How Do I Register A Car That Was Sold To Me Under Fauls Pretenses

Vehicle Code 4463 VC - Jail for a fake registration sticker in California?

CaliforniaVehicle Code 4463 makes it a crime to engage in fraud or forgery with respect to vehicle registration certificates, registration tags or stickers, license plates, or smog examination certificates. Prosecutors can accuse this department as a misdemeanor or a felony. Sentencing is upwardly to 3 years in jail or prison.

Citations sometimes depict this section as4463 VC and4463 CVC.

Note that Vehicle Code 4000a1 VC requires drivers in California to have and display valid vehicle registration.

Specifically, the law prohibits all of the following:

1. Altering, forging, counterfeiting or falsifying vehicle registration materials;
2. Displaying or possessing blank, canceled, revoked, forged or counterfeit vehicle registration materials with fraudulent intent; and
3. Passing or attempting to pass every bit true and 18-carat any imitation, altered or counterfeit vehicle registration materials. ^{one ii}

Examples

Here are some examples of behavior that could violate California'southward car registration fraud police:

• Creating forged registration certificates and selling them on the blackness market;
• Stealing a registration sticker from some other car and displaying it on your own to avert having to pay the hefty fees for vehicle registration renewal; and
• Creating fake "smog test" certificates for submission to the DMV.

Penalties

Vehicle registration fraud under California Vehicle Code 4463 is what is known as a wobbler. This ways it may be charged aseither amisdemeanor or afelony.³

Misdemeanor car registration fraud carries a potential county jail judgement of up to one (one) year, and/or a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($ane,000).⁴

Felony vehicle registration fraud carries a sentence of sixteen (16) months, two (2) years or three (iii) years in jail, and/or a fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($ten,000).⁵

Legal defenses

Fortunately, there are a variety of common legal defenses that your California criminal defense attorney can present on your behalf. These include:

• Yous lacked fraudulent intent; and
• There is insufficient evidence to convict you.

In guild to help you amend understand the police, our California criminal defense force attorneys will accost the following:

• 1. What is vehicle registration fraud in California?
• 2. What are the penalties for a Vehicle Code 4463 CVC violation?
• 3. Are at that place common defenses to this charge?
• iv. Are there related offenses?
  • 4.1. Vehicle Lawmaking twenty giving fake data to the DMV
  • 4.two. Penal Code 472 forgery of a public seal
  • 4.iii. Vehicle Lawmaking 31 imitation data to a peace officeholder
  • 4.iv. Vehicle Code 4463(b) and (c) inability placard fraud

If, after reading this article, you would like more information, we invite y'all to contact us at Shouse Constabulary Group.

ane. What is vehicle registration fraud in California?

Falsifying, forging or counterfeiting vehicle registration certificates, license plates or registration stickers violates California's fraud laws. "Fraud" is generally defined every bit a deliberate deception in order to secure an unfair or unlawful gain.⁶

Vehicle registration fraud is one of a large number of California fraud crimes.

California law, 4463 VC, sets out the following legal definition of vehicle registration fraud:

1. Altering, forging, counterfeiting or falsifying a vehicle registration bill of fare, license plate, registration sticker or smog certificate, with intent to defraud;
2. Displaying, causing or permitting to be displayed, or possessing a blank, incomplete, canceled, suspended, revoked, altered, forged, counterfeit, or false vehicle registration card, license plate, registration sticker or smog certificate, with fraudulent intent; or
3. Publishing, passing or attempting to pass every bit true and 18-carat a false, altered, forged or counterfeit vehicle registration carte du jour, license plate, registration sticker or smog document, with intent to defraud.^vii

Permit's take a meliorate wait at the various forms of car registration fraud:

Altering, forging, counterfeiting or falsifying vehicle registration materials

One style to violate VC 4463 is to actually alter or forge vehicle registration materials. This is a variation on the full general law-breaking of California forgery.

Example : Alexei receives a used car every bit a "gift" from a friend who owes him coin and isn't able to pay him back in cash. Alexei understands that the car is probably stolen.

Luckily, Alexei is skilled at creating counterfeit documents and other materials. He creates a fake California registration certificate, fake California license plate and fake registration sticker, so that he tin can drive the auto effectually without getting stopped.

Alexei is guilty of vehicle registration fraud for counterfeiting these materials—and he may as well be guilty of receiving stolen property for keeping the machine.

In add-on to forging or counterfeiting California registration materials, you tin violate this department of the vehicle registration fraud statute by:

• Altering, forging, counterfeiting or falsifying comparable registration materials from jurisdictions other than California; or
• Altering, forging, counterfeiting or falsifying registration materials with the intent to correspond them equally issued by the California DMV.^viii

Displaying fraudulent vehicle registration materials is a violation of Vehicle Code 4463 VC.

