North Aurora Police Warn of Aggressive Door-to-Door Soliciting
The North Aurora Police Department sent a Nixel warning Thursday (Sept. 21, 2016) alerting residents to aggressive door-to-door sales tactics.
“Over the last few weeks, energy providers have been going door to door soliciting residents to sign up for their services, and many residents have reported aggressive and sometimes rude sales tactics,” said Scott Buziecki of the North Aurora Police Department patrol operations.
Village code in North Aurora regulates solicitors within village limits, as do village and city codes throughout Kane County. To find out more about your community’s ordinances, visit your city or village’s website. A list of links to Kane County cities and villages is provided here.
In North Aurora, energy solicitors are required to display a valid soliciting permit issued by the North Aurora Police Department and must follow certain regulations, such as:
- Solicitor must immediately and peacefully depart the premises when requested by the owner, resident, or occupant.
- Solicitor may not perpetrate a fraud or misrepresentation while engaged in solicitation.
- Solicitor may not use abusive, vulgar, obscene, or offensive language.
- Solicitor may not threaten force, use force, or otherwise coerce a person being solicited.
- Solicitation may only take place Monday through Saturday, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
- Solicitor may not solicit at any residence that has displayed a “No Solicitation” or “No Soliciting” sign on the front door.
Note that some solicitors are exempt from the permitting requirement, such as religious, political, charitable or soliciting for the purchase or subscription of books, newspapers, magazines, and other publications.
North Aurora residents who feel that a solicitor has violated one of the above regulations are asked to call the police department non-emergency line at 630-897-8705 and report the solicitor(s) physical description and direction of travel. The Police Department has been issuing ordinance tickets to violators when appropriate and we will continue to do so.
“It would help if you provided your name, address, or phone number to the dispatcher so a police officer can follow up with you,” Buziecki said. “We typically cannot issue tickets for anonymous complaints.”
The news release said some of the aggressive door-to-door marketing was related to recent changes in electricity costs and the village’s electric aggregation program.
Last year, in June of 2015, the village entered into a two-year agreement with Dynegy Energy as the energy supply for the village’s electric aggregation program. The agreement provides for rates from September of 2015 through September of 2017.
ComEd is still responsible for the delivery of energy supply to residents’ homes and responsible for service calls.
North Aurora electric aggregation’s current rate of 7.073 cents per kWh decreases to 6.838 cents per kWh effective September 2016 through September of 2017. The agreement and rate provides for 100 percent Renewable Energy Credits to show that 100 percent of a resident’s energy supply is represented by hydro, solar and wind.
Due to the decline in energy prices over the last year, the default ComEd price is 6.388 cents per kWh. This can increase or decrease by 0.500 cents per kWh due to ComEd’s Purchased Electricity Adjustment. Because ComEd’s rate is lower, residents may wish to switch back to ComEd for supply by calling Dynegy at 844-351-7691.
“Residents are also free to leave the village’s aggregation and select a different supplier if they so choose,” the news release said. “Please be sure to investigate any solicited or unsolicited offers carefully for termination fees, temporary low rates that escalate, etc. The village will evaluate the benefits of a new aggregation contract in May, 2017 which would take effect in September, 2017.
Residents are encouraged to contact Village Hall at 630-897-8228 for any questions.
SOURCE: village of North Aurora Police Department
