Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual

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Section 2 of 38

Chapter 1: General Registration Information

Chapter 1 General Registration Information

1.000 Addresses on Documents (VC §§4150, 4150.2, and 4453)

Registration applications must include the registered owner’s residence or business address and mailing address, if different, and the legal owner/lienholder’s business, residence, or mailing address.

  • Residence addresses must include the house number, street name, and apartment or mobile home park space number, when applicable.
  • Business addresses may be an office building or a street address.

Address Changes (VC §§4159, 4160, and 9865)—Registered and legal owners are required to notify DMV a change of address within 10 days by submitting a completed Notice of Change of Address
(DMV 14)
form to the address shown on the form (registered owners may complete the change of address on the DMV website).

New registration documents are not issued. The owner should line through the old address on the registration document and print or type the new address on it and initial.

A lienholder may submit a change of address on its business letterhead. The letter must clearly state “This is a request of legal owner change of address” and include the same information required on the DMV 14.

Legal owner/lienholder change of address requests submitted on a DMV 14 or the legal owner’s/lienholder’s business letterhead must be mailed to the address shown on the DMV 14:

DMV Change of Address
PO Box 942859
Sacramento, CA 94259-0001

In Care of (c/o) Addresses—May be accepted when an owner does not have an established residence or place of business or requests certificates be mailed to a temporary address. Enter the owner’s name(s)/address as follows:

John Doe
c/o James Smith (key “c/o” and the name on the first address line)
124 Anyplace
Hometown, CA 12345

Residence and Mailing Addresses in Different Cities—When a vehicle owner’s residence is in one city and the mailing address is in another city, only the owner’s mailing address will be on certificates.

Although both addresses are shown on the application:

  • A DMV 14 showing the residence or business address and mailing address must be completed.
  • Paperclip the DMV 14 to the front of the application.

Example: The customer lives in San Geronimo, but has his mail delivered to a Woodacre Post Office (PO) Box. In this case, list both the mailing address in Woodacre and the residence address in San Geronimo on the application and on the DMV 14, but only the Woodacre PO Box will show on certificates.

Mail Delivered Through a Post Office in a Different City—When a vehicle owner’s residence is in one city but mail is delivered via a post office in another city, the name  of the city with the post office will be keyed as the owner’s mailing address.

Although both addresses are shown on the application:

  • A DMV 14 showing the residence or business address and mailing address must be completed.
  • Paperclip the DMV 14 to the front of the application.

Example: The customer lives in Muir Beach, a town without a post office or mail delivery, so mail is delivered to the Sausalito Post Office. The addresses are listed as follows:

Mailing Address:Residence Address:
Star Route 5 Palm Dr. Muir Beach
Sausalito, CA 94965
5 Palm Dr
Muir Beach, CA 94965

In this case, the customer would list the mailing address in Sausalito and the residence address in Muir Beach on the application and on the DMV 14.

APO or FPO Military Addresses—Overseas military mail must include the appropriate alpha designation with the APO or FPO address, as shown below:

  • AE—Europe, Africa, Canada, or the Middle East (the first three digits of a zip code following the military mail codes are 090–098) Example: APO AE 090.
  • AP—Pacific (962–966) Example: FPO AP 962.
  • AA—Americas other than Canada (340) Example: APO AA 340.

Mailing Address on Registration Documents—Vehicle registration applications must include both the registered owner’s residence or business and mailing address, if different, but registration documents will be issued showing the registered owner’s mailing address only.

If an application indicates a mailing address only on the registration documents, the
application must include:

  • A Statement of Facts (REG 256) form completed by the customer requesting only the mailing address be shown on the registration documents.
  • A DMV 14 completed by the customer showing both the residence or business address and the mailing address.

Although the registration document contains both addresses, only the mailing address is keyed. Therefore, the DMV 14 is necessary to subsequently update the DMV database with the complete address information.

Leased Vehicles

The vehicle must be located in California to be registered in this state. The lessor may show the lessor’s out-of-state address, if applicable. However, the application must include the lessee’s name and California address.

A Statement to Record Ownership/Statement of Error or Erasure (REG 101) form with the lessee’s address is required if the application does not contain a space for a designated lessee address.