Mountain House Municipal Code Ch. 2 Solicitor Licenses

No person shall without first obtaining a license to operate, act or attempt to act within the City as a solicitor or itinerant solicitor.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) "Solicitor" is defined for the purpose of this Chapter as any person who goes from house to house, place to place, in or along the street, whether by appointment or otherwise, whose primary or secondary purpose if buying, selling or taking orders for or offering to buy, sell or take orders for goods, wares, or merchandise or other things of value for future delivery, or for services to be performed in the future, or who makes telephone calls for such purposes to persons within the City.

(b) "Itinerant solicitor" is defined for the purpose of this Chapter as any person who, in addition to the matters described in subsection (a) of this section, has no permanent residence in the City or who does not maintain a principal place of business in the City.

(c) "Principal place of business" is defined for the purpose of this Chapter as a business house separate and distinct from any other business or residence, regularly kept open with an agent acting exclusively for such business in attendance therein between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for at least six (6) hours per day, for at least five (5) days per week.

(d) "Permanent residence" is defined for the purpose of this Chapter as a dwelling within the State of California where an applicant for a license has resided continuously for at least one year immediately preceding the filing of his application, and within the City continuously for at least one hundred twenty (120) days immediately preceding the filing of his application.

(e) "Chief of Police" means the City Manager or the City Manager's designee.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

To procure a license to operate as a solicitor or itinerant solicitor, a written application must be filed with the City Administrative Services Director's Office on forms provided therefor.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The truth of the matter contained in each application must be verified by the oath of the applicant in the same manner as pleadings in civil actions in this State are required to be verified.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Before a license may be issued under this Chapter, the applicant must deposit with the Administrative Services Director a bond in an amount to be determined on the basis of the anticipated gross revenues from solicitation, and without regard to whether the applicant has a principal place of business or a permanent residence in the City. The amount of said bond shall be not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), with surety or sureties to be approved, conditioned that upon failure to comply with any of the conditions or provisions of this Chapter the applicant or his sureties will pay any fine of not more than the amount of bond which may be imposed upon the applicant for such failure, and further conditioned that any person aggrieved by any solicitor or itinerant solicitor shall have a right of action on the bond for the recovery of money or damages or both. Said bond shall remain in effect for thirty (30) days after the expiration of a license or any renewal thereof issued pursuant to this Chapter.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Upon the filing of an application for license, the posting of the required bond, the investigation of the information contained in the application by the Chief of Police, including the applicant's business background and moral character, and the Chief of Police's favorable report thereon to the Administrative Services Director, the Administrative Services Director shall issue a license to the applicant. Should the Chief of Police report that any of the information in such application is untrue, or that the applicant's character or business responsibility is unsatisfactory, the Administrative Services Director shall notify the applicant that his application is disapproved and that no license will issue.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Any duly licensed solicitor or itinerant solicitor shall, while operating in the City, carry on his or her person at all times an identification card to be furnished by the Administrative Services Director's Office at the time the license required by this Chapter is issued. Said card will state and serve as notice to the public that said solicitor or itinerant solicitor is duly licensed by the City, and said card must be shown to anyone contacted in person by the solicitor or itinerant solicitor for business purposes before any sale or offer to sell is made or any order taken. The fee for said card shall be set by resolution of the City Council.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The fee for each license shall be set by resolution of the City Council. The full amount of the fee shall be paid upon the submission of the license application. License fees will not be prorated nor will refunds be granted upon the termination of a business.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Solicitors and itinerant solicitors employed by a nonprofit charitable or fraternal organization and not themselves profiting from their solicitation are exempt from the fees provided for in Section 7-1-207 of this Chapter and from the bond required by Section 7-1-205. To establish a claim of exemption, such solicitor must file with the Administrative Services Director, in addition to the application provided for in Section 7-1-202 of this Chapter, a written, notarized affidavit disclosing the following information: a list of all principals or, if such organization is a corporation, a list of all corporate officers; a financial statement for the business for the most recent fiscal year; the name of the applicant's immediate supervisor; and any other information the Chief of Police or Administrative Services Director may require. No such solicitor is entitled to operate within the City unless and until said organization has obtained the license and said solicitor has obtained the identification card required by this Chapter.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

No person may operate within the City as a solicitor or itinerant solicitor before 9:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) Any failure to comply with the provisions of this Chapter, including failure to obtain a solicitor's license, is a misdemeanor punishable by revocation of the misdemeanant's solicitor's license, by a fine of three hundred dollars ($300.00), by imprisonment in the County jail for a term of not more than three (3) months, or by such revocation and/or fine and/or imprisonment.

(b) Any person who intentionally or negligently violates this Chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) for each day in which such violation occurs.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

A license issued pursuant to this Chapter may be revoked after hearing by the City Council upon proof that the applicant has been convicted during the term of such license of a crime or civil violation prosecuted in the name of the People of the State of California, provided such conviction is related to the applicant's conduct of his business.

(Ord. 2024-25, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)