Municipalities consider Do-Not-Knock registries among efforts to combat solicitation

A pest control company’s threat of litigation has prompted many municipalities to review their solicitation laws, amend their code and consider creating “Do Not Knock” registries as a compromise to comply with federal laws and protect residents' privacy.

The issue often comes down to the question of who can knock on your door — and who gets to make that decision in the first place.

In several instances, local governments have been making that decision. Some require solicitors to obtain a license, and others have an outright ban on door-to-door solicitations or pre-dusk curfews forbidding the practice after a certain time.

Aptive Environmental, a Utah-based company that entered the Long Island market in April 2018, has sued three local villages in the past year — Poquott, Floral Park and East Rockaway — and its attorneys have sent letters to dozens more. The company, whose sales are made almost exclusively through door-to-door solicitations, said such restrictions hurt its business and violate its First Amendment commercial speech rights.

The issue is about balancing Aptive’s “First Amendment rights and the individual resident’s right to privacy,” said Susan Lopatkin, mayor of the Village of Kensington.

Last week, Kensington village officials introduced an amendment to change its peddling and solicitation law, proposing to extend the hours to allow soliciting activities between 9 a.m. and dusk Monday through Friday. Under current code, no solicitation is allowed after 3 p.m.

Kensington is also one of a few municipalities that are considering a no-knock registry, if they have not already done so.

“At the end of the day, everybody has to respect each other,” Lopatkin said. “As long as they are doing it in a way that does not violate residents’ privacy, there’s no issue.”

Jon Kelley, a Dallas-based attorney for Aptive, said the company wants to work with municipalities to find a solution and has reached an agreement with many whereby the municipality agreed to suspend enforcement of its solicitation ban or pre-dusk curfew and the company agreed to not initiate litigation. And if a municipality has a do-not-solicit list, Kelley said Aptive will honor it.

“The municipalities can take precautions and place [reasonable] restrictions on solicitations,” such as no solicitating after dusk, Kelley said. “Otherwise, it’s got to be up to the residents.”

While villages such as Kensington have plans to create a registry, some municipalities, including the Town of Hempstead, have had the list in place for years.

Edward Tardibuono, a retiree who lives in Levittown, said he has had a “Do Not Knock” sign on his front door since Hempstead Town created the program in 2015.

“It’s been very good so far. Nobody has come,” Tardibuono said, referring to solicitors.

Tardibuono said he got the sign because he didn’t want to be disturbed around dinner time. But he said he also understood the desire of businesses to reach their customers through in-person interactions.

“People want to make a living. It’s a tough call,” Tardibuono said. “It sounds fair to have the option. You can have this sign on your door. Otherwise, it’s fair to knock.”