Know your rights · California

Is door-to-door soliciting legal in California?

Short answer: yes — courts won't let cities ban knocking outright. But “legal” is doing less work than solicitors would like you to think. California law makes pressure sales cancelable, cities set their own permit and hours rules, and once you say “leave,” the law is on your side. Here's the whole picture, with citations.

The quick version

Soliciting is legal but regulated — mostly by your city, not the state.
Anything you signed at your door can usually be canceled within 3 business days (state and/or federal law).
A solicitor who stays after you say “leave” is trespassing — anywhere in California.
What a posted sign means varies by city: a posted sign helps, but at a home your spoken “please leave” is enough for trespass under Penal Code § 602 — and big cities also ban evening knocking and require solicitor ID.

What California state law gives you

Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1689.5–1689.7

Three days to cancel — and longer if they skipped the notice

California’s Home Solicitation Sales Act lets you cancel a door-to-door contract until midnight of the third business day. The seller must print the cancellation right in at least 10-point boldface right next to your signature.

Here’s the California kicker: if the seller fails to give you that required notice, the clock never starts — you can cancel at any time until they properly comply. A sloppy contractor’s missing paperwork works in your favor.

Cal. Penal Code § 602 / § 602.5

At your home, “please leave” is enough

For a residence, California trespass law doesn’t require a posted sign. Willfully refusing to leave private property after the occupant asks is trespass, and § 602.5 specifically covers entering or remaining in an occupied dwelling without permission.

A “No Soliciting” sign still helps — it documents that the visit was unwelcome — but the strongest move at a California door is simply a clear, spoken “please leave now.” After that, a canvasser who lingers is trespassing.

Municipal ordinances

No statewide permit — big cities regulate hard

California doesn’t license solicitors statewide, and its major cities fill the gap with permits, background checks, ID badges, and evening curfews. The three below all require a permit or tax certificate and ban late knocking — check your own city, because in California the odds it regulates are high.

Your city sets the door-knocking rules

California's largest cities regulate solicitors in different ways — a good preview of how much this varies town to town. If yours isn't here, search “[your city] solicitor permit.”

Photo ID required; no knocking 8 p.m.–8 a.m.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles bars soliciting at a residence between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. (Municipal Code § 41.43.1), and anyone over 16 soliciting door-to-door must carry photo identification and show it on request. A posted no-soliciting sign, combined with the state trespass law, gives you a clear basis to end the visit.

Business tax certificate + solicitor ID card

San Diego

San Diego requires door-to-door solicitors to hold a business tax certificate and a solicitor’s identification card, bans soliciting between 8 p.m. and 9 a.m., and prohibits it entirely where a “No Soliciting” sign is displayed. The police department publishes exactly what a legitimate solicitor should be able to show.

San Diego makes the posted sign a hard stop — soliciting a signed home is simply not allowed.

City permit + background check + badge

San Jose

San Jose requires a solicitor permit with a background check and a visible ID badge (Municipal Code ch. 11.38), limits knocking to roughly 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and fines soliciting without a permit up to $500. Religious and political canvassing is exempt from the permit, as the First Amendment requires.

What a “No Soliciting” sign does — and where it falls short

Post one. Where the local code gives it legal force it turns some canvassers away, and everywhere it establishes that a knock wasn't welcome. But the patchwork above exposes the sign's two structural weaknesses: the rules protecting you differ block by block, and a sign creates no record of who ignored it. Enforcement is almost always complaint-driven — and a complaint is only as strong as your ability to say who knocked, and when.

Where NoKnock fits

Make the sign checkable — and the ignoring of it a record

A do-not-knock list a company can actually be held to is the stronger model. NoKnock is that idea for any address in the country — you register free, put a QR decal at your door, and canvassing organizations that subscribe get a “Do Not Knock” answer for your home before anyone walks up. If someone knocks anyway, logging it takes seconds, so the fourth violation reads as a pattern, not four bad afternoons.

Honest caveat: the registry is young, and not every canvasser checks it yet. The decal works on day one regardless — and it's the only option on this page that turns an ignored “no” into a timestamped record.

Religious and political canvassers play by different rules

In Watchtower v. Village of Stratton (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a town can't require a permit for religious, political, or other noncommercial door-to-door canvassing. That's why city permit schemes carve those groups out, and why a “permit, please” challenge only works on commercial sellers.

What survives for noncommercial visitors: the trespass baseline (they must leave when asked) and, in some cities, posted-sign rules that apply to everyone. If you want maximum legal coverage from a sign alone, “No Trespassing” generally sweeps broader than “No Soliciting.”

Common questions

Is door-to-door soliciting legal in California?

Yes, but it is heavily regulated by cities. Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose all require a permit or tax certificate, ID for solicitors, and ban evening knocking. State law also lets you cancel most doorstep contracts within three business days — and if the seller failed to give you the required cancellation notice, you can cancel at any time until they do.

Do I need a No Soliciting sign to stop solicitors in California?

Not at a home. Under California Penal Code § 602, willfully refusing to leave a residence after the occupant asks is trespass, and § 602.5 covers remaining in an occupied dwelling without permission — no sign required. A posted "No Soliciting" sign still helps document that the visit was unwelcome, and some cities (like San Diego) ban soliciting at signed homes outright.

Can I cancel a contract I signed with a door-to-door salesperson in California?

Usually yes. California Civil Code § 1689.5 gives you until midnight of the third business day to cancel a home solicitation contract, and the seller must print that right in boldface by your signature. Critically, if they failed to give you the required notice, the cancellation window never started — you can cancel until they properly comply. The federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule adds a parallel three-day right.

What hours can solicitors knock on doors in California?

It varies by city. Los Angeles bans soliciting from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., San Diego from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m., and San Jose limits it to roughly 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is no single statewide hour rule, so check your own city’s municipal code.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice, and state statutes and city ordinances change — always verify against the current code before relying on a specific provision. Last reviewed July 2026.

The law backs you up. Make it easy to invoke.

Register your address, put the decal by the door, and every rule on this page gets a record to point at. Free, under a minute.

Want the practical playbook too? How to stop door-to-door salesmen