Instance : In addition to registration fees, California charges a vehicle license fee that varies depending on the value of the vehicle.

Kristi moves to California from Nevada. She drives a twelvemonth-old Mercedes.

Earlier registering her car in California, she alters her Nevada registration documents to brand it appear equally if the car is actually a decade old. She does this to avoid paying the college license fees on a more expensive car.

Kristi is guilty of vehicle registration fraud for altering a registration document from another jurisdiction.

Displaying fraudulent registration materials

You can likewise be convicted of vehicle registration fraud even if you don't create the forged or fraudulent materials yourself—as long as y'all display or possess them with fraudulent intent.^ix

Example : Betty is short of cash when it is time to renew her car registration. She lets the registration expire.

Her friend Greg, who is a skilled graphic designer, offers to brand her a sticker that looks exactly like the ones issued by the DMV for placement on license plates. Betty says yes.

Greg makes the sticker, and Betty places it on her car. This allows her to bulldoze and park on urban center streets without getting pulled over or ticketed for her expired registration.

Greg is guilty of vehicle registration fraud for creating the counterfeit sticker—but Betty is also guilty for displaying it on her car with fraudulent intent.

Example : Police pull Ronald over in his car one night because they suspect him of participating in a contempo robbery.

The officers detect a large number of blank fake vehicle registration certificates in his automobile, along with blank sheets of selective service cards and a paper describing how to forge a driver'south license.

Ronald was caught in possession of fake registration materials. The big number of faux certificates he possessed, coupled with the other suspicious materials, are reliable circumstantial show that he intended to use them for fraudulent purposes.

Thus, he is guilty of vehicle registration fraud.¹⁰

Publishing or passing fraudulent materials as genuine

Finally, yous are also guilty of vehicle registration fraud if you publish or laissez passer off as genuine, or attempt to pass off as genuine, whatever fraudulent vehicle registration material—provided you lot know that it is false, altered, forged or counterfeit.¹¹

Passing fraudulent smog check certificates as genuine is a form of California vehicle registration fraud.

Example : Harry runs a California smog test shop.

Sometimes, when a automobile comes into the shop and passes the smog test, Harry'due south employee Willard will conduct a 2d examination on that car. Then Harry's shop ends up with two smog exam certificates indicating that a car has passed. Harry knows that Willard is doing this.

Then, when a car comes in that fails the test, Harry volition pretend that it passed—and will transmit one of the extra passing certificates to the DMV.

Harry is guilty of Vehicle Lawmaking 4463 motor vehicle registration fraud—because he knowingly tried to laissez passer off the fraudulent certificates as genuine by submitting them to the DMV for cars that really did non laissez passer the exam.¹²

But

Example : Victor has just moved to California from Chile. He gets help in settling in from his sis Elena, who has lived here for many years.

Elena provides Victor with a automobile to drive while he looks for work. She also provides him with a registration certificate that has the car registered in his proper name. Information technology turns out that this certificate is imitation—simply Victor doesn't know this.

At some signal Victor is pulled over. He gives the officer the false registration. The officeholder immediately recognizes information technology as a fake and arrests Victor for vehicle registration fraud.

But Victor should be able to beat these charges. He did present a counterfeit registration certificate every bit genuine—but he did so without knowing that it was counterfeit.

ii. What are the penalties for a Vehicle Code 4463 CVC violation?

Vehicle Code 4463 VC motorcar registration fraud is a wobbler. This is a crime that can be charged aseither a misdemeanor or a felony in California.¹³

Vehicle registration fraud can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony.

It is the prosecutor's choice whether to charge you with vehicle registration fraud as a misdemeanor or as a felony. Due south/he will typically brand that option based on:

• The alleged facts of the case; and
• Your criminal background, if any.

Misdemeanor vehicle registration fraud carries the following penalties:

• Misdemeanor (summary) probation;
• Upwards to one (ane) year in county jail; and/or
• A fine of upwardly to one chiliad dollars ($i,000).¹⁴

Felony vehicle registration fraud carries the following penalties:

• Felony (formal) probation;
• Xvi (xvi) months, two (ii) years or three (3) years served in county jail under California's realignment program; and/or
• A fine of upwardly to ten thou dollars ($x,000).¹⁵

Loss of your driver's license

Also, if the California DMV believes that, as part of the behavior that led to charges for vehicle registration fraud, you lot committed fraud in any application y'all made to them, then they may:

• Refuse to issue y'all a California driver'southward license;
• Refuse to renew your California commuter'southward license; or
• Suspend or revoke your California driver's license.¹⁶

A vehicle registration fraud confidence can atomic number 82 to the suspension of your driver'southward license.

