Chapter 2. Vehicle Verifiers of California Vehicle Code >> Division 5. >> Chapter 2.

It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a vehicle verifier without first having procured a vehicle verifier's permit issued by the department, or when such permit has been canceled, suspended, revoked or invalidated.

Every vehicle verifier shall make application to the department upon the appropriate form, accompanied by a good and sufficient bond, approved as to form by the Attorney General, in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) with corporate surety thereon, duly licensed to do business within the State of California.
  (a) The department shall prescribe and provide forms to be used for application for permits to be issued under the terms and provisions of this chapter and require of applicants information including, but not limited to, residence address, fingerprints, and personal history statements touching on and concerning the applicant' s character, honesty, integrity, and reputation as it may consider necessary.
  (b) Upon receipt of an application in proper form accompanied by the appropriate fee, the department shall within 120 days, make a thorough investigation of the information contained in the application.

If a deposit is given instead of the bond required by Section 11301:
  (a) The Director of Motor Vehicles may order the refund of the deposit three years from the date a vehicle verifier has ceased to be licensed, if the director is satisfied that there are no outstanding claims against the deposit. A judge of a superior court may order the return of the deposit prior to the expiration of three years from the date a vehicle verifier has ceased to be licensed if there is evidence satisfactory to the court that there are no outstanding claims against the deposit.
  (b) If the director, department, or state is a defendant in any action instituted to recover all or any part of the deposit, or any action is instituted by the director, department, or state to determine those entitled to any part of the deposit, the director, department, or state shall be paid reasonable attorney fees and costs from the deposit. Costs shall include those administrative costs incurred in processing claims against the deposit.

(a) The department may issue, or for reasonable cause shown, refuse to issue, a vehicle verifier's permit to any applicant, or may, after notice and hearing, suspend or revoke the permit when satisfied that the applicant or permittee:
  (1) Has violated any of the provisions of this division or has committed any acts which are grounds for the refusal to issue, or the suspension or revocation of a permit or license issued under this division.
  (2) Was previously the holder of an occupational license issued by another state, authorizing the same or similar activities of a license issued under this division; and that license was revoked or suspended for cause and was never reissued, or was suspended for cause, and the terms of suspension have not been fulfilled.
  (3) Has purchased, sold, or otherwise acquired or disposed of, a vehicle which was stolen or embezzled or has performed or submitted to the department, or its authorized representative, documents purporting verification of a vehicle which was stolen or embezzled.
  (4) Has, in the course of performing a vehicle verification, acted with negligence or incompetence in the reporting of erroneous information to the department, or its authorized representative, and has thereby caused the department to issue inaccurate certificates of ownership or registration, or any other documents or indices which it would not otherwise have issued.
  (b) Every hearing as provided for in this chapter shall be pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(a) Every person licensed under this chapter shall report to the department every change of residence address within 10 days of the change.
  (b) Any person currently or previously licensed under this chapter who no longer resides at the address last filed with the department may be served with process issued pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code by registered mail at that residence, unless the person has notified the department in writing of another address where service may be made.

(a) After the filing of an accusation under this chapter, the director may enter into a stipulated compromise settlement agreement with the consent of the licensee on terms and conditions mutually agreeable to the director, the respondent licensee, and the accuser without further hearing or appeal. The agreement may include, but is not limited to, a period of probation or monetary penalties, or both. The monetary penalty shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation, and it shall be based on the nature of the violation and the effect of the violation on the purposes of this chapter.
  (b) A compromise settlement agreement may be entered before, during, or after the hearing, but is valid only if executed and filed pursuant to subdivision (d) before the proposed decision of the hearing officer, if any, is adopted or the case is decided.
  (c) The department shall adopt, by regulation, a schedule of maximum and minimum amounts of monetary penalties, the payment of which may be included as a term or condition of a compromise settlement agreement entered under subdivision (a). Any monetary penalty included in a compromise settlement agreement shall be within the range of monetary penalties in that schedule.
  (d) Any compromise settlement agreement entered under this section shall be signed by the director, the respondent licensee, and the accuser, or by their authorized representatives. The director shall file, or cause to be filed, the agreement with the Office of Administrative Hearings, together with the department's notice of withdrawal of the accusation or statement of issues upon which the action was initiated.
  (e) If the respondent licensee fails to perform all of the terms and conditions of the compromise settlement agreement, the agreement is void and the department may take any action authorized by law notwithstanding the agreement, including, but not limited to, refiling the accusation or imposing license sanctions.

