Brooklyn Park Considers Changing Solicitor Ordinance

Brooklyn Park has received complaints from residents about aggressive door-to-door sales tactics.

One local resident told CCX News about a bad experience he had last fall.

“I was inside my house. I saw the door-to-door solicitor come up to my house, knocked on the door, and when I didn’t answer, the guy reached down and tried to open my front door,” said Ryan Jancik, a Brooklyn Park resident. “And luckily it was locked, so he wasn’t able to get in. But it was very disconcerting.”

Jancik brought this issue to the city’s attention.

Currently, the only people required to get a license to go door-to-door in Brooklyn Park are peddlers who physically have items to sell.

However, the city doesn’t require solicitors to obtain a license. Solicitors include people such as contractors going door-to-door pushing roof repairs.

If the Brooklyn Park City Council approves the ordinance changes, it would require solicitors to undergo a criminal background check — which could take several weeks.

After passing the background check, solicitors would have to wear ID cards before they start knocking on doors.

Not Much Push back

“We haven’t really gotten any push back,” said Keith Jullie, Brooklyn Park’s rental and licensing manager. “I think that for the most part, people understand that when we’re walking door-to-door in neighborhoods, that there’s a level of security and comfort that residents think that or demand that they should have. And so I think that this process will ensure that for them.”

The council still has to decide whether to include nonprofit organizations, church groups and political groups in the registration process.

If the council approves all the changes, the new rules would take effect September 1.

Brooklyn Park