Is door-to-door soliciting legal in Colorado?

Under Colorado's Consumer Protection Act, a door-to-door seller commits a deceptive trade practice unless, within thirty seconds of starting the conversation, they identify themselves, say who they represent, and state why they're at your door.

That’s why the “I’m not selling anything, I’m just an advisor” opener matters: if it isn’t true, it isn’t just annoying - it’s a violation of state consumer law. You can ask, straight out: “Who do you work for, and what are you selling?” They’re required to answer.

If you agree to buy goods or services from someone who solicited you at home, Colorado gives you the right to cancel until midnight of the third business day after you signed. Cancellation just has to be in writing - mailing a note to the address on the contract is enough, and no particular wording is required.

A similar federal rule (the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule) covers most in-home sales of $25 or more, and requires the seller to tell you about your cancellation right and give you a cancellation form. If you felt pressured into a solar, roofing, or security contract on your doorstep, you have a window to undo it.

Colorado's criminal trespass statutes cover anyone who unlawfully enters or remains on your property. A salesperson walking up your path is generally treated as having implied permission to knock - but the moment you tell them to leave, that permission is revoked. Staying to argue, or coming back after being told not to, is where a sales call becomes a trespass matter you can report to police.

“Please leave my property, and don’t come back” is legally sufficient - the words don’t need to be fancy.

Denver requires each commercial door-to-door seller to hold their own city license (Revised Municipal Code, Chapter 47). Two protections are written directly into the code: it’s unlawful for a peddler to solicit at any home displaying a visible no-soliciting sign, and it’s unlawful to keep selling door-to-door from a half hour after sunset until 8:00 a.m. (§ 47-18). Nonprofits and school groups are exempt from the license itself, but the posted-sign and leave-when-asked rules still bind them.

Enforcement is complaint-driven, so the license only does anything if someone reports it. Denver takes complaints about both licensed and unlicensed businesses through the Consumer Protection Section of its Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (renamed from Excise and Licenses in 2025): call 311 or file the consumer complaint form online. Get the company name before you close the door, because the complaint needs one.

In Denver, your posted sign has direct legal force - soliciting past it is itself a code violation, no warning required.

Colorado Springs makes it unlawful to solicit on residential property after you’ve asked the person to leave or to stop soliciting, and the code says a posted “No Soliciting” sign counts as that request (City Code § 9.2.111). The wrinkle: the code’s definition of “soliciting” centers on requests for money or donations, so police guidance treats a pure sales pitch at a signed door as not automatically criminal.

Practical upshot in the Springs: say the words. Once you’ve told a seller to leave, a return visit or a refusal to go is enforceable - before that, the sign alone may not be.

Fort Collins requires commercial solicitors to hold a city permit ($200 for up to four solicitors, $300 for five or more, plus a city sales tax license), restricts all door-to-door solicitation to 9 a.m. to sunset, and bans solicitation entirely at homes posting a “No Solicitation” or “No Trespassing” sign - including non-commercial canvassers. Residents can also join the city’s own online no-solicitation list, which bars commercial solicitors even without a sign. Violations are complaint-driven: report to Police Services, and be prepared to testify.

Fort Collins runs a municipal version of exactly what a do-not-knock registry does - proof the model works when it’s checkable.

Castle Rock licenses every door-to-door solicitor (Ordinance 2013-43): a $35 registration, a background check, and a Castle Rock business or contractor license first. Under Municipal Code 5.04 a solicitor may not knock at a home displaying either a Town-issued “No Knock” sticker or any posted “no soliciting” sign. Residents used to register an address on a Town list; as of April 23, 2026 they no longer do - the amended code made the program sign-based instead. The Town gives the stickers away at fifteen pickup locations and publishes one to print at home; the Town Clerk confirmed in August 2026 that a printed sign, a Town decal and any other “no soliciting” sign all count exactly the same, and that stickers issued under the old list stay valid.

Know what the sticker does not cover, because the Town is explicit about it: canvassers are exempt. Anyone making contact for a noncommercial purpose - the Town names Scouts and school fundraising drives, and includes civic, religious, charitable and political causes - is neither required to register nor held to the No Knock rules. Door hangers and fliers are not prohibited either. The ordinance reaches people selling something at your door, and only them.

Enforcement runs through the police rather than the Town Clerk. If a registered solicitor knocks past your sign, call Castle Rock Police on 303-663-6100 while they are still in the neighborhood, with the individual or business name and badge number from the Town-issued badge every registered solicitor has to display, plus the vehicle and plate. The Town also publishes the current list of who holds a registration. Solicitors are told at registration that any of those signs means no knocking - and the Town is candid that some never register at all, so it asks residents to report those too.

In Castle Rock the sticker is now the whole mechanism, so what matters is that something is visibly posted at your door - but it binds registered solicitors only, and the Town names Scouts, school fundraisers and religious or political canvassers as exempt from it.

Parker requires peddlers and solicitors to register with the Town Clerk for a permit ($50), hold a Parker sales tax license, and pass a criminal history check (Municipal Code Title 5, Chapter 5.05). Residents can ask for their address to be added to the Town’s Do Not Solicit list by online form or by emailing the Town Clerk, and it takes effect within 30 days. Once you are on it you are on it - the Town Clerk confirmed in August 2026 that a registration never expires and needs no renewing. The duty then sits on the permit holder, who must obtain and review the current list when the permit is issued and at regular intervals after; in practice the Town hands each permit holder a paper copy at the counter and points them to the downloadable list they can keep on a phone. Violating the ordinance is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $499.

Parker’s list is permanent once you are on it, but it takes up to 30 days to take effect and a solicitor carries a copy collected when their permit was issued - so the sooner you register, the sooner you are on the copy in their hand.

Lone Tree requires solicitors, hawkers and peddlers to register with the City, and anyone holding a solicitation permit has to carry it and produce it on request - a resident’s request counts, not only an officer’s, so you can ask to see it at your own door. Canvassers are not required to register, though the City lets them do so voluntarily. Residents can join the City’s no-solicitation list through the City Clerk’s office, and the City mails out a no-solicitation sticker to display at the front door.

Lone Tree’s list arrives as an object: joining it gets you a sticker in the mail, so the list and the sign at your door end up being the same act.