Terms Used In California Codes > Vehicle Code > Division 3 > Chapter 1 > Article 5 - Renewal of Registration

• 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
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• garage: is a building or other place wherein the business of storing or safekeeping vehicles of a type required to be registered under this code and which belong to members of the general public is conducted for compensation. See California Vehicle Code 340
• Highway: is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See California Vehicle Code 360
• 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-retailer: is a lessor or renter who, except under the circumstances described in subdivision (a) of Section 286, makes a retail sale or sales of a previously leased or rented vehicle or vehicles to other than any of the following:

  California Vehicle Code 373

• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• motorcycle: is a motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider, designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. See California Vehicle Code 400
• 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
• registered owner: is a person registered by the department as the owner of a vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 505
• trailer: includes a semitrailer when used in conjunction with an auxiliary dolly, if the auxiliary dolly is of a type constructed to replace the function of the drawbar and the front axle or axles of a trailer. See California Vehicle Code 630
• 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