Unlicensed Activity & Street Hails: Seizure, §19-506

In short

Unlicensed activity means providing, offering or advertising for-hire rides without a valid TLC license for the driver, the vehicle or the service, including while your license is suspended or expired. It is one of the most serious charges a driver can face because it can involve your car: for repeat violations of Admin Code §19-506(b), (c) or (k), TLC rules allow seizure and forfeiture of the vehicle, with a hearing within 5 business days (TLC §68-17). Separately, an FHV driver who picks up a street hail violates rule §80-19(c), with penalties up to revocation.

This is general information, not legal advice. If your vehicle was seized, get help today.

What "unlicensed activity" means

TLC rule §80-02(a) defines unlicensed activity as providing, soliciting or advertising TLC-regulated for-hire service by a licensee whose license is suspended, revoked, or expired, or by someone without a valid license for the driver, the vehicle or the service. It includes the activities listed in Administrative Code §19-506 and §19-528, and can subject the violator to seizure and possible forfeiture of the vehicle (TLC rule book, chapter 80).

Common examples:

• Driving for hire while your TLC license is expired — even if you've applied to renew (§80-11).
• Operating a vehicle for hire that has no TLC vehicle license (§19-506(b)(1)).

The charges you might see

Unlicensed activity summonses cite either a TLC rule or a section of the city's Administrative Code. The code section changes the stakes, so find it on your summons and open its page:

Admin Code violations under §19-506(b), (c) and (k) are the ones the seizure rule counts. Several of these sections also have criminal-court penalties; the violation pages explain both. More numbers: unlicensed activity summons statistics.

An easy trap: an expired or suspended license. A licensed driver whose license has lapsed is treated as unlicensed. That can happen if you keep driving while a renewal is still pending, or while a suspension for an unpaid fine or a missed drug test is in effect. TLC's definition expressly includes a licensee "whose License is suspended, revoked, or expired and not yet renewed." Before every shift, if anything is in doubt, check your status in TLC UP. See can I drive while my TLC license renewal is pending? and paying TLC fines.

When a vehicle can be seized

TLC's general rule says unlicensed activity "can subject the violator to the seizure and possible forfeiture of the vehicle." The detailed seizure rule, §68-17, sets two conditions. TLC or a police officer may seize a vehicle where:

1. there is probable cause to believe it is being used in violation of Admin Code §19-506(b), (c) or (k), and
2. at the time of the stop, the owner already has at least one prior violation of those subdivisions in the past 36 months.

Commuter vans have their own version, with a five-year look-back. The seized vehicle goes to a secured facility. The officer serves a summons for unlicensed activity and a notice of seizure on the owner or the person driving with the owner's permission. The notice is also mailed to the registered owner.

At that hearing, OATH decides whether the owner committed the unlicensed activity. If so, it also decides whether the owner has two or more §19-506(b), (c) or (k) violations in 36 months, and whether the vehicle needs to stay impounded pending forfeiture (§68-17(c)). Forfeiture is possible only with two or more such violations within 36 months (§68-18). The removal fee is $185. Storage fees for taxi and FHV seizures are set by NYPD or the storing agency (§68-19).

Don't abandon the car. If an owner doesn't try to reclaim a seized vehicle within 120 days after an order of release, or 30 days after a final decision in the owner's favor, whichever is sooner, it is declared abandoned and can be sold (§68-17(f)).

FHV street hails

A for-hire vehicle driver must not pick up passengers except by prearrangement through a licensed base (§80-19(c)(1)). First violation: $200–$350; second within 24 months: $350–$500 and up to 30 days' suspension; third within 36 months: revocation. In the Hail Exclusionary Zone — Manhattan south of East 96th and West 110th Streets, and the airports — the penalties are higher under §80-19(c)(2): $500 for a first violation, $750 for a second within 24 months, and revocation for a third within 120 months. Rides you accept through your app or base are prearranged. A person who waves you down or walks up without a booking is a street hail, including at the airport. The rule text doesn't directly address a passenger who books through the app while standing at your car, so ask a lawyer before you rely on that. If an airport or street pickup is disputed, your app's trip record showing when the request was made is your most important document.

What to do

1. Act immediately. If your car was seized, deadlines to get it back can be short — follow every instruction on the paperwork.
2. Collect proof of licensing: your TLC license and renewal status from TLC UP, the vehicle's TLC license, insurance (FH-1) and registration.
3. Collect trip proof: app or base records showing the trip was dispatched.
4. Get representation. These cases carry the biggest consequences; it's worth having an attorney or registered representative.

Start a case — unlicensed-activity cases are flagged as urgent for our case managers.