08-07-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

RELEVANT LINKS: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 1/4/2016 Regulating Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants Page 22 Larson v. City of Shelton, 37 Wash.2d 481, 224 P.2d 1067 (1950). Bonding requirements for commercial activities may be used to ensure compliance with city standards, and to protect the public from fraud and other crimes. The protection of the public is an obvious reason for states and cities to require peddlers to post a bond to obtain a license or permit. These merchants are often here today and gone tomorrow. Unless a bond or deposit is required, local residents will have no remedy if fraud occurs. A.G. Op. 59a-32 (Jan. 13, 1961). A city considering including a bonding requirement must proceed with caution. Bonding requirements for non-commercial activities will likely be deemed unconstitutional if challenged. A bond may violate the Equal Protection Clause or the Commerce Clause if not imposed evenhandedly and a city cannot properly require a solicitor to post a bond. Finally, the required bond amounts should not be excessive in regard to the activity being regulated. F. Denying license State ex rel. Cook v. Bates, 101 Minn. 301, 112 N.W. 67 (1907). Where a Minnesota city has the power to regulate, it exercises the authority and considerable discretion to decide what restraints will be imposed. For operations that are nothing more than a fraudulent attempt to trap the unsuspecting or the unwary, a consequence of city regulations may be to prohibit those activities altogether. Grounds for denying a license may include: • A material misrepresentation in the application. • An applicant with “poor” moral character. • Circumstances where granting the license would harm the safety, health, morals, and general welfare of the community. Handbook, Chapter 11. A licensing ordinance doesn’t generally need to specifically define terms such as “good moral character” or “professional misconduct”. However, a city cannot generally disqualify someone from a licensed occupation, including peddling or transient sales, based solely upon a prior criminal conviction. A prior conviction must directly relate to the occupation for which the person is seeking the license. A city should also consider the time elapsed since the conviction when determining whether it justifies a denial. G. Registration As a less intrusive option, cities can, as an alternative to a full licensing process, require all peddlers and transient merchants to register with the city prior to beginning their operations.