Unlicensed activity means doing TLC work, or advertising or looking for it, while your licence is suspended, revoked, or expired and not yet renewed. Or without ever having had one.
It pulls in Administrative Code §§ 19-506 and 19-528. That is what lets them take your vehicle, and keep it.
The traps that create these summonses
The renewal gap. An expired licence you meant to renew is unlicensed activity from day one. There is no grace period.
Unpaid fines. A TLC fine still unpaid 30 days after you are found guilty gets your licence suspended on 10 business days’ notice. Driving on that suspension is unlicensed activity.
Renewal blockers. You have to clear outstanding parking, red light camera and DMV fines before TLC will renew you. Drivers find this out halfway through renewal, keep working, and make it worse.
Driver licence or vehicle licence?
This page is about your TLC driver licence.
If your summons says Admin Code § 19-506(b), that is the unlicensed vehicle charge, with criminal court and seizure attached. See the § 19-506(b) guide.
If they took your vehicle
This is where time matters most. Storage fees run daily, and the case moves forward whether you respond or not.
Send us the paperwork the day you get it.