10750-10752

VEHICLE CODE
SECTION 10750-10752




10750.  (a) No person shall intentionally deface, destroy, or alter
the motor number, other distinguishing number, or identification mark
of a vehicle required or employed for registration purposes without
written authorization from the department, nor shall any person place
or stamp any serial, motor, or other number or mark upon a vehicle,
except one assigned thereto by the department.
   (b) This section does not prohibit the restoration by an owner of
the original vehicle identification number when the restoration is
authorized by the department, nor prevent any manufacturer from
placing in the ordinary course of business numbers or marks upon new
motor vehicles or new parts thereof.



10751.  (a) No person shall knowingly buy, sell, offer for sale,
receive, or have in his or her possession, any vehicle, or component
part thereof, from which any serial or identification number,
including, but not limited to, any number used for registration
purposes, that is affixed by the manufacturer to the vehicle or
component part, in whatever manner deemed proper by the manufacturer,
has been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed, unless the vehicle
or component part has attached thereto an identification number
assigned or approved by the department in lieu of the manufacturer's
number.
   (b) Whenever a vehicle described in subdivision (a), including a
vehicle assembled with any component part which is in violation of
subdivision (a), comes into the custody of a peace officer, it shall
be destroyed, sold, or otherwise disposed of under the conditions as
provided in an order by the court having jurisdiction. No court order
providing for disposition shall be issued unless the person from
whom the property was seized, and all claimants to the property whose
interest or title is on registration records in the Department of
Motor Vehicles, are provided a postseizure hearing by the court
having jurisdiction within 90 days after the seizure. This
subdivision shall not apply with respect to a seized vehicle or
component part used as evidence in any criminal action or proceeding.
Nothing in this section shall, however, preclude the return of a
seized vehicle or a component part to the owner by the seizing agency
following presentation of satisfactory evidence of ownership and, if
determined necessary, upon the assignment of an identification
number to the vehicle or component part by the department.
   (c) Whenever a vehicle described in subdivision (a) comes into the
custody of a peace officer, the person from whom the property was
seized, and all claimants to the property whose interest or title is
on registration records in the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall be
notified within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and
holidays, after the seizure, of the date, time, and place of the
hearing required in subdivision (b). The notice shall contain the
information specified in subdivision (d).
   (d) Whenever a peace officer seizes a vehicle described in
subdivision (a), the person from whom the property was seized shall
be provided a notice of impoundment of the vehicle which shall serve
as a receipt and contain the following information:
   (1) Name and address of person from whom the property was seized.
   (2) A statement that the vehicle seized has been impounded for
investigation of a violation of Section 10751 of the California
Vehicle Code and that the property will be released upon a
determination that the serial or identification number has not been
removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed, or upon the presentation of
satisfactory evidence of ownership of the vehicle or a component
part, if no other person claims an interest in the property;
otherwise, a hearing regarding the disposition of the vehicle shall
take place in the proper court.
   (3) A statement that the person from whom the property was seized,
and all claimants to the property whose interest or title is on
registration records in the Department of Motor Vehicles, will
receive written notification of the date, time, and place of the
hearing within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays,
after the seizure.
   (4) Name and address of the law enforcement agency where evidence
of ownership of the vehicle or component part may be presented.
   (5) A statement of the contents of Section 10751 of the Vehicle
Code.
   (e) A hearing on the disposition of the property shall be held by
the superior court within 90 days after the seizure. The hearing
shall be before the court without a jury. A proceeding under this
section is a limited civil case.
   (1) If the evidence reveals either that the serial or
identification number has not been removed, defaced, altered, or
destroyed or that the number has been removed, defaced, altered, or
destroyed but satisfactory evidence of ownership has been presented
to the seizing agency or court, the property shall be released to the
person entitled thereto. Nothing in this section precludes the
return of the vehicle or a component part to a good faith purchaser
following presentation of satisfactory evidence of ownership thereof
upon the assignment of an identification number to the vehicle or
component part by the department.
   (2) If the evidence reveals that the identification number has
been removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed, and satisfactory
evidence of ownership has not been presented, the vehicle shall be
destroyed, sold, or otherwise disposed of as provided by court order.
   (3) At the hearing, the seizing agency has the burden of
establishing that the serial or identification number has been
removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed and that no satisfactory
evidence of ownership has been presented.
   (f) This section does not apply to a scrap metal processor engaged
primarily in the acquisition, processing, and shipment of ferrous
and nonferrous scrap, and who receives dismantled vehicles from
licensed dismantlers, licensed junk collectors, or licensed junk
dealers as scrap metal for the purpose of recycling the dismantled
vehicles for their metallic content, the end product of which is the
production of material for recycling and remelting purposes for steel
mills, foundries, smelters, and refiners.



10752.  (a) No person shall, with intent to prejudice, damage,
injure, or defraud, acquire, possess, sell, or offer for sale any
genuine or counterfeit manufacturer's serial or identification number
from or for, or purporting to be from or for, a vehicle or component
part thereof.
   (b) No person shall, with intent to prejudice, damage, injure, or
defraud, acquire, possess, sell, or offer for sale any genuine or
counterfeit serial or identification number issued by the department,
the Department of the California Highway Patrol, or the vehicle
registration and titling agency of any foreign jurisdiction which is
from or for, or purports to be from or for, a vehicle or component
part thereof.
   (c) Every person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or
(b) shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison, or in the
county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, and by
a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more
than five thousand dollars ($5,000).