# California — Vehicle title transfer deadlines and late penalties by state

For California, deadline to apply for title is that person shall, within 10 days thereafter, forward the certificate with the proper transfer fee to the department and thereby make application for a transfer of registration; statute is VEH § 5902, verified against its source on 2026-08-18.

- **State:** California _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Deadline to apply for title:** that person shall, within 10 days thereafter, forward the certificate with the proper transfer fee to the department and thereby make application for a transfer of registration _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute:** VEH § 5902 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> Whenever any person has received as transferee a properly endorsed certificate of ownership, that person shall, within 10 days thereafter, forward the certificate with the proper transfer fee to the department and thereby make application for a transfer of registration.

## Source

- https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/vehicle-code/veh-sect-5902/

Last verified: 2026-08-18. Review by: 2027-08-18.
Part of [Vehicle title transfer deadlines and late penalties by state](https://referencesource.org/vehicle-title-transfer-deadlines-by-state/).