California Vehicle Code 5753 – (a) It is unlawful for any person to fail or neglect properly to …
(a) It is unlawful for any person to fail or neglect properly to endorse, date, and deliver the certificate of ownership and, when having possession, to deliver the registration card to a transferee who is lawfully entitled to a transfer of registration.
(b) Except when the certificate of ownership is demanded in writing by a purchaser, a vehicle dealer licensed under this code shall satisfy the delivery requirement of this section by submitting appropriate documents and fees to the department for transfer of registration in accordance with Sections 5906 and 4456 of this code and rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
Terms Used In California Vehicle Code 5753
- business: includes a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and any other form of commercial enterprise. See California Vehicle Code 234
- Dealer: is a person not otherwise expressly excluded by Section 286 who:
California Vehicle Code 285
- Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles except, when used in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2100) of Division 2 and in Divisions 11 (commencing with Section 21000), 12 (commencing with Section 24000), 13 (commencing with Section 29000), 14 (commencing with Section 31600), 14. See California Vehicle Code 290
- Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- legal owner: is a person holding a security interest in a vehicle which is subject to the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code, or the lessor of a vehicle to the State or to any county, city, district, or political subdivision of the State, or to the United States, under a lease, lease-sale, or rental-purchase agreement which grants possession of the vehicle to the lessee for a period of 30 consecutive days or more. See California Vehicle Code 370
- Lessor: includes "bailor" and "lease" includes "bailment. See California Vehicle Code 372
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- owner: is a person having all the incidents of ownership, including the legal title of a vehicle whether or not such person lends, rents, or creates a security interest in the vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 460
- Person: includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Vehicle Code 470
- transferee: is a person who has acquired the sole ownership of or an equity in a vehicle of a type required to be registered under this code. See California Vehicle Code 640
- vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670
(c) (1) Within 15 business days after receiving payment in full for the satisfaction of a security interest and a written instrument signed by the grantor of the security interest designating the transferee and authorizing release of the legal owner‘s interest, the legal owner shall release its security interest and mail, transmit, or deliver the vehicle’s certificate of ownership to the transferee who, due to satisfaction of the security interest, is lawfully entitled to the transfer of legal ownership.
(2) If a lease provides a lessee with the option to purchase the leased vehicle, within 15 business days after receiving payment in full for the purchase, and all documents necessary to effect the transfer, the lessor shall mail, transmit, or deliver the vehicle’s certificate of ownership to the transferee, who, due to purchase of the vehicle, is lawfully entitled to the transfer of legal ownership.
(d) The certificate of ownership delivered pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be signed by the legal owner or lessor to reflect release of the legal owner’s interest or transfer of the lessor’s interest in the vehicle or accompanied by a form provided by the department to accomplish the same result and signed by the legal owner or lessor. If the legal owner or lessor is not in possession or control of the certificate of ownership, the legal owner or lessor shall, within the time provided in subdivision (c) for the mailing, transmittal, or delivery of the certificate of ownership, take any action required by the department to release the legal owner’s security interest or transfer the lessor’s interest in the vehicle and within that time shall mail, transmit, or deliver written notice of its taking that action to the transferee.
(e) A legal owner or lessor that fails to satisfy the requirements of subdivisions (c) and (d), shall, without offset or reduction, pay the transferee twenty-five dollars ($25) per day for each day that the requirements of subdivisions (c) and (d) remain unsatisfied, not to exceed a maximum payment of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). If the legal owner or lessor fails to pay this amount within 60 days following written demand by the transferee, the amount shall be trebled, not to exceed a maximum payment of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500), and the transferee shall be entitled to costs and reasonable attorneys fees incurred in any court action brought to collect the payment. The right to recover these payments is cumulative with and is not in substitution or derogation of any remedy otherwise available at law or equity.
(f) A legal owner, upon written request of the transferee, shall disclose any pertinent information regarding the amount of payment and the documents necessary to release the obligation secured by the legal owner’s interest.
(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 151, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2004.)