Texas No Soliciting Sign Laws In-Depth

No Soliciting Signs Defined

No soliciting signs are posted warnings meant to dissuade solicitors of all stripes from entering a given property. This may include salespeople, door-to-door canvassers, donation seekers and anyone else who could make a nuisance of themselves without warning. A handful of Texas statutes govern the use of these signs. Under Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 30.05, it is "an offense if a person enters or remains on property or a portion of property of another without effective consent and the person: [o]btains a financial advantage." The property at issue may be public or private. The sign itself or other means may convey the "no soliciting" notice. Any commercial transaction with the property owner or lawful tenant, whether as a quid pro quo or otherwise, is deemed "effective consent." If such an agreement exists, no offense has occurred.
Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 30.05 further states that the owner of the property "must give notice to another person offering to enter or remain on the property." Notice can be given by any means other than the instrumentality of the actor. Thus, the property owner must use their own instrumentality and cannot allow it to come in contact with that of the solicitor . For instance, the property owner can give notice in the following ways:
• By actual communication
• By posting signs
• By using effective means
Any or all of these methods will suffice, provided the act does not constitute a defense. If the sign or notice is written, it must be "displayed in a manner and at a location that a reasonable person would see" and it must "include the name, mailing address, and telephone number of the owner or person with authority to manage the property." The "absence of notice does not constitute a defense to prosecution." The elements of this statute are met if the act is designed to exclude or invite exclusion of any stranger not having express or implied permission to enter or remain on the property. For instance, no offense is committed if the property owner is present and uses request or exclusion.
No soliciting signs are commonly displayed in front yards, government buildings and other locations where people likely go to do business. Some property owners choose to use no soliciting signs because they do not want solicitors trying to sell products or "solicit" them for donations. They want to make it clear such individuals are not welcome on their property.

Texas State Law on No Soliciting Signs

Texas law does not specify whether the presence of a No Trespassing or No Soliciting sign on private property is sufficient to constitute "notice." However, Texas Penal Code Section 30.05 does contain language relevant to No Soliciting signs. This statute states that a person commits an offense if the person enters or remains on property or a building without effective consent and the person "had previously received notice to depart and failed to do so."
Texas Penal Code Section 30.05 defines "notice" as:
… (A) oral or written communication by the owner of the property, or another authorized by the owner, including an agent or employee of the owner, prohibiting entry to the property;
(B) fencing, a fence barrier, or a sign posted on the property, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden;
(C) a purple paint mark on a tree or post on the property, not more than one inch in diameter, placed vertically on the mark, or a posting, placed not more than three feet nor less than five feet from the ground on the tree, post, or other object, indicating that entry is forbidden; or
(D) the placement of identifying purple paint marks of a dimension of at least two inches by eight inches on two sides of each entryway, and at least one side of the enclosed land bordered by the fence, as described by this paragraph.
The question in most instances is whether a No Soliciting sign has been sufficiently communicated so as to provide notice to the individual. If someone has a No Soliciting sign on a residential mailbox, or mailbox post, then that is sufficient to provide notice. Similarly, if a No Soliciting sign has been placed at the end of a driveway into the residence, that is sufficient to provide notice.
If a No Soliciting sign has been placed at the entrance of a subdivision, that should be seen as providing notice to the individuals who are coming into the neighborhood.
However, if the entrance to a neighborhood or residential property is gated with no No Soliciting sign, then placing a No Soliciting sign somewhere in the neighborhood may not be sufficient to provide notice. The solicitor would have no reason to expect to encounter an individual No Soliciting sign once they were inside the entrance.
Certainly the attaching of a No Soliciting sign to a mailbox, to a mailbox post, to the end of a driveway or at the entrance to a neighborhood should be sufficient to provide notice to someone who approaches. However, if a person places a No Soliciting sign in their window, that may not be sufficient to provide notice if an individual making a "cold call" is looking to speak directly with a resident of the home.
While the Texas Penal Code specifically addresses the adequacy of a sign to provide notice, no city regulations specifically address where a No Soliciting sign must be placed on residential property.

