What you should know about door-to-door solicitors in Shoreline
Monday, September 16, 2024
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| The clipboard is a giveaway that you are about to get a sales pitch Photo by Debbie Seger |
They knock aggressively at the door, but back away and speak politely.
They tell you that they are working in your neighborhood and want to help you get rid of termites or moss or cut down your trees.
When you ask for their permit from the City of Shoreline, they will tell you that their supervisor has it, or it's in their car several blocks away.
The City of Shoreline has a municipal ordinance regulating the activities of salespeople and solicitors (Shoreline Municipal Code 5.07).
The fact that they have a permit is not a recommendation from the City. It means that they know who is knocking on your door.
The ordinance requires for-profit solicitors and “Master Solicitors” who employ
them to file a written application for a license with the Shoreline City
Clerk and carry the license at all times when soliciting or canvassing.
Solicitors must produce the license when requested by persons being
solicited, police or City officials.
The following are exempt from the license requirements:
- Tax-exempt non-profit organizations who have filed a current 501(C)3 with the City Clerk
- Newspaper deliverers
- Political candidates, campaign workers and political committees soliciting signatures of registered voters
- Sales people who solicit businesses
Safeguard yourself and your home from unscrupulous door-to-door solicitors:
- Always ask solicitors for identification to verify what company they are working for. If they refuse, ask them to leave.
- Ask to see their license from the City of Shoreline. If they do not have one, ask them to leave.
- If you encounter a solicitor who becomes aggressive or won’t take “no” for an answer, ask them to leave, shut the door and call 911.
- Never invite a solicitor into your home. You can say “no thank you” without opening the door.
- Never give a solicitor your Social Security number.
- Don't give a salesperson cash or a check. Ask to order directly from the company online or receive a bill to pay upon receipt of the product or service.
- If an item seems too good or too inexpensive to be true, it probably is.
- Orders taken are required to be in writing, in duplicate (you get a copy) and to state the name of the solicitor as it appears on his/her license, the solicitor’s permit number, the address of the solicitor and their employer, the terms of the agreement and the amount paid to the solicitor.
- You may post a “No Solicitor” sign on private property.
Currently the only company registered with the City is Ever-Green Tree Care.
Report Solicitor Violations to Shoreline Police Non-Emergency (206) 296-3311. Be prepared to describe appearance, clothing, and direction they went when they left your property.
Report Solicitor Violations to Shoreline Police Non-Emergency (206) 296-3311. Be prepared to describe appearance, clothing, and direction they went when they left your property.
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12 comments:
Good info. I always wondered why we very seldom got door knockers. This is a sensible law.
An extra layer of protection for homeowners is a LOCKED storm door. Should you choose to open your door, you still have a barrier between yourself and a person or persons outside your door. You can more safely engage in a conversation. And this barrier also prevents a stranger from potentially thwarting your attempt to close your door. The key is to keep the storm door LOCKED.
It is disappointing to me to show a black person for this notice.
I didn't know they had to have permission from City of Shoreline - THANKS!!!
I now have a "No Solicitors" sign on my house, and shortly after I put it up, a real estate agent gave her 5-ish year old daughter the door knob hanger to put on my door, (her daughter couldn't read my sign). What a horrible mom and morally bankrupt real estate agent!!! As if ANYONE would want HER as their realtor!!! [Do I look that stupid that I'd want this crazy lady to help me sell my house?]
Are the Jehovah's Witnesses 501(c)3?
While we might find soliciting or door knocking annoying at times, we must be clear.
Knocking on someone’s door to share information, concerns, political messages and even religious beliefs is a Constitutionally protected activity!
Justice Antonin Scalea made that decision ver y clear..
You are not required to talk to anyone at your door with the exceptions of law enforcement personnel.
Residents who want to share information are NOT required by law to have a permit or be a 501C3 organization member.
The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights is very clear on this matter.
In this Supreme Court opinion, a City’s permit tequilas struck down on First Amendment basis.
“ In Watchtower Bible & Tract Soc’y v. Village of Stratton, the Court struck down an ordinance that made it a misdemeanor to engage in door-to-door advocacy—religious, political, or commercial—without first registering with the mayor and receiving a permit.9 It is offensive to the very notion of a free society, the Court wrote,that a citizen must first inform the government of her desire to speak to her neighbors and then obtain a permit to do so.10 The Court ruled that the ordinance violated the right to anonymity, burdened the freedom of speech of those who hold religious or patriotic views that prevent them from applying for a license, and effectively banned a significant amount of spontaneous speech that might be engaged in on a holiday or weekend when it was not possible to obtain a permit.11”
I just want the motorized scooter dude to scoot away.
Anonymous 4:33 - the solicitor is not a person of color. It's just a dark photo.
I agree. I asked myself why someone would use this photo in a story that starts describing “aggressive” door knocking. As a long time Shoreline resident, the majority of solicitors who have knocked on my door are not young black men. I think the author of this article should reflect on their choice of photo and either change the photo to one that actually represents the typical solicitor in Shoreline or take this article down.
The solicitor in the photo was white. The photo is dark.
Give me a break. I live in Ridgecrest, and probably 70% of the solicitors are black, the remaining are evenly split, Filipinos and white.
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