Is Door-To-Door Soliciting Legal During The Pandemic?

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Some Utah residents have noticed solicitors and door-to-door sales people taking advantage od the fact that people are home a whole lot more during the pandemic.

It may be annoying, but it might not be illegal.

According to the Utah Leads Together plan, there are guidelines for employers who are in the “yellow,” or low-risk phase of the reopening plan. Among those guidelines is that employees should maintain a 6-foot distance from customers, and face coverings should be “worn where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”

Solicitors likely can’t social distance from homeowners while on their front porches. However, the guidelines in the states plans are just that: guidelines. They are not laws.

There are laws solicitors must abide by, though. Door-to-door salespeople must have a license, and they must be registered in the city in which they’re soliciting. Those processes and fee structures vary from city to city.

Residents have the right to ignore the person completely. No one is obligated to open the door and ask a solicitor to leave.

Homeowners should also ask to see a license and report the person if they can’t produce proof that he or she has permission to be selling something in a particular neighborhood.