(a) (1) A person shall not drive, move, or leave standing upon a highway, or in an offstreet public parking facility, any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole or pipe dolly, or logging dolly, unless it is registered and the appropriate fees have been paid under this code or registered under the permanent trailer identification program, except that an off-highway motor vehicle which displays an identification plate or device issued by the department pursuant to Section 38010 may be driven, moved, or left standing in an offstreet public parking facility without being registered or paying registration fees.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “offstreet public parking facility” means either of the following:

(A) Any publicly owned parking facility.

(B) Any privately owned parking facility for which no fee for the privilege to park is charged and which is held open for the common public use of retail customers.

(3) This subdivision does not apply to any motor vehicle stored in a privately owned offstreet parking facility by, or with the express permission of, the owner of the privately owned offstreet parking facility.

(4) (A) (i) A violation of this subdivision shall not be the sole basis for any enforcement action before the second month after the month of expiration of the vehicle’s registration.

(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), if a vehicle is stopped for any other violation of this code, enforcement action for a violation of this subdivision may be taken before the second month following the month of expiration.

(B) This paragraph shall be operative from July 1, 2024, to January 1, 2030, inclusive.

(b) A person shall not drive, move, or leave standing upon a highway any motor vehicle, as defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 39010) of Part 1 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code, that has been registered in violation of Part 5 (commencing with Section 43000) of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code.

(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) do not apply to off-highway motor vehicles operated pursuant to Sections 38025 and 38026.5.

(d) This section does not apply, following payment of fees due for registration, during the time that registration and transfer is being withheld by the department pending the investigation of any use tax due under the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(e) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a vehicle that is towed by a tow truck on the order of a sheriff, marshal, or other official acting pursuant to a court order or on the order of a peace officer acting pursuant to this code.

(f) Subdivision (a) applies to a vehicle that is towed from a highway or offstreet parking facility under the direction of a highway service organization when that organization is providing emergency roadside assistance to that vehicle. However, the operator of a tow truck providing that assistance to that vehicle is not responsible for the violation of subdivision (a) with respect to that vehicle. The owner of an unregistered vehicle that is disabled and located on private property, shall obtain a permit from the department pursuant to Section 4003 prior to having the vehicle towed on the highway.

(g) (1) Pursuant to Section 4022 and to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (o) of Section 22651, a vehicle obtained by a licensed repossessor as a release of collateral is exempt from registration pursuant to this section for purposes of the repossessor removing the vehicle to their storage facility or the facility of the legal owner. A law enforcement agency, impounding authority, tow yard, storage facility, or any other person in possession of the collateral shall release the vehicle without requiring current registration and pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 14602.6.

(2) The legal owner of collateral shall, by operation of law and without requiring further action, indemnify and hold harmless a law enforcement agency, city, county, city and county, the state, a tow yard, storage facility, or an impounding yard from a claim arising out of the release of the collateral to a licensee, and from any damage to the collateral after its release, including reasonable attorney’s fees and costs associated with defending a claim, if the collateral was released in compliance with this subdivision.

(h) For purposes of this section, possession of a California driver‘s license by the registered owner of a vehicle shall give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the owner is a resident of California.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 297, Sec. 1. (AB 256) Effective January 1, 2024.)