This article is reproduced here without permission under the fair use doctrine. Originally published at http://www.onalaskalife.com/articles/2005/04/14/news/05permit.prt
Copyright © 2003-2004 Naples Daily News.
By PAUL SLOTH/Staff writer
Spring has arrived and there are a number of signs to prove it: rising temperatures, blossoming trees, blooming bulbs and door-to-door sales.
"When the weather starts getting warm you start having people come in, usually selling magazines or other things," said Capt. Mark Moan of the Onalaska Police Department. "We don't have problems with all of them."
Anyone selling door-to-door, unless they're doing it as a non-profit venture, is doing direct sales and needs to have a permit, Moan said, both in Onalaska and in Holmen.
"As a citizen, you have the right to ask to see the permit. If they don't show it to you, that should raise some questions," Moan said.
The police have already cited two people this spring for not having direct sales permits, Moan said.
A resident reported someone coming to her door selling magazines. It turned out two women, one from Florida and one from Wyoming, were selling magazine subscriptions for a company, Interstate Subscription Services Inc., from San Antonio, Texas. The police later found out the company was banned from doing direct sales in Onalaska for five years after a previous violation of city's direct sales ordinance.
The people doing direct sales are often college students, Moan said. The two women, who were in their 20s, were issued citations for the violating the ordinance and taken to jail.
"A lot of times they end up going to jail because they're not local," Moan said.
Onalaska City Clerk Cari Burmaster said people who want to do direct sales in the city do go through an application process, which requires a background check and each person is required to provide the city with personal information.
Any direct sales company has to show that it is properly bonded and insured. The process usually takes three to five business days, Burmaster said.
Permits cost $40 dollars for the first person in a group and $20 for each person after that. Burmaster said she doesn't get many requests for direct sellers' permits, maybe 10 each year.
The city's ordinance does not allow people to do direct sales between the hours of 8 p.m. and 9 a.m., except by appointment. Also, people are prohibited from selling to any home that has a sign stating "No Peddlers," or anything to that affect.
"That should be a communication to them that they don't want any solicitors," Burmaster said. "They're not supposed to harass anybody and act unprofessional."
The village of Holmen has a transient merchant ordinance, which is similar to Onalaska's ordinance, and requires a person to register with the village and pay $15.
Holmen Village Administrator Catherine Schmit said she doesn't issue many permits. Holmen ordinance prohibits people from selling door-to-door between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.
Schmit said she hasn't heard of any violations in the village, like there have been in Onalaska.
"If they're getting in trouble there, they'll probably just move down the road," Schmit said.
If Onalaska police stop someone doing direct sales without a permit, they issue a $164 citation. The person, or the business they work for, can also lose the opportunity to get a permit for five years.
"It helps to protect the citizens from people who are out there trying to cheat them," Moan said.
Anyone selling door-to-door for groups like the Boy Scouts or any other non-profit organization do not have to have permits, but they must conduct business according to the hours in the city's ordinance.
Often residents do not know that the city has an ordinance governing door-to-door sales, Moan said.
"We try to be proactive with the community by getting information out there," Moan said. "It will help them from being scammed."
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