In California, as in most states, you must register your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within a specific time period. If you fail to do so, you will face penalties and fines. However, there are some situations in which you might not be able to register your car right away. In these unusual circumstances, it’s important that you know what to do and how to avoid the negative consequences of failing to register your car. In this article, we’ll explain the process of registering a vehicle in California, who can exempt you from the registration process, what happens if you don’t register your car and what the consequences are when you don’t comply with the DMV’s regulations regarding your vehicle.
What Happens If You Don’t Register Your Car
You’re at risk of having your car impounded
If you don’t register your car, you could face fines and penalties. The DMV will also put a hold on your vehicle registration, which means you won’t be able to renew your registration until you’ve registered the vehicle. If you don’t follow through on registering the vehicle, the DMV can issue a hold on the renewal of your vehicle registration. This is known as an “administrative hold.”
You could face legal trouble for driving an unregistered car
In California, if you drive a vehicle that isn’t registered with the DMV or isn’t registered in the state, then it’s considered to be an illegal operation and could be considered a misdemeanor offense. This means that if you’re caught driving an unregistered vehicle, then you can receive a citation from law enforcement officers for driving without proper registration in your state or county as well as a fine for operating without valid tags or registration stickers. In some cases, drivers have received jail time for driving without proper registration; however, this is rare and typically does not occur when it comes to first-time offenders who are caught driving without valid tags or stickers on their vehicles because they were unaware of their state’s laws regarding their vehicles’ registrations or didn’t have enough money to pay for them at once. It’s important that if you’re caught driving an unregistered car that you immediately contact an attorney and find out how to proceed with your case.
You could face a fine for not registering your car
If you don’t register your car, then you could receive a citation from law enforcement officers for violating the California Vehicle Code, which means that you could be fined up to $100 for driving without valid registration or without current vehicle registration stickers on your plates and registration card in the vehicle. In some cases, drivers have been ticketed $1,000 for driving an unregistered vehicle because they were not able to register their vehicles immediately after moving to California and had an expired out-of-state registration card from their previous state of residence. If you have an expired out-of-state registration card and you’re unable to register your vehicle with the DMV right away due to extenuating circumstances, it’s important that you contact an attorney who can help explain the laws in California regarding auto registrations so that they can help protect you against penalties and fines if law enforcement officers find out that your vehicle is unregistered as well as inform them of any extenuating circumstances that prevented you from registering it right away.
Exceptions for Why You May Beexempt from Registering Your Car
You may be exempt from registering your car if you’re a member of the U.S. military.
If you’re a member of the U.S. military and serving in California, then you may be exempt from registering your car as well as renewing your vehicle registration with the DMV because military personnel are not required by law to register their vehicles when they’re stationed out-of-state or overseas. However, if you move back to California while being on active duty, then you’ll have 30 days after moving back to register your vehicle with the DMV and pay any outstanding registration fees that are due for the current year. If you don’t register your car within this timeframe, then you can be fined up to $100 for not having valid registration on your vehicle or up to $1,000 for driving an unregistered vehicle in California; however, it’s important that if this happens to contact an attorney immediately so that they can help protect your rights as a military member and explain why it was necessary for you not to register your car upon moving back to California from being stationed out-of-state or overseas during active duty.
You may be exempt from registering your car if it’s considered “offroad.”
If your vehicle is registered as offroad and has been registered as such for at least 12 consecutive months during the last 24 months prior to January 1st of each year with DMV, then it doesn’t have to be registered again until after January 1st of the following year.
You may be exempt from registering your car if you’re a California resident who’s registered as a nonresident of another state.
If you’re a California resident who is registered as a nonresident of another state and have been registered as such for at least 12 consecutive months during the last 24 months prior to January 1st of each year with DMV, then it doesn’t have to be registered again until after January 1st of the following year.
What Happens When You Violate DMV Regulations?
You may be fined
If you violate DMV regulations, then you can be fined up to $1,000 for each offense. If the violation is considered a serious violation, then you can be charged a civil penalty of up to $5,000.
You may have your vehicle impounded or towed
If your vehicle is impounded or towed due to a violation of DMV regulations, then it will cost you between $1 and $20 per day for storage fees as well as an additional impound fee of between $25 and $200 for the tow itself. If your vehicle was impounded by the CHP and not a local law enforcement agency, then it may take up to three days before the vehicle is available for pickup at the location where it was taken; however, if it was impounded by a local law enforcement agency in California such as one of the following: Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), Riverside Police Department (RPD), San Diego Police Department (SDPD), or any other city police department in California, then there’s no set time frame on when your vehicle will be released back to you after being impounded because these agencies have their own rules on how long they hold vehicles before they are released back to their owners; however, if your vehicle is released sooner than this timeframe due to extenuating circumstances such as pending legal action against the driver who had their car impounded or towed, or the vehicle being stolen, then you will have to pay the daily storage fees for the days that your vehicle was impounded prior to it being released back to you.
Your driving privileges may be suspended or revoked
If you violate DMV regulations and your license is suspended or revoked as a result, then you may have to pay a fee of up to $125 in order to reinstate your license. If your driver’s license was suspended or revoked by DMV and not by another agency such as the county court in California, then it may take up to 90 days before you can reinstate your driver’s license after paying the required fee; however, if it was suspended or revoked by another agency such as a county court in California who’s responsible for issuing driver’s licenses in California (the Superior Court of California is one example), then there’s no set time frame on when you can reinstate your driver’s license after paying the required fee because each court has their own rules on how long they hold licenses before they are released back to their owners; however, if your driver’s license is released sooner than this timeframe due to extenuating circumstances such as: pending legal action against the person who had their license suspended or revoked, or the person having their license suspended or revoked due to an arrest warrant that was issued against them being found guilty of committing a violent crime (such as murder), then you will have to pay an additional $125 fee for each offense that you committed in order to have your driver’s license reinstated.
You may be forced to pay fines and/or serve jail time
If you are convicted of a crime that is punishable by incarceration, then the court will fine you a certain amount of money that is determined by the court and/or they may sentence you to serve a certain amount of time in county jail or state prison; however, if it’s determined that you were living below the poverty level when you committed the crime for which you were convicted, then there’s no set amount of money that the court can fine you or sentence you to serve in county jail or state prison because these courts have their own rules on how much they fine people or sentence them to serve in jail based on their income level; however, if it’s determined that your income was above the poverty line when you committed the crime for which you were convicted, then there’s no set amount of money that the court can fine you or sentence you to serve in county jail or state prison because these courts have their own rules on how much they fine people who make over $1 million a year for committing crimes.
Final Words
If you don’t register your car, you could be fined thousands of dollars and risk serious legal consequences. Fortunately, you may be able to get an exemption that allows you to avoid the registration process. If you go this route, you’ll need to apply for the exemption as soon as possible. It’s also important that you familiarize yourself with DMV regulations and make sure you’re following them. By doing so, you can avoid the negative consequences of not registering your car.
