{"id":6688,"date":"2020-04-02T11:08:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T18:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/?page_id=6688"},"modified":"2025-05-23T06:57:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:57:23","slug":"dmv-complaints-ffinv-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/customer-service\/dmv-complaints-ffinv-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Filing a Complaint For Unlawful Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-dmv-columns content-columns colums-1-3-2-3\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-dmv-column col\">\n<p>If you suspect or have witnessed any DMV violations or unlawful activities, you may file a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-default\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/dmvinvestigations.my.site.com\/INVCMS\">Report a Complaint<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-dmv-column col\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-dmv-container shadow-box\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unlawful Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>DMV is responsible for conducting administrative and criminal investigations for alleged violations committed within the State of California only.&nbsp; Complaints related to out-of-state entities or individuals will need to be filed in the appropriate state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of Complaints<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Typical complaints focus on the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Document Fraud<\/strong><br>It is unlawful for persons and businesses to alter, forge, falsify, or counterfeit DMV-issued documents (for example, driver license\/identification cards, vehicle titles, registration cards, out of state registration, disabled person parking placards, etc.) that passed or attempted to pass as genuine. Fraud also includes false vehicle-related advertising.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Licensed Businesses Violations<\/strong><br>It is unlawful for licensed businesses, such as vehicle dealers, brokers and their salespeople, dismantlers, registration services, and driving and traffic violator schools to violate DMV regulations. Examples include failure to provide registration documents\/license plates, vehicle contract violations, overcharging DMV fees, and failing vehicle registration transfer requirements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unlicensed Businesses<\/strong><br>It is unlawful for businesses or persons to provide vehicle-related services without a DMV-issued business license. This includes unlicensed vehicle dealers, brokers, and salespeople, also known as \u201ccurbstoners.\u201d It is also unlawful for any person to act as a vehicle dismantler without having an established place of business, meeting specific requirements, and having a current valid business license or temporary permit issued by DMV. Unlicensed dismantling happens when a vehicle is stripped for parts without the required environmental protections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Odometer Fraud (Odometer Rollback)<\/strong><br>It is unlawful for vehicle dealers, sellers, or brokers to change or alter odometer mileage readings to make a vehicle appear to have lower mileage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disabled Person Parking Placard Abuse<\/strong><br>It is unlawful for persons to lend their placard to someone else, forge a medical professional\u2019s signature to obtain a disabled person parking placard, use someone else\u2019s placard, possess or display a counterfeit placard or license plates, provide false information to obtain a placard or license plates, and alter a placard or placard registration card.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Employee Related Fraud<\/strong><br>The DMV investigates allegations related to unlawful access of information, fraud, theft of monetary items, and misconduct.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mobile Driver\u2019s License (mDL)<\/strong><br>It is unlawful for a person to submit a falsified request to obtain someone else\u2019s mDL on an electronic device. This includes instances where someone tries to get an mDL by using someone else\u2019s driver\u2019s license or identification card.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1635,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"dmv_page_popups":[],"dmv_ribbon_color":"#F5FBFB","dmv_top_illustration":"https:\/\/www.dmv.ca.gov\/portal\/uploads\/2022\/12\/online_forms_2.svg","dmv_page_title":"","dmv_page_subtitle":"","dmv_exclude_from_search_results":false,"dmv_allowed_editors":[],"dmv_display_translate_button":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[517],"tags":[5073,5070,5067,5079,2637,5085,2640,2934,5076,5082,5064],"dmv_task":[364,11],"dmv_functional_page_type":[367,64,69],"dmv_content_type":[],"class_list":["post-6688","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-dmv-complaints-ffinv-1","tag-businesses-violations","tag-complaint","tag-document-fraud","tag-employee-fraud","tag-inv-172a","tag-inv-19","tag-inv172a","tag-investigations","tag-odometer-fraud","tag-placard-abuse","tag-unlicensed-businesses","dmv_task-contact-cust-svc","dmv_task-educational","dmv_functional_page_type-contact-cust-svc","dmv_functional_page_type-informational","dmv_functional_page_type-instructional"],"featured_image_src":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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