It’s that time of year when out-of-state companies hire troubled youths with criminal histories, put them in vans and drop them off to sell door to door for eight hours in local neighborhoods.

“It’s a recipe for disaster. They’re not local and they don’t care about our community,” said Thousand Oaks police spokesperson Eric Buschow.

Long rap sheets, gang histories and hours of knocking on doors finding nobody home can cause trouble, he said. These flyby night salespeople don’t apply for required city solicitation permits, probably because they wouldn’t qualify to obtain them.

A few years ago, a man selling magazine subscriptions broke into a home after knocking at the front door and receiving no response. When he climbed in a back way, he found himself face to face with a teenage girl who’d been afraid to answer the door.

“He asked her, ‘Want to buy a magazine?’ and then ran out,’” Buschow said.

The girl was traumatized.

“We don’t even want to think how bad a different outcome could have been if that encounter had ended badly,” he said.

Solicitor permits help protect the public.

According to Terri Scott, city revenue operations manager, a permit costs $126—with $110 for the application fee, $10 for the permit issue and $6 for the photo identification card—plus $42 to the Department of Justice for fingerprinting. Each permit includes a police background check.

Only businesses already registered with the city for a business tax certificate can get permits, which allow door-to-door salespeople but doesn’t guarantee that the solicitor has a valid contractor’s license with the state. The city makes sure a person has a license before they’re given a business tax certificate but doesn’t keep tabs on the contractor’s daily status.

“I would not assume someone with a solicitor’s permit has a valid contractor’s license. People should check and see if the license is still valid before hiring them,” Scott said. Recently some men with an out-of-state truck license tag knocked on Lee Pappas’ door in Thousand Oaks and offered to do some work on what Pappas described as a new roof.

“I said, ‘No, thank you,’ but then later I saw them talking to a neighbor lady, and I thought maybe someone should make sure they were legitimate,” he said.

So he called (805) 494-8200, the police non-emergency number, and let them know someone suspicious was soliciting on his street. They sent out officers, who discovered the contractor did have a permit for solicitation.

“It’s good for people to call if they’re suspicious. He did the right thing and we appreciate his eyes and ears,” Buschow said.

Another time, police checked another solicitor and the result was the opposite. The subject didn’t have a permit or any identification on him, Buschow said. “He was arrested for a misdemeanor and brought to jail.”

When the man was released, he vandalized lobby windows of East Valley Sheriff’s Station.

“He was caught on camera,” Buschow said.

Though the subject had been recorded, it was a challenge to track down a transient.

“I found out he was caught soliciting without a permit in Beverly Hills,” Buschow said. So when the subject was arraigned, Buschow went to Beverly Hills, picked him up and brought him back to T.O., where he was charged with felony vandalism.