Alteration Or Removal Of Numbers - - CA Vehicle

Section § 10750

This law makes it illegal for anyone to change or tamper with a vehicle's identification numbers or marks used for registration unless they have written permission from the proper authorities. However, it allows vehicle owners to restore original identification numbers if they get approval, and manufacturers can put numbers or marks on new vehicles or parts during their normal business practices.

(a) No person shall intentionally deface, destroy, or alter the motor number, other distinguishing number, or identification mark of a vehicle required or employed for registration purposes without written authorization from the department, nor shall any person place or stamp any serial, motor, or other number or mark upon a vehicle, except one assigned thereto by the department.

(b) This section does not prohibit the restoration by an owner of the original vehicle identification number when the restoration is authorized by the department, nor prevent any manufacturer from placing in the ordinary course of business numbers or marks upon new motor vehicles or new parts thereof.

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(Amended by Stats. 1970. Ch. 824.)

Section § 10751

This law makes it illegal to deal with vehicles or their parts if their identification numbers have been tampered with, unless they have a new number approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles. If such a vehicle or part is seized by the police, the court will decide what to do with it, like destroying or selling it, unless the owner can prove legitimate ownership. A hearing must be held within 90 days of seizure, and the people involved must be notified within five days. The law doesn't affect recycled vehicles used for metal content by licensed dealers and processors.

(a) No person shall knowingly buy, sell, offer for sale, receive, or have in his or her possession, any vehicle, or component part thereof, from which any serial or identification number, including, but not limited to, any number used for registration purposes, that is affixed by the manufacturer to the vehicle or component part, in whatever manner deemed proper by the manufacturer, has been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed, unless the vehicle or component part has attached thereto an identification number assigned or approved by the department in lieu of the manufacturer’s number.

(b) Whenever a vehicle described in subdivision (a), including a vehicle assembled with any component part which is in violation of subdivision (a), comes into the custody of a peace officer, it shall be destroyed, sold, or otherwise disposed of under the conditions as provided in an order by the court having jurisdiction. No court order providing for disposition shall be issued unless the person from whom the property was seized, and all claimants to the property whose interest or title is on registration records in the Department of Motor Vehicles, are provided a postseizure hearing by the court having jurisdiction within 90 days after the seizure. This subdivision shall not apply with respect to a seized vehicle or component part used as evidence in any criminal action or proceeding. Nothing in this section shall, however, preclude the return of a seized vehicle or a component part to the owner by the seizing agency following presentation of satisfactory evidence of ownership and, if determined necessary, upon the assignment of an identification number to the vehicle or component part by the department.

(c) Whenever a vehicle described in subdivision (a) comes into the custody of a peace officer, the person from whom the property was seized, and all claimants to the property whose interest or title is on registration records in the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall be notified within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, after the seizure, of the date, time, and place of the hearing required in subdivision (b). The notice shall contain the information specified in subdivision (d).

(d) Whenever a peace officer seizes a vehicle described in subdivision (a), the person from whom the property was seized shall be provided a notice of impoundment of the vehicle which shall serve as a receipt and contain the following information:

(1) Name and address of person from whom the property was seized.

(2) A statement that the vehicle seized has been impounded for investigation of a violation of Section 10751 of the California Vehicle Code and that the property will be released upon a determination that the serial or identification number has not been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed, or upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence of ownership of the vehicle or a component part, if no other person claims an interest in the property; otherwise, a hearing regarding the disposition of the vehicle shall take place in the proper court.

(3) A statement that the person from whom the property was seized, and all claimants to the property whose interest or title is on registration records in the Department of Motor Vehicles, will receive written notification of the date, time, and place of the hearing within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, after the seizure.

(4) Name and address of the law enforcement agency where evidence of ownership of the vehicle or component part may be presented.

(5) A statement of the contents of Section 10751 of the Vehicle Code.

(e) A hearing on the disposition of the property shall be held by the superior court within 90 days after the seizure. The hearing shall be before the court without a jury. A proceeding under this section is a limited civil case.

(1) If the evidence reveals either that the serial or identification number has not been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed or that the number has been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed but satisfactory evidence of ownership has been presented to the seizing agency or court, the property shall be released to the person entitled thereto. Nothing in this section precludes the return of the vehicle or a component part to a good faith purchaser following presentation of satisfactory evidence of ownership thereof upon the assignment of an identification number to the vehicle or component part by the department.

(2) If the evidence reveals that the identification number has been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed, and satisfactory evidence of ownership has not been presented, the vehicle shall be destroyed, sold, or otherwise disposed of as provided by court order.

(3) At the hearing, the seizing agency has the burden of establishing that the serial or identification number has been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed and that no satisfactory evidence of ownership has been presented.

(f) This section does not apply to a scrap metal processor engaged primarily in the acquisition, processing, and shipment of ferrous and nonferrous scrap, and who receives dismantled vehicles from licensed dismantlers, licensed junk collectors, or licensed junk dealers as scrap metal for the purpose of recycling the dismantled vehicles for their metallic content, the end product of which is the production of material for recycling and remelting purposes for steel mills, foundries, smelters, and refiners.

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(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 784, Sec. 596. Effective January 1, 2003.)

Section § 10752

This California law says you can't buy, sell, or have any fake or real vehicle ID numbers if your goal is to trick, harm, or cheat someone. This includes IDs made by car manufacturers or those given by the state or other countries for vehicles or their parts.

If you're caught breaking this rule, you could face jail time, ranging from 90 days to a year, and a fine from $250 to $5,000.

(a) No person shall, with intent to prejudice, damage, injure, or defraud, acquire, possess, sell, or offer for sale any genuine or counterfeit manufacturer’s serial or identification number from or for, or purporting to be from or for, a vehicle or component part thereof.

(b) No person shall, with intent to prejudice, damage, injure, or defraud, acquire, possess, sell, or offer for sale any genuine or counterfeit serial or identification number issued by the department, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, or the vehicle registration and titling agency of any foreign jurisdiction which is from or for, or purports to be from or for, a vehicle or component part thereof.

(c) Every person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or (b) shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or in the county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).

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(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 602. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)

Section § 10753

This law makes it a misdemeanor to remove, change, or hide any vehicle identification number or unique marking on a catalytic converter. It's also a misdemeanor to knowingly have three or more catalytic converters with altered or missing identification numbers or markings. However, this does not apply if you're lawfully installing the catalytic converter on another vehicle with a new ID number, or if you are legally destroying the converter through disassembly or smelting.

(a) Any person who removes, alters, or obfuscates any vehicle identification number or other unique marking that has been added to a catalytic converter is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b) Any person who knowingly possesses three or more catalytic converters that have the vehicle identification number or other unique marking removed, altered, or obfuscated is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(1) Any person who is removing, altering, or obfuscating a vehicle identification number or other unique marking in order to apply a new vehicle identification number or unique marking because the catalytic converter is being lawfully installed on a different vehicle.

(2) Any person that is disassembling, smelting, or otherwise permanently destroying a catalytic converter lawfully in their possession.

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(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 847, Sec. 1. (AB 1519) Effective January 1, 2024.)