Officials receive complaints about door-to-door saleswoman

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — After more than 30 complaints in York County, a door-to-door saleswoman has had a run-in with sheriff's deputies in Lancaster County as well.

The woman is a 22-year-old foreign exchange student from Estonia in northern Europe. Over the weekend, she was going door-to-door in York County selling children's books.

Sheriff's deputies met up with the woman and determined she works for a legitimate company, but homeowners mostly complained about pushy sales tactics.

York County had so many calls, the sheriff sent out a release to reporters about the woman, letting the public know that this was not a trick, but to call if you feel threatened in anyway by a sales person at your door.

Jenny Remien lives in the Clairemont neighborhood in the Indian Land community of Lancaster County.  Early Monday morning, there was a knock on her door.

Remien made it clear she wasn't interested in the books, but to no avail.

"Even after I told her no several times, she still would pull her books out and want me to look at them even though I said I have no money, and I can't afford this," she said.

Another neighbor called sheriff's deputies after feeling like the woman was trying to force her way into her home.  Remien saw the police talking to her a while later.

"I saw the police had her pulled over down the street, so I was kind of glad," she said.

Like many neighborhoods with a homeowner's association, the Clairemont community has a sign posted against soliciting.  When the woman came to HOA president Ruffee Raouff's door, he told her the rules of the neighborhood.

"I told her in a nice way, and she said, ‘Well, you know it's about the kids, and I'm gonna walk the neighborhood,’" he said.

Lancaster County officials told Channel 9 about a very old state law that prohibits any door-to-door sales without a permit or peddler's license.   The law states that a person is supposed to get the permit through the court of common pleas.  However, Channel 9 called several local courts.   No one there had ever issued such a permit or been asked about one.

Lancaster County sheriff's deputies told the woman she couldn't solicit door-to-door because she didn't have a permit.

WSOC