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Cal. VEH § 4456.5

This is the official text of Cal. VEH § 4456.5, part of California’s Vehicle Code — governs traffic laws, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) A dealer may charge the purchaser or lessee of a vehicle the following charges:

(1) A document processing charge for the preparation and processing of documents, disclosures, and titling, registration, and information security obligations imposed by state and federal law. The dealer document processing charge shall not be represented as a governmental fee.

(A) If a dealer has a contractual agreement with the department to be a private industry partner pursuant to Section 1685, the document processing charge shall not exceed eighty-five dollars ($85).

(B) If a dealer does not have a contractual agreement with the department to be a private industry partner pursuant to Section 1685, the document processing charge shall not exceed seventy dollars ($70).

(2) An electronic filing charge, not to exceed the actual amount the dealer is charged by a first-line service provider for providing license plate processing, postage, and the fees and services authorized pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 1685, including services related to reporting vehicle sales and producing temporary license plates pursuant to Sections 4456 and 4456.2. The electronic filing charge shall not be used to pay for additional fees, goods, or services not directly related to the electronic registration of a motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, the receipt by the dealer of free or discounted goods, services, or financial incentives. The director may establish, through the adoption of regulations, the maximum amount that a first-line service provider may charge a dealer. The electronic filing charge shall not be represented as a governmental fee.

(b) As used in this section, the term “first-line service provider” shall have the same meaning as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1685.

(c) This section does not prohibit a first-line service provider from entering into contracts with dealers for products and services unrelated to electronic vehicle registration services.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2019.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.