Licensing & registration
License Search Results and State Registration Language
This page records what my own searches of California's public license lookup did and did not show, and it quotes the state's own language describing who must be registered. It does not assert that any licensing violation occurred.
What my searches showed
Using the California Bureau of Automotive Repair’s public license lookup, I searched for A&J Auto Body Mobile Repair and for Jimmy Mark Demetro. Those searches did not return an active automotive repair dealer registration that I could match to this business or to this individual, and I was not able to locate one. The business appears to operate out of Hayward, Alameda County, California.
I am reporting the result of my own search, not a conclusion. A search that returns no match is not proof that a registration does not exist. It can also mean that I searched the wrong spelling, the wrong legal or fictitious business name, the wrong owner name, or the wrong location, or that the record is held in a form the public search did not surface for me.
Who California says must be registered
The following is quoted from California law so readers can evaluate the requirement for themselves. Whether it applies to any particular business is a question for the Bureau of Automotive Repair, not for this website.
“(a) It is unlawful for any person to be an automotive repair dealer unless that person has registered in accordance with this chapter and unless that registration is currently valid.”
“‘Automotive repair dealer’ means a person who, for compensation, engages in the business of repairing or diagnosing malfunctions of motor vehicles, or engages in the business of collecting compensation for automotive repair services that are referred or sublet to someone other than the dealer or their employees.”
In plain terms, as I read this language, a person or business that repairs or diagnoses motor vehicles for compensation in California is generally expected to hold a current automotive repair dealer registration, and the statute is written around the activity rather than around having a fixed shop address. Registered dealers are also subject to further requirements in the same chapter, including written estimates, authorization before additional work, and itemized invoices. This is my reading of the published statute, not an interpretation issued by the Bureau.
Read § 9884.6 on the California Legislative Information site
Why this page exists
I include this information because I could not verify a current registration when I looked, and because I think consumers should know that this public lookup exists before they authorize mobile repair work and pay for it. That is the practical takeaway I would offer from my own experience.