Know your rights · New Hampshire

Is door-to-door soliciting legal in New Hampshire?

Short answer: yes - courts won't let cities ban knocking outright. But “legal” is doing less work than solicitors would like you to think. New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire.
What a posted sign means varies by city: legally meaningful - RSA 635:2 turns posted premises into “secured premises,” and towns may run criminal background checks on every peddler they license.

What New Hampshire state law gives you

RSA 361-B:2

Three business days, and you can cancel by handing the goods back

Any consumer transaction of $25 or more made at the buyer’s residence may be cancelled until midnight of the third business day after the sale. The seller must supply the statement: “ANY BUYER MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE THIRD BUSINESS DAY AFTER THE DATE OF THIS TRANSACTION.”

New Hampshire gives you two routes: written notice mailed to the seller - certified or registered is the safe version - or simply returning the merchandise in person within the cancellation period. The second route is unusual and useful when the paperwork has gone missing.

RSA 635:2

A posted home is “secured premises”

New Hampshire trespass builds on a defined term: secured premises means any place posted in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, or fenced or otherwise enclosed to exclude them.

Knowingly entering or remaining in secured premises is a misdemeanor. The “reasonably likely to come to the attention” standard is a practical one - a sign at your door meets it.

RSA 31:102-a, 31:102-b

Towns may license peddlers, and may fingerprint them

RSA 31:102-a lets a town, city or village district license and regulate hawkers, peddlers and itinerant vendors - including restricting the hours and days they may operate and which parts of town they may work.

RSA 31:102-b, added in 2010, goes further: a municipality may require peddlers to submit to state and federal criminal history records checks and charge them for it. Not every town has adopted these, so the first question in New Hampshire is what your own town did.

Your city sets the door-knocking rules

New Hampshire'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."

City Clerk vendor license required

Nashua

Under Chapter 231 of the Nashua code (Peddling, Soliciting and Vending), no person may act as a vendor in the city unless licensed, with applications made in writing to the City Clerk.

Chapter 115 - Solicitations, Sales, Peddlers and Fairs

Manchester

Manchester regulates solicitations, sales, peddlers and fairs under Chapter 115 of the city code - the largest city in the state has a dedicated chapter rather than a general business license, which means there is a specific local rule to point at.

Chapter 232 - Hawkers, Peddlers, Vendors and Solicitors

Hudson

Hudson’s Chapter 232 is a good example of a New Hampshire town using its RSA 31:102-a authority in full, with a dedicated licensing scheme for hawkers, peddlers, vendors and solicitors.

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 New Hampshire?

Yes, but towns may license it. RSA 31:102-a lets any city, town or village district license hawkers and peddlers and restrict their hours, days and areas, and RSA 31:102-b lets a municipality require state and federal criminal history checks. Nashua, Manchester and Hudson all run licensing schemes. State law separately gives you three business days to cancel.

Is ignoring a No Soliciting sign illegal in New Hampshire?

It can be. RSA 635:2 defines "secured premises" to include any place posted in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, and knowingly entering or remaining in secured premises is criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. A clearly posted sign at your door meets that standard.

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

Yes, for anything $25 or more made at your residence. Under RSA 361-B you may cancel until midnight of the third business day, either by written notice mailed to the seller - certified or registered mail is safest - or simply by returning the merchandise in person within the cancellation period.

Can my New Hampshire town restrict what hours solicitors can knock?

Yes. RSA 31:102-a expressly authorizes a municipality to impose restrictions on the hours and days of operation for licensed peddlers and vendors, and on which areas of town they may work. Whether your town has done so depends on what your select board or council adopted.

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