It shall be unlawful and cause of disciplinary action for the holder of a vehicle verifier's permit:
  (a) To submit to the department, or its authorized representative, any document which purports to evidence the verification of any vehicle, without having actually physically inspected such vehicle to determine the existence of proper vehicle identification.
  (b) To fail to report to the department, in a manner prescribed by the department, the absence, alteration, or obvious attempt to alter or obliterate any identifying number or number plate, or remove or attempt to remove such plate on any vehicle for which verification is performed.
  (c) To fail to physically compare identifying numbers on a vehicle inspected to the information contained in any document of title, registration, or any other form describing such vehicle.
  (d) To cause any person to suffer any loss or damage by reason of any fraud or deceit practiced upon such person in the course of the conducting of business under the vehicle verifier's permit.
  (e) To violate one or more terms and provisions of Section 20, or of Division 3 (commencing with Section 4000), or of this division of this code, or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, or of Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(a) If the department issues or renews a vehicle verifier's permit requiring conditions of probation, or if the department refuses to issue a vehicle verifier's permit, the applicant shall be entitled to demand, in writing, a hearing as provided in this chapter, before the director, or his representative, within 60 days after notice of refusal or issuance of the probationary permit.
  (b) Except where the provisions of this code require the refusal to issue a permit, the department may issue a probationary permit subject to conditions to be observed by the permittee in the exercise of the privilege granted. The conditions to be attached to the exercise of the privilege shall be such as may, in the judgment of the department, be in the public interest and suitable to the qualifications of the applicant as disclosed by the application and investigation by the department of the information contained therein.
  (c) The department may, pending a hearing, temporarily suspend the permit issued to a vehicle verifier for a period not to exceed 30 days if the director finds that such action is required in the public interest. In any such case, a hearing shall be held and a decision thereon issued within 30 days after notice of the temporary suspension.
  (d) A person whose application for a permit has been denied may reapply for such permit after a period of not less than one year has elapsed from the date of filing of such denial.

(a) A vehicle verifier shall maintain a record of each verification made. The record shall contain all of the following:
  (1) The name and address of the person requesting the verification and the fee charged for such verification.
  (2) The year model, vehicle identification number, license plate number of the vehicle verified and the state in which the vehicle was last registered.
  (b) All records maintained by a vehicle verifier shall be open to inspection by any peace officer.

The department may adopt rules and regulations concerning the issuance, use, and renewal of a vehicle verifier's permit, and for determining the competence of an applicant therefor.

(a) The following fees for a vehicle verifier's permit shall be paid to the department:
  (1) For the application and original permit, except as provided by Section 42231, a nonrefundable fee of fifty dollars ($50).
  (2) For an application for renewal, fifteen dollars ($15).
  (b) All permits shall be renewed on a biennial basis. All original permits shall be issued for a period of not less than two years, except in the case of a probationary license which, in the discretion of the department, may be issued for a shorter term.

Any person who holds a vehicle verifier's permit issued before the operative date of this chapter shall comply with the provisions of this chapter within three months after its operative date.

The suspension, expiration, or cancellation of a vehicle verifier's permit provided for in this chapter shall not prevent the filing of an accusation for the revocation or suspension of the suspended, expired, or canceled permit as provided in Section 11302 or 11305 or any rules or regulations adopted pursuant to Section 11308, and the department's decision that the permit should be suspended or revoked. That determination may be considered in granting or refusing to grant any subsequent license or permit authorized by this division to that vehicle verifier or to a business representative of that prior vehicle verifier's permit.