‘Tis the season for solicitors in The Woodlands.

The Woodlands Township and the Montgomery County Sheriff recently issued safety tips on how to deal with troupes of solicitors that invade the community during the spring and summer. The out-of-town teams often knock on doors selling magazines, products or soliciting donations for a cause.

“The best way to deal with them is not to open your door,” said John Raybon, director of neighborhood services for The Woodlands Township. “If everyone doesn’t open their door, they will go elsewhere.”

During public forms, many residents said they feel threatened by solicitors who try and push their way into homes or won’t take no for an answer. While soliciting is not illegal in the community, there are many ways to discourage the practice here.

Steve Sumner, director of law enforcement and transportation services for The Woodlands Township, said the solicitors have been well-trained to overcome objections, to drop the names of neighbors to gain support and to bring children along to illicit sympathy.

“Those teams are dropped off by their managers and they have been trained very well,” Sumner said.

Township Chairman Nelda Luce Blair and Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Gage offered the following tips to residents to address the issue:

1. Never open your door to a stranger. All communications with solicitors or other strangers should be through a closed door. If you have a solid wood door and no window nearby, consider installing a peephole.

2. Put a no solicitor sign on or near the door. The sign puts solicitors on notice that you don’t want their business.

3. If the solicitor refuses for leave, state from behind the door “Leave my property now. If you do not, I will call the police.”

4. If the solicitor fails to comply or harasses you in any other way, call the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 936-442-7797 or, if you live in Creekside Park, call the Harris County Precinct 4 Constables Office at 281-376-3472. Report that there is an uninvited person on your property who refuses to leave despite your request that he or she do so. Make sure you get a description of the person and vehicle

5. Don’t worry about hurting the solicitor’s feelings or making him or her angry. The person is invading your property and is uninvited.

6. Don’t ignore a solicitor as a way of making him or her think that no one is home. The solicitor could be a potential thief who is ringing your doorbell as a way to determine if the house is empty.

The Woodlands Neighborhood Services Department offers a wide variety of public safety tips, including burglary prevention, child abduction safety, curfew information, home security, fire and arson prevention, vandalism, and violent crime and personal safety. Visit the Neighborhood Services Department at www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov for more information.

In addition, The Neighborhood Service Department will hold its second Watch Talk Wednesday session on March 24 at noon at the South Montgomery County Branch Library at 2101 Lake Robbins Drive in The Woodlands . The session will focus on locks and securing homes.