Skip to main content
We have a “No Soliciting” sign outside our house. Exasperatingly often, door-to-door solicitors either don’t see it (hard to believe) or see it and ignore it. Are they allowed, legally, to ignore “No Soliciting” signs? And what can I do when they persist in knocking? —Mark in NE
Portland’s City Code has a few words on this subject. There are entries pertaining to solicitation in pedestrian plazas and public parks, for example, as well as to the kind of “soliciting” that involves prostitution. Briefly, the limitations on solicitation are as follows: You may not do it in a plaza. You may not with a john’s kielbasa. You may not, must not, in a park. You may not do it, Northeast Mark!
Unfortunately, when it comes to solicitors who come to your house, Portland’s laws (and Dr. Seuss) are silent: Not only is going door to door perfectly legal, signs like yours have all the statutory authority of a picture of Broom Hilda proclaiming, “Witch Parking Only: Violators Will Be Toad.”
If it’s any consolation, other jurisdictions are less lenient. Hillsboro has an ordinance explicitly excluding solicitors from any property with a “No Soliciting” sign, which sounds pretty good until I tell you that I found the law through a local newspaper op-ed about how everyone ignores it. Other towns around the country have enacted similar laws (with, one suspects, similar results).
Some cities haven’t stopped there, however. Green River, Wyoming, banned all door-to-door solicitation, sign or no sign, in 1931. This led the Fuller Brush Company—which was to door-to-door sales what Amway is to multilevel marketing—to sue the town. Green River prevailed in court, triggering an avalanche of similar laws around the country that are to this day known as “Green River ordinances.”
But don’t get too excited. In general, courts have been pretty deferential to solicitors’ free-speech rights to annoy you—especially when the speech is religious or political, which I think we can all agree are the two most annoying types of free speech. Many Green River laws that cast too wide a net were struck down.
In the meantime, anecdotal sources suggest a stern “No Trespassing”—something that’s actually illegal—gets the hucksters’ attention better than the toothless “No Soliciting.” Until Portland gets its own Green River ordinance, it may be worth a try. Or you could just say, “Sorry, I think I hear the bullfrog calling me” and close the door.
Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.