HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Professional salespeople and fundraisers who make the rounds in Huntsville neighborhoods will have to be licensed by the city beginning next week.

An ordinance approved at Thursday's City Council meeting requires solicitors to purchase a $75 permit and wear a city-issued photo ID badge while going door to door.

Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, church groups, employees of charitable organizations, political candidates and children raising money for schools are exempt.

Endorsed by the local Better Business Bureau office, the ordinance prohibits knocking on doors before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m.

Salespeople who ignore "No Soliciting" signs posted outside a home or who fail to "immediately and peacefully leave" after being told no could have their permits yanked by police.

City Councilman Will Culver said he's heard complaints about door-to-door salespeople "getting hostile or sarcastic and applying their strong sales pitches on folks that really don't want to be subjected to that at their own home."

"This gives police a little more leverage as it relates to protecting our citizens," Culver said today.

Council President Mark Russell wanted an even stronger ordinance that would have allowed entire subdivisions to declare themselves no-solicitation zones, but the city attorney's office cautioned against that step.

"I think it's good to have something on the books," Russell said today. "We're going to watch and listen and see how it goes."

During a Feb. 2 council work session, Better Business Bureau of North Alabama CEO Michele Mason said her office gets almost daily complaints about pushy salespeople peddling magazines, home security systems, vacuums and other products door to door.

The agency has 260 complaints on file against a Utah company for failing to deliver magazines purchased for individuals, hospitals and U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, Mason said.

An early draft of the ordinance would have forced commercial salespeople to provide the city with an up-to-date criminal background check.

That was scrapped in favor of having them certify in writing that they have not been recently convicted of a felony or misdemeanor crime of "moral turpitude."

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