My question involves vehicle registration or title in the state of: California
I will try to be as straight forward as possible.
My car was registered under a different address than the one I currently reside.
I went ahead and made an address update with the DMV. The DMV did not issue me a new card with current information. I needed the new card ASAP, so I made a scanned copy of my current registration replacing the old address with the new. The copy looks exactly the same as my old registration except the address. I figured this will be okay to do, since the DMV states
4454(a) "Registration card, shall maintain the same or a facsimile copy thereof with the vehicle for which issued." End Quote.
There is no misleading information. The registration is current and not expired, the car is in fact registered to me, and the address is updated with the DMV, so if the vin, plate, or anything on the card is ran through the computer it should come back with my current address. Unless of course that specific card is somehow linked to the old address.
My main concern is that everything about this just seams very illegal, but at the same time not.
After doing some research I came across this site:http://law.onecle.com/california/vehicle/4463.html
(a) A person who, with intent to prejudice, damage, or
defraud, commits any of the following acts is guilty of a felony and
upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the
state prison for 16 months or two or three years, or by imprisonment
in a county jail for not more than one year:
(1) Alters, forges, counterfeits, or falsifies a certificate of
ownership, registration card, certificate, license, license plate,
device issued pursuant to Section 4853, special plate, or permit
provided for by this code or a comparable certificate of ownership,
registration card, certificate, license, license plate, device
comparable to that issued pursuant to Section 4853, special plate, or
permit provided for by a foreign jurisdiction, or alters, forges,
counterfeits, or falsifies the document, device, or plate with intent
to represent it as issued by the department, or alters, forges,
counterfeits, or falsifies with fraudulent intent an endorsement of
transfer on a certificate of ownership or other document evidencing
ownership, or with fraudulent intent displays or causes or permits to
be displayed or have in his or her possession a blank, incomplete,
canceled, suspended, revoked, altered, forged, counterfeit, or false
certificate of ownership, registration card, certificate, license,
license plate, device issued pursuant to Section 4853, special plate,
or permit.
After reading that, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I already turned in my scanned copy for records at the place which requested it. I am so paranoid right now. I never broken any laws, not even a speeding ticket. After reading the section above, it seams serious. But the more I read it the more loopholes I see in it. They say registration card, but don't specify what registration card, also they say with fraudulent intent. My intents were not fraudulent, nor was it to provide with false misleading information.