Be skeptical of door-to-door solicitations this season

If you are like us, then the following has happened to you. It’s Friday and it’s been a long week at work, you arrive home looking forward to dinner and some relaxing time zoned out in front of the television. No sooner than you sit on the couch, with a dinner plate in hand, there is a knock at the door. The next 20 minutes, you’re explaining to a pushy salesperson why you don’t need the Vacuum-sealer 3000x or just buying it because the cost is actually less than an amount you would pay to just be left alone at that moment. Regardless of the outcome, once the experience is over you inevitably think “is this even legal?”

 

Generally, absent a very specific local law or ordinance prohibiting or limiting solicitation, door-to-door sales are legal. Even when there is local law or ordinance (or sometimes a neighborhood solicitation prohibition), they can be hard to enforce and are the last thing you really care about when you are finally able to enjoy your dinner and relax on the couch.  

 

Here on Daniel Island, we are subject to ordinances from the City of Charleston and Berkeley County, as well as South Carolina state laws.

 

Per Chapter 17, Article II of the City of Charleston ordinances, any “peddler” (which is defined as door-to-door sales) must obtain a permit. The city’s ordinances also provide other rules regarding “peddling,” including a prohibition for peddling after 8 p.m. and before 8 a.m.; no peddling on property with a posted sign prohibiting such activity; and no “aggressive” peddling. The city also prohibits peddling in certain areas, but Daniel Island is not one of those areas.

 

Per Chapter 12, Article II of the Berkeley County ordinances, peddlers are required to obtain a license from the county. Like the City of Charleston, Berkeley County also contains rules regarding peddling, including a prohibition against peddling where there is a “clearly posted” sign against peddling; any time between one-half hour before sunset and 9 a.m.; and anytime on Sundays.

 

South Carolina state law does not include prohibitions as detailed as the time or place of solicitation/peddling, but it does include another important rule known as the “right to rescind” or “cooling-off rule.” When consumers are in their own home, they cannot walk away from a salesperson like they would be able to in a retail store. Therefore, South Carolina state law (S.C. Code Ann. § 37-2-502) provides the buyer in a “home solicitation sale” the statutory right to cancel the sale until “midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement.” Moreover, cancellation occurs upon written notice from the buyer and is deemed to have occurred by mail when a properly addressed, posted notice is deposited in a mailbox.

 

So, next time you find yourself in the situation described above, you can inquire about the salesperson’s permit from the city, license from the county and your statutory right to cancel. We expect this barrage of questions will cause the Vacuum-sealer 3000x solicitation to end rather quickly.

 

Chris Mingledorff and Michael Patterson are attorneys with Mingledorff & Patterson LLC on Daniel Island. For more information, go to mptrial.com.