City Ordinances and Their Importance

Local ordinances, adopted by different municipalities, may further refine the relationship between solicitors and no soliciting signs. Collectively New Braunfels, Texas has adopted ordinances that establish the process for a property owner or resident to request that individuals be prohibited from soliciting on their property. The city requires every property where soliciting is prohibited be conspicuously posted with either a "No Trespassing" or "No Soliciting" sign that is at least 24 inches by 30 inches in size. Homeowners who wish to proceed under this ordinance must complete and submit an Application for a No Soliciting Order and Affidavit. This gives the municipal court jurisdiction over the rights of a homeowner to restrict solicitation and provides for a streamlined process through which citizens can seek relief from unwanted soliciting.
The municipalities of Bexar County Texas adopted a "No Solicitation" ordinance in 2011. Unlike the city of New Braunfels, in Bexar County, the requirement is merely that the homeowner post a sign of "a reasonable size" at each entry of the property.
In March of 2012 the City of Houston addressed this issue when it adopted the Property Ownership and Maintenance Ordinance ("POMA"). Among the POMA’s provisions was a ban on all solicitation on private property that did not contain a "No Solicitors" sign that was not smaller than 8 inches by 8 inches. Unlike the ordinances of New Braunfels and Bexar County POMA provides the same right to individuals and business owners across the city of Houston.

No Soliciting Signs Penalties

It should come as little surprise that public servants in a representative government need tools to help them do their jobs and enforce the law. The Texas Penal Code, which contains the no soliciting law broached elsewhere on this blog, is a very blunt instrument that allows a citizen to enforce the law in a civil manner, without directly confronting the offending solicitor at the risk of some sort of altercation. While there are several permutations of this statute that can be found throughout the penal code, the context is not really important: a person or property owner finds a solicitor bothering him or her, and takes matters into his or her own hands. In most cases, this results in a small fine of no more than $200—typically a more effective deterrent than the potential of a misdemeanor conviction, especially for those solictors that are unaware of the ordinance. Unfortunately, repeated violations occur, creating the need for more robust penalties.
The Texas Penal Code contains definitions of criminal conduct so broad that all but a few people would be subject to arrest at one time or another, if the government were so inclined; for example, the definition of an Organized Criminal Activity makes it a crime to take part in three or more "criminal episodes" during a period of 30 days. Reducing this requirement to 12 separate crimes in that time frame is a matter of years (months if we are talking to a group of 16 or more participants), and yet the OC statute requires only three.
Statute §43.17 makes it a Class A misdemeanor for an individual to solicit for personal profit despite a "no soliciting" sign placed conspicuously on a property. Statutes §42.07, §42.09, §42.055 and §42.09 create additional liability, and can easily make someone’s day turn from bad to worse. Adding statute §42.042 "Disrupting lawful meeting or process" to these charges can easily ruin people for life.
The penalties for violating the no soliciting laws are steep enough to deter any kind of solicitations in these areas, but, unfortunately, highly publicized prohibitions have led some to believe that they are free to act as they please in more discreet areas. Ignoring a no soliciting sign on a property may cause someone to receive a light fine or a stern talking to from a police officer, but ignoring a regulation in front of the community may result in imprisonment.

Legally Posting a No Soliciting Sign

Steps to Legally Display a No Soliciting Sign in Texas
If you are a Texas property owner or tenant such as an apartment renter you do have authority to install an effective no soliciting sign that is lawful under the Texas Penal Code.

