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Pen. Code, § 496.5 · Chapter 5. Larceny

Pen. Code, § 496.5

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) A person who unlawfully possesses property that was acquired through one or more acts of theft from a vehicle, unlawful entry of a vehicle, burglary of a locked vehicle, or vehicle tampering as defined in Section 10852 of the Vehicle Code, whether or not the person committed the act of theft, burglary, or vehicle tampering, is guilty of automotive property theft for resale when both of the following apply:

(1) The property is not possessed for personal use and the person has the intent to sell or exchange the property for value, or the intent to act in concert with one or more persons to sell or exchange the property for value.

(2) The value of the possessed property exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). For purposes of determining the value of the property, the property described in paragraph (1) can be considered in the aggregate with any of the following:

(A) Any other such property possessed by the person with such intent within the last two years.

(B) Any property possessed by another person acting in concert with the first person to sell or exchange the property for value, when that property was acquired through one or more acts of theft from a vehicle, unlawful entry of a vehicle, burglary of a locked vehicle, or vehicle tampering as defined in Section 10852 of the Vehicle Code, regardless of the identity of the person committing the acts of theft, burglary, or vehicle tampering.

(b) For the purpose of determining, in any proceeding, whether the defendant had the intent to sell or exchange the property for value, the trier of fact may consider any competent evidence, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Whether the defendant has in the past two years sold or exchanged for value any property acquired through theft from a vehicle, burglary of a locked vehicle, or vehicle tampering as defined in Section 10852 of the Vehicle Code, or through any related offenses, including any conduct that occurred in other jurisdictions, if relevant to demonstrate a fact other than the defendant’s disposition to commit the act, as provided by subdivision (b) of Section 1101 of the Evidence Code.

(2) Whether the property involved in the offense is of a type or quantity that would not normally be purchased for personal use or consumption, including use or consumption by one’s immediate family.

(c) A violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

(d) This section does not preclude or prohibit prosecution under any other law.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 170, Sec. 2. (SB 905) Effective January 1, 2025.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=496.5.
Text hash
sha256 58f51b3f4ab6704b403de34a7b93700daf4dfd335ecdbfb7e04a78e22418a4b2
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

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Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.