(A) Required. It is unlawful for any solicitor or canvasser as defined in this subchapter to engage in the business within the city without first obtaining a license therefor in compliance with the provisions of this subchapter.
(Prior Code, § 120.101)
(B) Application. A written application for the license shall be filed with the City Controller in compliance with the general licensing provisions of this code. In addition to the general information required, the application shall contain the following information:
(1) The length of time for which the right to do business is desired;
(2) The place where the goods or property proposed to be sold or orders taken for the sale thereof are manufactured or produced, where the goods or products are located at the time the application is filed and the proposed method of delivery;
(3) A photograph of the applicant taken within 60 days immediately prior to the date of the filing of the application, which picture shall be two inches by two inches showing the head and shoulders of the applicant in a clear and distinguishing manner;
(4) The fingerprints of the applicant and references as to the applicant’s good character and business respectability;
(5) The complete criminal record, if any, of the applicant; and
(6) A statement by a reputable physician of the city dated not more than ten days prior to submission of the application certifying the applicant to be free of contagious, infectious, or communicable disease.
(Prior Code, § 120.102)
(C) Bond. Every applicant not a resident of the city or who, being a resident of the city, represents a firm whose principal place of business is located outside the state shall file with the City Controller a surety bond, payable to the city in the penal sum of an amount as set by the city from time to time, with acceptable surety, conditioned that the applicant shall comply fully with all the provisions of law and this subchapter regulating and concerning the business of solicitors and guaranteeing to any person that all money paid in the city as a down payment will be accounted for and applied according to the representations of the solicitor and further guaranteeing to any person doing business with the solicitor in the city that the property purchased will be delivered according to the representations of the solicitor. Action on the bond may be brought in the name of the city to the use or benefit of the aggrieved person.
(Prior Code, § 120.103)
(D) Fees.
(1) The license fee which shall be required of each applicant shall be an amount as set by the city from time to time per annum, and shall be payable in advance. On all licenses applied for after July 1, only one-half the annual fee shall be required.
(2) None of the license fees provided for by this subchapter shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce. In any case where a license fee is believed by a licensee or applicant for license to place an undue burden upon the commerce, he or she may apply to the City Controller for an adjustment of the fee so that it shall not be discriminatory, unreasonable, or unfair as to the commerce. The application may be made before, at, or within six months after payment of the prescribed license fee, but at least one month before the end of the calendar year. The applicant shall, by affidavit and supporting testimony, show his or her method of business and the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and other information as the City Controller may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of undue burden on commerce. The City Controller shall then conduct an investigation, compare the applicant’s business with other businesses of a similar nature, and shall make findings of fact from which he or she shall determine whether the fee fixed by this section is unfair, unreasonable, or discriminatory as to the applicant’s business and shall fix as the license fee for the applicant an amount that is fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory or, if the fee has already been paid, shall order a refund of the amount over and above the fee so fixed. In fixing the fee to be charged, the City Controller shall have the power to base the fee upon a percentage of the gross sales or any other method which will assure that the fee assessed shall be uniform with that assessed on businesses of like nature, so long as the amount assessed does not exceed the fees as prescribed in this section. Should the City Controller determine the gross sales measure of the fee to be the fair basis, he or she may require the applicant to submit, either at the time of termination of applicant’s business in the city or at the end of each three-month period, a sworn statement of the gross sales and pay the amount of fee therefor; provided, that no additional fee during any one calendar year shall be required after the licensee shall have paid an amount equal to the annual license as prescribed in this section.
(Prior Code, § 120.104)
(E) Badge issuance. The City Controller shall issue a license and a badge, which shall contain the words “licensed solicitor,” the period for which the license is issued and the number of the license, in letters and figures easily discernible from the distance of ten feet. The badge shall, during the time the licensee is engaged in soliciting, be worn constantly by the licensee on the front of his or her outer garment in a way as to be conspicuous.
(Prior Code, § 120.105)
Penalty, see § 116.999