Know your rights · Minnesota

Is door-to-door soliciting legal in Minnesota?

Short answer: yes - courts won't let cities ban knocking outright. But “legal” is doing less work than solicitors would like you to think. Minnesota law makes pressure sales cancelable, local rules on permits and hours vary, 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 Minnesota.
What a posted sign means varies by city: given real legal force city by city - a 3¾-inch placard is binding in Woodbury and Plymouth, and Woodbury hands licensed solicitors an actual Do Not Knock list.

What Minnesota state law gives you

Minn. Stat. § 325G.07

Three days to cancel, and mailing it is enough

Minnesota gives you until midnight of the third business day after a home solicitation sale to cancel it. The notice has to be in writing, but it need not take any particular form - the statute says so explicitly. Any written expression of your intention not to be bound works.

Mail it and it is effective the moment it is deposited, properly addressed and postage prepaid. The seller then has ten business days to return your money, your trade-in, and any instrument you signed, and any security interest is cancelled.

Minn. Stat. § 609.605, subd. 1(b)

Refuse to leave, or come back, and it’s trespass

Minnesota misdemeanor trespass covers entering the dwelling or a posted building of another without claim of right or consent, and separately covers returning to the property within one year after being told to leave and not come back.

That second one is the useful one against a repeat canvasser: you do not have to re-litigate it each visit. One clear “leave and do not come back” sets a year-long line.

Municipal ordinances

Minnesota’s Do Not Knock lists are municipal, not statewide

Minnesota has no state-level registry, but a cluster of Twin Cities suburbs run their own: a resident signs up, the city adds the address to a list handed to every licensed solicitor, and the resident gets a sticker for the door. It works well - inside the city limits. Cross a boundary and it evaporates, which is the structural weakness of every municipal list.

Your city sets the door-knocking rules

Minnesota'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."

Do Not Knock Registry + solicitor licensing

Woodbury

Woodbury runs a Do Not Knock Registry: residents sign up, their address goes on a list distributed to every licensed peddler and solicitor, and the city issues a Do Not Knock sticker for the door. Licensing and enforcement run under City Ordinance Chapter 11, Article VI.

Separately, a printed placard near the entrance reading “No Peddlers, Solicitors or Transient Merchants” - at least 3¾ by 3¾ inches with ½-inch lettering - is legally sufficient notice on its own.

A city list given to licensed solicitors is the right idea at the wrong scale - it stops at the city line.

City license; posted sign is binding

Plymouth

Under Plymouth City Code 1140, peddlers and solicitors must be licensed by the city, with applications due five days before they start. A sign reading “Peddlers and Solicitors Prohibited” posted near the entrance legally prohibits uninvited selling or fundraising, and the code sets a minimum size so the sign can’t be waved away as too small to notice.

Peddler / solicitor / transient merchant license

Saint Paul

Saint Paul makes it unlawful for any peddler, transient merchant or solicitor to do business in the city without first obtaining a license, administered by the Department of Safety & Inspections. Solicitors doing business by appointment are the exception - which is the tell that the rule is aimed squarely at uninvited knocking.

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 Minnesota?

Yes, but most Minnesota cities license it. Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Plymouth and Woodbury all require a peddler or solicitor license, and several suburbs cap the hours. State law separately gives you three business days to cancel a home solicitation sale under Minn. Stat. § 325G.07.

How do I get on a Do Not Knock list in Minnesota?

Through your city, not the state. Woodbury runs a Do Not Knock Registry that residents join; the city distributes the list to every licensed peddler and solicitor and issues a sticker for the door. Coverage stops at the city limits, which is the gap a nationwide registry is built to close.

Is ignoring a No Soliciting sign illegal in Minnesota?

In several cities, yes. Plymouth and Woodbury both give a properly sized posted placard - roughly 3¾ inches square - legal force against uninvited peddlers and solicitors. Statewide, Minn. Stat. § 609.605 makes it a misdemeanor to enter a dwelling without consent, or to return within a year after being told to leave and not come back.

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

Usually yes. Minn. Stat. § 325G.07 gives you until midnight of the third business day, the written notice does not need to take any particular form, and mailing it counts the moment you drop it in the box. The seller has ten business days to refund you and cancel any security interest. The federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule provides a parallel right.

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 August 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