Article 3. Evidences Of Identification of California Vehicle Code >> Division 16.5. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 3.

The department, upon identifying an off-highway motor vehicle subject to identification, shall issue a certificate of ownership to the legal owner and an identification certificate to the owner, or both to the owner if there is no legal owner.

(a) The identification certificate shall contain upon the face thereof the date issued, the name and residence or business or mailing address of the owner and of the legal owner, if any, the identification number to the vehicle, and a description of the vehicle as complete as that required in the application for the identification of a vehicle.
  (b) The director may modify the form, arrangement, and information appearing on the face of the identification certificate and may provide for standardization and abbreviation of fictitious or firm names thereon whenever he finds that the efficiency of the department will be promoted thereby, except that general delivery or post office box numbers shall not be permitted as the address of the identified owner unless there is no other address.

The certificate of ownership shall contain:
  (a) Not less than the information required upon the face of the identification certificate.
  (b) Provision for notice to the department of a transfer of the title or interest of the owner or legal owner.
  (c) Provision for application for transfer of identification by the transferee.

(a) The department may authorize, under Section 4456, dealers licensed under Article 1 (commencing with Section 11700) of Chapter 4 of Division 5 to use numbered copies of the report-of-sale form and corresponding temporary identification devices upon off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification that they sell.
  (b) Off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification that are purchased from dealers not required to be licensed under Article 1 (commencing with Section 11700) of Chapter 4 of Division 5, or that are specially constructed by the owner or owners, may be operated off-highway, as provided by this division, without an identification plate or device or identification certificate, provided a receipt or other suitable device issued by the department is displayed upon the vehicle evidencing an application has been made and appropriate fees paid pursuant to this division, until the identification plate or device and identification certificate are received from the department.

(a) Every owner upon receipt of an identification certificate shall maintain the same or a facsimile copy thereof with the vehicle for which it is issued at all times when the vehicle is operated or transported.
  (b) The provisions of this section do not apply when an identification certificate is removed from the vehicle for the purpose of application for renewal or transfer of identification.

(a) Upon payment of the fees specified in Section 38231, the department may issue to manufacturers, dealers, distributors, or their agents, a special permit to operate or use for the purpose of delivery, demonstration, or display, off-highway motor vehicles otherwise required to be identified under this division.
  (b) Special permits issued pursuant to this section shall expire at midnight on the 30th day of June in the second calendar year following the year of issuance of such permit.

(a) Upon payment of the fee specified in Section 38231.5, the Department of Parks and Recreation may issue to a nonresident of this state a special permit to operate an off-highway motor vehicle otherwise required to be identified under this chapter.
  (b) Special permits issued under this section shall expire on December 31 in the year of their issuance.

(a) Upon payment of the fee specified in Section 38232, the department shall issue to the owner of a motorcycle, which the owner has certified as being used exclusively in racing events on a closed course, a special transportation identification device for the purpose of identifying the motorcycle while it is being transported upon a highway to and from racing events on a closed course. Such device may be either a plate or a sticker, whichever is determined by the department to be the most appropriate.
  (b) Such device is nonrenewable, nontransferrable, and becomes invalid when the vehicle for which it was issued is sold or dismantled.
  (c) A certificate of ownership may not be issued in conjunction with a special transportation identification device.

If any identification certificate or identification plate or device is stolen, lost, mutilated or illegible, the owner of the vehicle for which the same was issued, as shown by the records of the department, shall immediately make application for and may, upon furnishing information satisfactory to the department, obtain a duplicate or substitute or a new identification under a new number, as determined to be most advisable by the department. An application for a duplicate identification certificate is not required in conjunction with any other application.

If any certificate of ownership is stolen, lost, mutilated or illegible, the legal owner or, if none, the owner of the vehicle for which the same was issued as shown by the records of the department shall immediately make application for and may, upon furnishing information satisfactory to the department, obtain a duplicate.

The provisions of Sections 4458, 4460, 4461, 4462, 4463, and 4464 shall be fully applicable to motor vehicles identified under this division and the terms "identification" and "identification certificate" shall have the same meaning as the terms "registration" and "registration card," respectively, as used in those sections.