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Pen. Code, § 574 · Chapter 12.7. Unlawful Subleasing of Motor Vehicles

Pen. Code, § 574

Verbatim from the official edition

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

As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Buyer” has the meaning set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 2981 of the Civil Code.

(b) “Conditional sale contract” has the meaning set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 2981 of the Civil Code. Notwithstanding subdivision (k) of Section 2981 of the Civil Code, “conditional sale contract” includes any contract for the sale or bailment of a motor vehicle between a buyer and a seller primarily for business or commercial purposes.

(c) “Direct loan agreement” means an agreement between a lender and a purchaser whereby the lender has advanced funds pursuant to a loan secured by the motor vehicle which the purchaser has purchased.

(d) “Lease contract” means a lease contract between a lessor and lessee as this term and these parties are defined in Section 2985.7 of the Civil Code. Notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section 2985.7 of the Civil Code, “lease contract” includes a lease for business or commercial purposes.

(e) “Motor vehicle” means any vehicle required to be registered under the Vehicle Code.

(f) “Person” means an individual, company, firm, association, partnership, trust, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity.

(g) “Purchaser” has the meaning set forth in paragraph (30) of subdivision (b) of Section 1201 of the Commercial Code.

(h) “Security agreement” and “secured party” have the meanings set forth, respectively, in paragraphs (74) and (73) of subdivision (a) of Section 9102 of the Commercial Code. “Security interest” has the meaning set forth in paragraph (35) of subdivision (b) of Section 1201 of the Commercial Code.

(i) “Seller” has the meaning set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 2981 of the Civil Code, and includes the present holder of the conditional sale contract.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 531, Sec. 27. (AB 502) Effective January 1, 2014. Operative July 1, 2014, by Sec. 28 of Ch. 531.

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=574.
Text hash
sha256 fbc8a0952c723bcda1ff229676b232bfde211938f4fd1acf07fe8e89fbeeba61
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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.