permits

Florida Door-to-Door Solicitation Permits

Florida requires a state permit from the clerk of court plus, in most cities, a local one. Here are the rules and the sources.

Florida is unusual. Most states leave door-to-door permitting entirely to cities. Florida layers a statewide permit on top of the local ones, and soliciting without it is a criminal offense.

Roofing and solar canvassers here face three layers: the state permit, the local permit, and a statute governing what a contractor may say at the door.

The state permit comes from the clerk of the circuit court

Florida Statutes 501.022 provides that "It is unlawful for any person to conduct any home solicitation sale" without a valid permit, filed "with the clerk of the circuit court for the county in which applicants intend to conduct" such sales.

Note the issuer. This is a county clerk-of-court permit, not a state agency permit, and it is the most commonly misreported fact about Florida.

The application requires two recent color photographs, a criminal-history statement, and "A complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law enforcement agency," which the clerk sends to FDLE. You receive a "laminated identification card" valid "for a period of 1 year," displayed "to all prospective buyers before initiating the solicitation."

The statute sets no fee: the clerk may impose "a reasonable permit fee sufficient to offset the administrative costs." The Hillsborough County Clerk charges "A non-refundable application fee of $100." The Sarasota County Clerk lists $77.00 plus a $16.05 photo fee.

Section 501.055 makes soliciting without a permit a first-degree misdemeanor, and "a second or subsequent conviction is a third-degree felony." Exclusions include visits by "express invitation, oral or written, of an inhabitant" and sales "by sample, catalog, or brochure for future delivery." Section 501.022(4) lists as grounds for denial that the applicant "Has failed to obtain required county or municipal occupational licenses," so the state permit depends on local compliance.

The cancellation right

Section 501.021(1) covers a sale "with a purchase price in excess of $25" solicited away from the seller's fixed location. Section 501.025 gives the buyer until "midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs," with mailed cancellation "effective upon postmarking." Section 501.021(2) defines business day as "any calendar day except Sunday or a federal holiday." Section 501.031 prescribes exact contract language under the caption "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL."

Section 501.045 adds a line contractors should read twice: if the seller performed services before cancellation, "the seller is entitled to no compensation for such services."

What a roofing contractor may say

Florida Statutes 489.147 is the tightest contractor-solicitation statute in the country, and its definition of "soliciting" expressly includes contacting a person "In person."

A contractor may not offer "a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, waiver of any insurance deductible, or any other thing of value" in exchange for allowing a roof inspection or for making a roof insurance claim. It is "insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree" to knowingly and willfully, with intent to injure, defraud or deceive, "pay, waive, or rebate all or part of an insurance deductible." A contractor may not interpret policy provisions, advise on coverage, or adjust a claim "unless the contractor holds a license as a public adjuster." Violations carry "up to a $10,000 fine for each violation," and the acts of "a nonemployee who is compensated for soliciting" count as the contractor's own.

It reaches leave-behinds too. A "prohibited advertisement" is any communication encouraging a roof claim without three required disclosures in a font "of at least 12 points and at least half as large as the largest font size used." The term "includes, but is not limited to, door hangers, business cards, magnets, flyers, pamphlets, and e-mails."

A roof contract lacking the required notice may be voided "within 10 days after executing it," and a contract signed "within 180 days of events that are the subject of a declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor" carries an extra cancellation right. Roofing contractor is defined at 489.105(3)(e) and solar contractor at 489.105(3)(o); section 489.113(2) requires certification or registration to contract in Florida.

The local permit

Jacksonville. Permit required. Chapter 250, Part 7 section 250.702 requires application, and "Such permit shall be carried by the solicitor." Issued by the Tax Collector. Published fees: one day $10.00, three day $15.00, one month $35.00. Hours, section 250.706: no knocking "prior to 9:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. of any weekday, or at any time on a Sunday or on a State or national holiday." Section 250.703(c) is nearly unique: a neighborhood-wide no-solicitation posting binds every residence inside it on a petition from "property owners owning at least 60 percent of the total property ownership," and section 250.704(b) puts the burden on the solicitor "to contact the City to verify the geographic boundaries."