To be most effective you will want to display the no soliciting sign at each and every entry point onto the property. This includes the driveway, sidewalk and stairs on each side of the property. The key is to let the solicitor know you do not want them on your property. Unfortunately the location of the sign is probably the weakest area to enforce a no soliciting sign as addressed in step 3 below so use one of the stronger areas as much as possible.
You want the no soliciting sign to be clear and legible for the visitor to your property. You may want to use an old well known phrase to discourage a particular type such as no trespassing or no hunting. Understand if you use the phrase no soliciting other signs may be posted on your property or others that says not any type or solicitation is allowed. You do not control what a visitor to your property may or may not have stamped across their chest I do not follow the laws of Texas regarding soliciting.
The Texas Penal Code Section 30.05 establishes certain legally protected areas where a trespass notice such as a no soliciting sign can be placed in order to prosecute a solicitor for trespass. The areas are defined as follows:

(a) "Effective date" means the date on which a person enters or attempts to enter the property in violation of a notice prohibiting criminal trespass.
(b) "Notice" means:

(1) a written communication that is:

(A) prominently posted or visible to the public from a vehicle or from the road or a right-of-way; or
(B) unless the property is owned or leased by a government entity , personally communicated to the person who entered or attempted to enter the property; or

(2) oral communication by the property owner or a person with apparent authority to act for the owner to the person who entered or attempted to enter the property.

(1) entry on the property by a person is forbidden;
(2) entry on the property by a person without consent is forbidden;
(3) entry on the property by a person with the intent to commit an offense is forbidden;
(4) entry on the property by a person without a paid-up subscription to a publication is forbidden; or
(5) entry on the property without a proper permit is forbidden constitutes notice.

(d) A communication under Subsection (c)(1) or (2) must appear conspicuously at each entrance to the property or at the entrance to each building accessible to the public, or both.
(e) A communication under Subsection (c)(3), (4), or (5) must appear in a printed form in prominent and conspicuous characters that are:

(1) contrasting with the background of the sign or notice; or
(2) distinctly and conspicuously separate from other language on the sign or notice.

(f) If the owner of the property is a government entity, notice may be given by a person with authority to act for that entity by any method described by Subsection (b).
(g) Notice on a common carrier property that is accessible only to common carrier vehicles and that is part of a continuous intercity or intracity mass transit system may be given only by the method provided by Subsection (a) or (b).
The key to the law is that notice must be given on property that does not belong to you. So try to post the no soliciting sign just inside the property line on the property owned or leased by the owner/tenant.

Exceptions to No Soliciting Signs

In some cases, there are exemptions to no soliciting sign restrictions in Texas. For example, in many Texas municipalities, no soliciting signs do not prohibit the distribution by charities or other nonprofit organizations of literature, pamphlets, flyers, or similar materials, with or without prior written permission or consent of the owner or occupant of the residential property. In most cases, these charitable and other nonprofit anti-solicitation laws require that such literature be deposited at, on, or by the front door of the residential dwelling itself, and it shall not be thrown or blown upon or against the exterior walls, windows, doors, or roof of such dwelling. Of course, these types of restrictions do not apply to commercial real estate and properties.
Some other general exceptions to anti-solicitation ordinances in Texas include an exemption from no soliciting sign restrictions for political canvassing and advocacy. In fact, such political advocacy exceptions are found in many Texas municipalities, subject to certain restrictions. For instance, in Houston, Texas, political advocates must wear suitable identification and must only place political literature on the doorknob of a residence.

No Soliciting Signs Violation Remedies

There are effectively two areas of legal recourse against individuals or entities that violate a no soliciting sign in Texas. The best option for enforcement is to simply call the Sheriff’s Department or the Police and have them issue citations to the violators.
Note however, that most agencies won’t show up on site unless there is some egregious violation of the law. As an example, one officer explained to me in the past that they would want to publish a no soliciting sign violation as a deterrent to others who might consider violating the rules. Chances are that no one will be cited just for knocking on the door and leaving a flyer . The real way to get violated is to not leave the flyer but instead to try to enter the property for the purposes of soliciting.
Unless the person touting a home business in a neighborhood has purchased a court order, you might be able to stop them from coming back as long as you place the violation on the district civil court and obtain a temporary injunction barring that person from coming back on the same basis that the court entered a temporary injunction stopping them from doing whatever it is you were complaining about. The complaint however does have to be filed in the County Court of Law where the violation occurred.