Door-to-door solicitation is legal in Bartlesville, but solicitors are required to obtain a temporary permit from the City before knocking your door — and you have a right to see it, Community Development Director Lisa Beeman said this week.
“We have received several complaints and inquiries lately from residents about door-to-door solicitation,” Beeman said. “People want to know if it’s legal and what they can do to stop it.
“The answer to that is that it is legal as long as the company has obtained a temporary permit from the Community Development Department. Residents can ask to see that permit and, if the solicitor can’t produce one, the City can take further action at that point, either by suspending the company’s permit, if it has one, or requiring that solicitation be stopped.”
Additionally, she said, in residential areas, door-to-door soliciting can only occur between the hours of 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on any day except Sunday, when the hours are further restricted to noon to 6 p.m.
Beeman said another option is to place a sign on the property stating that soliciting is not permitted.
“If a resident has a ‘No Solicitors’, ‘No Soliciting’, ‘No Trespassing’ or similar type sign on their property that can be easily seen by anyone approaching the door, solicitors are prohibited from attempting a sale at that residence,” she said.
Be aware, though, that just because a solicitor has been issued a City permit, it is still a “buyer beware” system.
“While we do verify the company exists in the state of Oklahoma, we have no way of verifying the legitimacy of the company or the product being sold,” Beeman said.
Also, “pushy” sales people don’t have to be tolerated, she said.
“We sometimes hear reports that solicitors are pushy or obnoxious. In these cases, residents can contact the police department and ask for assistance,” Beeman said. “The resident will need to be able to identify the sales person so the officer can locate them and inquire further. Excessive complaints about a company can result in that company having their permit revoked, which means they can no longer solicit within the city limits.”