Orlando. Permit required, plus a business tax receipt. Chapter 45 section 45.01 makes it unlawful to solicit without "a valid, current solicitor's permit," and makes it unlawful for a manager to authorize an agent who lacks one. Issued by the Director of Economic Development, with fingerprints taken by Orlando Police. Codified fee: $20.00 initial, $10.00 renewal. The hours are the strictest in the state, section 45.02(1)(c): no conducting business "between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. or at any time on Sundays." That rules out evening canvassing. Section 45.02(1)(a) bars entry where "a 'No Solicitors' sign is posted," and the code prohibits approaching "back or rear doors."

Tampa. No city permit and no curfew. The state permit is the operative one, plus a business tax receipt. Tampa's sign rule at section 6-171 covers handbills only: unlawful to place them where "a reasonably conspicuous sign reading 'No Advertising' or 'No Solicitation'" is posted. A posted sign does not, by Tampa ordinance, bar an oral pitch. Municode notes some Tampa ordinances since 2019 were not provided to it, so confirm the negative with the City Clerk.

Miami and Miami-Dade. The City of Miami's Chapter 39, Article I is entirely reserved, so there is no city permit. Section 39-47 does make it unlawful "for any uninvited solicitors, peddlers, vendors, itinerant merchants, door-to-door canvassers or hawkers to visit or go upon any premises which have been posted" with a sign in "letters at least one and one-half inches high." The hours rule is countywide: Miami-Dade section 21-29.1.1, adopted in 2024, bars soliciting "on any private residential property between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., without first obtaining the consent of the property owner." It "shall apply to both the incorporated and unincorporated areas," so it governs inside the City of Miami too.

St. Petersburg. Permit required. Chapter 17, Article V section 17-187. Police take fingerprints and issue a photo ID card. Hours are seasonal, section 17-160(7): no attempt to gain admittance "between the hours of 7:00 p.m. or sunset, whichever is earlier, and 8:00 a.m." In winter that closes well before 7 p.m. Section 17-160(3) bars knocking where "No Peddlers or Solicitors" is posted. The fee is set by reference to Chapter 12, which has no solicitor entry, so it is not published in the code.

Cape Coral. Permit required. Chapter 13 section 13-19, signed by the City Clerk. Fees are in the code at 13-24: $25 monthly, $50 quarterly, $75 per six months, $100 annually. Hours, section 13-6: nothing "between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. the following morning, or at any time on Sundays, except by specific appointment with or invitation." Section 13-4 bars entry where "No Peddlers Allowed" or "No Solicitations Allowed" is posted. Section 13-25 requires "a bond in the penal sum of $1,000," and section 13-28 means every individual needs their own permit: none issue to a corporation.

The constitutional backdrop

A "Green River ordinance," named for the Wyoming town that adopted the first in 1931, bans uninvited commercial door-to-door solicitation outright, and the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana version in Breard v. Alexandria in 1951. Noncommercial canvassing differs: Martin v. City of Struthers struck down a blanket ban in 1943 while noting that "A city can punish those who call at a home in defiance of the previously expressed will of the occupant," which is the basis of every sign rule above, and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society v. Village of Stratton held in 2002 that a canvassing permit requirement violated the First Amendment "as it applies to religious proselytizing."

Checklist

State permit from the clerk of court in every county you work, carried and shown before each solicitation.
Local permit in Jacksonville, Orlando, St. Petersburg and Cape Coral. None in Tampa or the City of Miami.
Hours vary sharply. Orlando and Cape Coral stop at 5 p.m., St. Petersburg at sunset, Miami-Dade at 7 p.m. countywide, Jacksonville at 9 p.m. with no Sundays or holidays.
Contractor certification or registration under Chapter 489.
Brief every rep on 489.147 before they knock. The deductible and inspection-inducement bans are criminal.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the current rule with the city or county before you knock.