Germantown Considers “Do Not Contact List”

(Germantown, TN) Michael Benge recalls the days when salesmen showed up on his doorstep trying to sell stuff to his parents. “Yea, things like vacuum cleaners,” he said.

 

Local laws put an end to it, but door-to-door salesmen could soon come knocking again, something Benge wouldn’t necessarily mind.

“It’s fine if people want to do that,” said Benge. “You have the right to tell them no and shut the door on them.”

However, people like Denise Higdon do not like that the new U.S. Supreme Court Ruling leaves her vulnerable.

“All I know is I don’t want people unsolicited knocking on my door. If its the pizza guy, I’ll answer, but otherwise, nobody has any business here,” she said.

To protect people like Higdon, The Germantown Board of Alderman are considering a No Solicit List.

Citizens could add their address to it or simply post a no trespassing sign in their yard.

“The sixth circuit court also said that municipalities can put safeguards in place to protect people from that kind of harrassment, kind of like the do not call list,” said Germantown City Administrator, Patrick Lawton.

He said adding your address to the list would ultimately keep people like salesmen, religious witnesses, even girl scouts selling cookings from knocking on your door. If that solicitor did not follow the law, they could face a small fine.

The hard part, according to Lawton, will be keeping the list current as well as enforcing it.

For some, the new ordinance couldn’t come quickly enough.

“I’m not much of a joiner, but I guess that’s a list I could put my name on,” said Higdon.

Lawton says people will likely be able to add their address to the list online

Collierville is also considering a Do Not Contact list. They currently have it on hold while they do some research. Germantown will vote on the ordinance on Monday June 25th.