences to solicit orders; the clause names goods, wares and merchandise. Religious, political and charitable speech is excepted.
County
Colusa County
Section
Ch. 12, Sec. 12-6; cf. Ch. 10 (business licenses)
Code version
Municode, Code of the City of Colusa, Codified through Ordinance No. 568, enacted May 20, 2025 (Supp. No. 31); online content updated October 8, 2025
“No person, whether individually or as agent of another, shall engage in the business of peddling in the city without first having obtained a license therefore from the City Clerk”
Peddling, meaning selling or taking orders for goods, wares or merchandise without a fixed place of business, requires a city license. The chapter names goods only; posted PDFs may lag.
Secs. 16-3 to 16-9: peddler license from City Clerk; 50 dollars per three months plus 5 dollars processing; fingerprints; Council may limit number issued; Clerk may refuse for good cause.
Code version
Imperial City Code, Chapter 16 PDF posted by the city (Ords. 418, 428); chapter PDFs carry no supplement or currency line
“The practice of going in and upon private residences … by solicitors, peddlers … not having been requested or invited … for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise … is prohibited, declared to be a nuisance”
The code prohibits uninvited calls at private residences to solicit orders and declares them a nuisance; the clause names goods, wares and merchandise. We found no exception for permit or license holders in the same code.
County
Tulare County
Section
Title 9 Ch. 9.72, Sec. 9.72.010; cf. Sec. 5.04.520
Permit
Sec. 5.04.520 sets only a business license tax for peddlers without a fixed place of business (100 dollars per month); it does not lift Sec. 9.72.010.
Code version
Municipal Code Online (Municode-hosted), Lindsay Municipal Code; Preface says code began in-house in 2019; host shows no codified-through line
“The practice of going to, in and upon private residences … not having been requested so to do … for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares and/or merchandise … is hereby declared to be a nuisance”
The code declares uninvited calls at private residences to solicit orders a nuisance and an infraction; the clause names goods, wares and merchandise. Fixed local businesses are excepted.
County
Stanislaus County
Section
Title 4 Ch. 7 Art. 4, Secs. 4-7.401, 4-7.403, 4-7.404; cf. Title 6 Ch. 1
Permit
Sec. 6-1.223: itinerant vendors without a fixed city place of business pay a business license tax; it does not mention or lift Sec. 4-7.401.
Code version
Municode, Modesto Municipal Code, Codified through Ordinance No. 3813-C.S. effective May 12, 2026 (Supp. No. 72); online content updated September 18, 2026
“The practice of going in and upon private residences … not having been requested or invited … for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares and merchandise … is prohibited, declared to be a nuisance”
The code declares uninvited calls at private residences to solicit orders for goods a nuisance, yet a vendor license covers house-to-house sellers of goods. Unreconciled; ask the clerk.
County
Stanislaus County
Section
Title 5 Ch. 5.08, Sec. 5.08.010; cf. Ch. 5.04 Sec. 5.04.020(J), Ch. 5.10 Secs. 5.10.010, 5.10.020
Permit
Ch. 5.10: city license required for any vendor, defined to include one who travels house to house selling goods; Ch. 5.04: business license fee for solicitors and peddlers.
Code version
eCode360, City of Patterson, Includes legislation through 07-21-2026
“The practice of going in and upon private residences … by solicitors, peddlers … not having been requested or invited … for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise … is hereby declared to be a nuisance”
The code declares uninvited calls at private residences to solicit orders a nuisance and a misdemeanor; the clause names goods, wares and merchandise. We found no exception for permit or license holders in the same code.
County
Fresno County
Section
Ch. 38 Art. I, Sec. 38-9(a)-(b); cf. Ch. 18 Art. II, Sec. 18-90
Permit
Sec. 18-90 sets only a business license tax for peddlers without a fixed place of business (15 dollars per day, 50 per month, 125 per year); it does not lift Sec. 38-9.
Code version
Municode, Code of Ordinances, Codified through Ordinance No. 2025-08, adopted October 16, 2025 (Supp. No. 28); online content updated March 31, 2026
We could not find these towns' code of ordinances online on the date shown; ask the town clerk for the current rules.
Calipatria (Imperial County): where we looked, October 19, 2026
Before you knock in California
Read the current code for the exact address (a mailing address can name a different town), check the
date on each row, and ask the town clerk in writing. Our permits guide shows how.
The full dataset for every state is on the national page and as a
CSV.
Not legal advice. KnockFiber is an independent recruiting company, not a law firm. This page quotes municipal codes as we read them on the date shown; codes change, and a clerk or a lawyer decides how a rule applies to you. Before you knock, read the current code and ask the town clerk, in writing. Found an error or a newer ordinance? Email recruiting@knockfiber.com and we will re-read the code and log the change.
