Veh. Code, § 5900 · Article 3. Notice and Application
Veh. Code, § 5900
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Whenever the owner of a vehicle registered under this code sells or transfers his or her title or interest in, and delivers the possession of, the vehicle to another, the owner shall, within five calendar days, notify the department of the sale or transfer giving the date thereof, the name and address of the owner and of the transferee, and the description of the vehicle that is required in the appropriate form provided for that purpose by the department.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 32705 of Title 49 of the United States Code, the owner shall also notify the department of the actual mileage of the vehicle as indicated by the vehicle’s odometer at the time of sale or transfer. However, if the vehicle owner has knowledge that the mileage displayed on the odometer is incorrect, the owner shall indicate on the appropriate form the true mileage, if known, of the vehicle at the time of sale or transfer.
Providing false or inaccurate mileage is not a violation of this subdivision unless it is done with the intent to defraud.
(c) If the registered owner is not in possession of the vehicle that is sold or transferred, the person in physical possession of that vehicle shall give the notice required by subdivisions (a) and (b). If the registered owner sells or transfers the vehicle through a dealer conducting a wholesale motor vehicle auction, the owner shall furnish the information required by subdivisions (a) and (b) to that dealer.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1035, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2001.
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=VEH§ionNum=5900.
- Text hash
- sha256 f17337ae3b043dc285fdcaf8516ca699ddfc07a2cd00bb1981254706501af8c5
- 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
Cited by 15 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Veh. Code, § 5900. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Fish and Game Code
Vehicle Code
- Veh. Code, § 1819Printed as Sections 5900 and 5901
- Veh. Code, § 5602Printed as Section 5900 or 5901
- Veh. Code, § 6102Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 11515Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 11515.2Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 11540Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 11713Printed as Section 5900 or 5901
- Veh. Code, § 11715Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 12104Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 22523Printed as Section 5900 or 5901
- Veh. Code, § 22524Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 24007.5Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 24007.6Printed as Section 5900
- Veh. Code, § 38200Printed as Section 5900
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.