Sheriff's office warns residents to be on lookout for illegal solicitors selling books

By Kyle Feldscher Crime and courts reporter

Posted on Mon, Sep 17, 2012 : 11:46 a.m.

Sheriff’s office officials are warning residents of Superior and Ann Arbor townships to be on the lookout for workers from a magazine sales company, which was given five tickets for illegal soliciting this weekend.

Sgt. Geoffrey Fox, of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, said Monday solicitors from Urban Development Solutions, Inc. have been going door-to-door selling books for the past few days. Fox said the organization appears to be a non-profit but does not have permits to solicit in the townships, leading to multiple citations.

Fox said five individuals, including one from Texas and another from North Carolina, were ticketed this weekend and it appears the Indiana-based company is bringing people into the area to sell their wares.

“We just want to make sure people know if someone comes to their door and tries to sell them something they’re not allowed to do that,” he said. “They should contact us instead of just blowing it off.”

The solicitors were spotted in Superior Township and Ann Arbor Township during the weekend but may be in other areas as well.

In order to legally solicit in area townships, companies must go to township halls and get a permit from officials there, Fox said. Illegal soliciting is an offense punishable by a ticket.

Fox said the address given to sheriff’s deputies for Urban Development Solutions, Inc. is in Indiana, but the Better Business Bureau has a listing for the company in Grosse Pointe.

When asked if the solicitors were ignoring the law or just unaware that what they were doing was illegal, Fox said he wasn’t sure.

AnnArbor.com was unable to reach Urban Development Solutions for comment on this story.

Tags: Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office,