Hackensack, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 100-15H of the Property Maintenance Code treats an inoperative, unlicensed or partly-dismantled vehicle sitting on residential property as a maintenance violation, not just a parking issue: no inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicle may be parked, kept or stored on any premises, and no vehicle may be left in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or stripping or dismantling. Painting a vehicle outdoors is flatly prohibited unless it happens inside an approved spray booth. The code carves out one exception: a vehicle of any type may undergo major overhaul, including body work, if the work is performed inside a structure or similarly enclosed, approved area, so a homeowner working on a car inside a closed garage is not automatically in violation, while doing the same work in a driveway or side yard is.

The rule sits inside the same exterior-property-areas section that also regulates accessory structures, defacement, and storage of bulky items and construction material, reflecting the City's broader approach of controlling residential blight through the property maintenance chapter rather than a separate auto-repair licensing scheme. Enforcement runs through the same Code Official and violation machinery as the rest of Chapter 100.