If this occurs, and y'all need to drive anyway, then you could be charged with the California criminal offense of driving on a suspended license.

3. Are at that place common defenses to this charge?

Fortunately, in that location are a variety of defenses to a accuse of having a false vehicle registration sticker. These include (but are non limited to):

You lacked intent to defraud

If the prosecutor can't bear witness that y'all intentionally committed fraud, y'all should not be convicted of fraudulent vehicle registration.

You lot may have bought a car on Craigslist or been given one past a family member or friend—and but found out later that it came with fraudulent registration materials. Police who grab you with those materials may take a "guilty until proven innocent" approach to your case.

Merely as Glendale criminal defense force lawyer John Murray¹⁷ explains:

"The very definition of fraud—including DMV and registration fraud—hinges on the intent of the defendant. Without intent, there is no fraud crime."

There is insufficient evidence to convict you

Many allegations of falsified, counterfeit or fraudulent vehicle registration cases revolve around coexisting evidence. "Circumstantial evidence" is whatsoever evidence that doesn't direct point to guilt just that instead proves another fact that, in plow, makes the defendant'south guilty more likely.^xviii

The evidence in fraudulent vehicle registration cases is not always sufficient for a guilty verdict.

Circumstantial prove is perfectly acceptable bear witness in California criminal cases.^xix But it is less powerful than and so-called "direct evidence"—and it tin can be much more difficult for a prosecutor to convince a jury that it shows guilt beyond a reasonable incertitude.

Plea bargaining

The fact is that most criminal cases in this land resolve prior to a California criminal jury trial —often through plea bargaining. Plea bargaining allows you lot the opportunity to concord to a reduced charge and/or a reduced judgement in commutation for a dismissal of the more than serious charge of fraudulent auto registration.

If the prosecutor isn't convinced that s/he will be able to secure a guilty verdict, s/he may exist willing to accept a plea to a less serious charge, such as a Vehicle Code infraction.

4. Are there related offenses?

Other California crimes that are closely related to Vehicle Lawmaking 4463 auto registration fraud include:

4.1. Vehicle Code 20 giving fake information to the DMV

False statements to the DMV is often charged along with vehicle registration fraud.

If you knowingly make a false statement—or knowingly conceal any textile fact—in a registration document that you lot file with the California DMV, then you tin be charged with Vehicle Code 20 VC false statements to the DMV.²⁰

Information technology is not uncommon for defendants to be charged with both registration fraud and giving false information to the DMV.

VC 20 false statements to the DMV is a misdemeanor, with a potential jail sentence of upwardly to half dozen (half-dozen) months and a potential fine of up to one k dollars ($1,000).²¹

4.two. Penal Code 472 forgery of a public seal

Fraudulent car registration materials tin can as well be associated with the crime of forgery of a public seal under Penal Code 472 PC.

This law makes it a crime to possessand "willfully conceal" a apocryphal seal of a government entity, with the intent to use information technology to commit a fraud.²²

If you conceal forged DMV documents, then you lot may be charged both with forgery of a public seal and with Vehicle Code 4463.

Similar vehicle registration fraud, forgery of a public seal is a "wobbler" in California law.²³

4.3. Vehicle Code 31 false information to a peace officer

Vehicle Lawmaking 31 VC makes it a offense to give any data to a peace officer—either in writing or orally—when y'all know that data is false.²⁴

So if you are defenseless with a registration certificate, registration sticker, etc., that you know is counterfeit or altered, and yous tell the police force enforcement officer that the materials are genuine—then you lot may be charged with both vehicle registration fraudand giving false information to a peace officer.

Giving false information to a peace/police force officeholder is a misdemeanor in California.²⁵

four.4. Vehicle Lawmaking 4463(b) and (c) disability placard fraud

Vehicle Code 4463(b) and (c) cover the divide offense of fraud or forgery of disabled parking placards.

This is the crime of creating, passing as genuine, acquiring, selling or displaying forged or apocryphal disability parking placards, with intent to defraud.²⁶

Disabled parking placard fraud is a misdemeanor, carrying a jail sentence of six (6) months and a fine of 2 hundred fifty dollars ($250) to one thou dollars ($1,000).²⁷

For additional help…

Contact u.s.a. for help.

For questions about the crime of Vehicle Lawmaking 4463 VC vehicle registration fraud, or to discuss your case confidentially with one of our California criminal defence attorneys, do not hesitate to contact united states of america at Shouse Police force Grouping.

Nosotros accept local criminal police offices in and around Los Angeles, San Diego, Orangish County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Jose, Oakland, the San Francisco Bay surface area, and several nearby cities.

Legal References:

Source: https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/vehicle-code/4463/

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