Chapter 5 - Larceny

California Penal Code — §§ 484-502.9

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Sections (66)

Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 176, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2001.

(a)Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, carry, lead, or drive away the personal property of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate property which has been entrusted to him or her, or who shall knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defraud any other person of money, labor or real or personal property, or who causes or procures others to report falsely of his or her wealth or mercantile character and by thus imposing upon any person, obtains credit and thereby fraudulently gets or

obtains possession of money, or property or obtains the labor or service of another, is guilty of theft. In determining the value of the property obtained, for the purposes of this section, the reasonable and fair market value shall be the test, and in determining the value of services received the contract price shall be the test. If there be no contract price, the reasonable and going wage for the service rendered shall govern. For the purposes of this section, any false or fraudulent representation or pretense made shall be treated as continuing, so as to cover any money, property or service received as a result thereof, and the complaint, information or indictment may charge that the crime was committed on any date during the particular period in question. The hiring of any additional employee or employees without advising each of them of every labor claim due and unpaid and every judgment that the employer has been unable to meet shall be prima facie evidence of intent to defraud.

(b)(1) Except as provided in Section 10855 of the Vehicle Code, where a person has leased or rented the personal property of another person pursuant to a written contract, and that property has a value greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and is not a commonly used household item, intent to commit theft by fraud shall be rebuttably presumed if the person fails to return the personal property to its owner within 10 days after the owner has made written demand by certified or registered mail following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement for return of the property so leased or rented.
(2)Except as provided in Section 10855 of the Vehicle Code, where a person has leased or rented the personal property of another person pursuant to a written contract, and where the property has a value no greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or where the

property is a commonly used household item, intent to commit theft by fraud shall be rebuttably presumed if the person fails to return the personal property to its owner within 20 days after the owner has made written demand by certified or registered mail following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement for return of the property so leased or rented.

(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (b), if one presents with criminal intent identification which bears a false or fictitious name or address for the purpose of obtaining the lease or rental of the personal property of another, the presumption created herein shall apply upon the failure of the lessee to return the rental property at the expiration of the lease or rental agreement, and no written demand for the return of the leased or rented property shall be required.
(d)The presumptions created by

subdivisions (b) and (c) are presumptions affecting the burden of producing evidence.

(e)Within 30 days after the lease or rental agreement has expired, the owner shall make written demand for return of the property so leased or rented. Notice addressed and mailed to the lessee or renter at the address given at the time of the making of the lease or rental agreement and to any other known address shall constitute proper demand. Where the owner fails to make such written demand the presumption created by subdivision (b) shall not apply.

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 367. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.

Any person who receives money for the purpose of obtaining or paying for services, labor, materials or equipment and willfully fails to apply such money for such purpose by either willfully failing to complete the improvements for which funds were provided or willfully failing to pay for services, labor, materials or equipment provided incident to such construction, and wrongfully diverts the funds to a use other than that for which the funds were received,

shall be guilty of a public offense and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by both that fine and that imprisonment if the amount diverted is in excess of two thousand three hundred fifty dollars ($2,350). If the amount diverted is less than or equal to two thousand three hundred fifty dollars ($2,350), the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Added by Stats. 1965, Ch. 1145.

Any person who submits a false voucher to obtain construction loan funds and does not use the funds for the purpose for which the claim was submitted is guilty of embezzlement.

Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 1436, Sec. 1.

As used in this section and Sections 484e to 484j, inclusive:

(1)“Cardholder” means any person to whom an access card is issued or any person who has agreed with the card issuer to pay obligations arising from the issuance of an access card to another person.
(2)“Access card” means any card, plate, code, account number, or other means of account access that can be used, alone or in conjunction with another access card, to obtain money, goods, services, or any other thing of value, or

that can be used to initiate a transfer of funds, other than a transfer originated solely by a paper instrument.

(3)“Expired access card” means an access card which shows on its face it has elapsed.
(4)“Card issuer” means any person who issues an access card or the agent of that person with respect to that card.
(5)“Retailer” means every person who is authorized by an issuer to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of an access card by a cardholder.
(6)An access card is “incomplete” if part of the matter other than the signature of the cardholder which an issuer requires to appear on the access card before it can be used by a cardholder has not been stamped, embossed, imprinted, or written on it.
(7)“Revoked access card” means an access card which is no longer authorized for use by the issuer, that authorization having been suspended or terminated and written notice thereof having been given to the cardholder.
(8)“Counterfeit access card” means any access card that is counterfeit, fictitious, altered, or forged, or any false representation or depiction of an access card or a component thereof.
(9)“Traffic” means to transfer or otherwise dispose of property to another, or to obtain control of property with intent to transfer or dispose of it to another.
(10)“Card making equipment” means any equipment, machine, plate, mechanism, impression, or other device designed, used, or intended to be used to produce an access card.

Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 468, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1999.

(a)Every person who, with intent to defraud, sells, transfers, or conveys, an access card, without the cardholder’s or issuer’s consent, is guilty of grand theft.
(b)Every person, other than the issuer, who within any consecutive 12-month period, acquires access cards issued in the names of four or more persons which he or she has reason to know were taken or retained under circumstances which constitute a violation of subdivision (a), (c), or (d) is guilty of grand theft.
(c)Every person who, with the intent to defraud, acquires or retains possession of an access card without the cardholder’s or issuer’s consent, with intent to use, sell, or transfer it to a person other than the cardholder or issuer is guilty of petty theft.
(d)Every person who acquires or retains possession of access card account information with respect to an access card validly issued to another person, without the cardholder’s or issuer’s consent, with the intent to use it fraudulently, is guilty of grand theft.

Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 468, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 1999.

(a)Every person who, with the intent to defraud, designs, makes, alters, or embosses a counterfeit access card or utters or otherwise attempts to use a counterfeit access card is guilty of forgery.
(b)A person other than the cardholder or a person authorized by him or her who, with the intent to defraud, signs the name of another or of a fictitious person to an access card, sales slip, sales draft, or instrument for the payment of money which evidences an access card transaction,

is guilty of forgery.

Amended by Stats. 2009, 3rd Ex. Sess., Ch. 28, Sec. 15. (SB 18 3x) Effective January 25, 2010.

Every person who, with the intent to defraud, (a) uses, for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value, an access card or access card account information that has been altered, obtained, or retained in violation of Section 484e or 484f, or an access card which he or she knows is forged, expired, or revoked, or (b) obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of value by representing without the consent of the cardholder that he or she is the holder of

an access card and the card has not in fact been issued, is guilty of theft. If the value of all money, goods, services, and other things of value obtained in violation of this section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.

Amended by Stats. 2009, 3rd Ex. Sess., Ch. 28, Sec. 16. (SB 18 3x) Effective January 25, 2010.

Every retailer or other person who, with intent to defraud:

(a)Furnishes money, goods, services or anything else of value upon presentation of an access card obtained or retained in violation of Section 484e or an access card which he or she knows is a counterfeit access card or is forged, expired, or revoked, and who receives any payment therefor, is guilty of theft. If the payment received by the retailer or other person

for all money, goods, services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this section exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand theft.

(b)Presents for payment a sales slip or other evidence of an access card transaction, and receives payment therefor, without furnishing in the transaction money, goods, services, or anything else of value that is equal in value to the amount of the sales slip or other evidence of an access card transaction, is guilty of theft. If the difference between the value of all money, goods, services, and anything else of value actually furnished and the payment or payments received by the retailer or other person therefor upon presentation of a sales slip or other evidence of an access card transaction exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) in any consecutive six-month period, then the same shall constitute grand

theft.

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 368. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.

(a)Every person who possesses an incomplete access card, with intent to complete it without the consent of the issuer, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b)Every person who, with the intent to defraud, makes, alters, varies, changes, or modifies access card account information on any part of an access card, including information encoded in a magnetic stripe or other medium on the

access card not directly readable by the human eye, or who authorizes or consents to alteration, variance, change, or modification of access card account information by another, in a manner that causes transactions initiated by that access card to be charged or billed to a person other than the cardholder to whom the access card was issued, is guilty of forgery.

(c)Every person who designs, makes, possesses, or traffics in card making equipment or incomplete access cards with the intent that the equipment or cards be used to make counterfeit access cards, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 1437, Sec. 2.

Any person who publishes the number or code of an existing, canceled, revoked, expired or nonexistent access card, personal identification number, computer password, access code, debit card number, bank account number, or the numbering or coding which is employed in the issuance of access cards, with the intent that it be used or with knowledge or reason to believe that it will be used to avoid the payment of any lawful charge, or with intent to defraud or aid another in defrauding, is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section, “publishes” means the communication of information to any one or more persons,

either orally, in person or by telephone, radio or television, or on a computer network or computer bulletin board, or in a writing of any kind, including without limitation a letter or memorandum, circular or handbill, newspaper or magazine article, or book.

Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1077, Sec. 18.5. Effective January 1, 1997.

(a)Any person who knowingly gives false information or provides false verification as to the person’s true identity or as to the person’s ownership interest in property or the person’s authority to sell property in order to receive money or other valuable consideration from a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer and who receives money or other valuable consideration from the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer is guilty of theft.
(b)Upon conviction of the offense described in

subdivision (a), the court may require, in addition to any sentence or fine imposed, that the defendant make restitution to the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer in an amount not exceeding the actual losses sustained pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 13967 of the Government Code, as operative on or before September 28, 1994, if the defendant is denied probation, or Section 1203.04, as operative on or before August 2, 1995, if the defendant is granted probation or Section 1202.4.

(c)Upon the setting of a court hearing date for sentencing of any person convicted under this section, the probation officer, if one is assigned, shall notify the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer or coin dealer of the time and place of the hearing.

Amended by Stats. 1927, Ch. 619.

One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.

Amended by Stats. 1927, Ch. 619.

Theft is divided into two degrees, the first of which is termed grand theft; the second, petty theft.

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 168, Sec. 2. (AB 2943) Effective January 1, 2025.

Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:

(a)When the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), except as provided in subdivision (b).
(b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), grand theft is committed in any of the following cases:
(1)(A) When domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops are taken of a value exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(B)For the purposes of establishing that the value

of domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops under this paragraph exceeds two hundred fifty dollars ($250), that value may be shown by the presentation of credible evidence which establishes that on the day of the theft domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops of the same variety and weight exceeded two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in wholesale value.

(2)When fish, shellfish, mollusks, crustaceans, kelp, algae, or other aquacultural products are taken from a commercial or research operation which is producing that product, of a value exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(3)Where the money, labor, real property, or personal property is taken by a servant, agent, or employee from their principal or employer

and aggregates nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more in any 12 consecutive month period.

(c)When the property is taken from the person of another.
(d)When the property taken is any of the following:
(1)An automobile.
(2)A firearm.
(e)If the value of the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) over the course of distinct but related acts, including acts committed against multiple victims or in counties other than the county of the current offense, the

value of the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken may properly be aggregated to charge a count of grand theft, if the acts are motivated by one intention, one general impulse, and one plan. Evidence that distinct acts are motivated by one intention, one general impulse, and one plan may include, but is not limited to, evidence that the acts involve the same defendant or defendants, are substantially similar in nature, or occur within a 90-day period.

Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 71, Sec. 122. (SB 1304) Effective January 1, 2015.

(a)Every person who feloniously steals, takes, carries, leads, or drives away any horse, mare, gelding, any bovine animal, any caprine animal, mule, jack, jenny, sheep, lamb, hog, sow, boar, gilt, barrow, or pig, which is the personal property of another, or who fraudulently appropriates that same property which has been entrusted to him or her, or who knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defrauds any other person of that

same property, or who causes or procures others to report falsely of his or her wealth or mercantile character and by thus imposing upon any person, obtains credit and thereby fraudulently gets or obtains possession of that same property, is guilty of grand theft.

(b)Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport or carry the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine animal or of any mule, jack or jenny, which is the personal property of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate such property which has been entrusted to him or her, is guilty of grand theft.
(c)Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, transport, or carry any portion of the carcass of any bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or suine animal or of any mule, jack, or jenny, which has been killed without the consent of the owner thereof, is guilty of grand theft.

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 369. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.

Every person who converts real estate of the value of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more into personal property by severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do so, steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of grand theft and is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

Amended by Stats. 2009, 3rd Ex. Sess., Ch. 28, Sec. 19. (SB 18 3x) Effective January 25, 2010.

Every person who converts real estate of the value of less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) into personal property by severance from the realty of another, and with felonious intent to do so steals, takes, and carries away that property is guilty of petty theft and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 370. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.

Every person who feloniously steals, takes, and carries away, or attempts to take, steal, and carry from any mining claim, tunnel, sluice, undercurrent, riffle box, or sulfurate machine, another’s gold dust, amalgam, or quicksilver is guilty of grand theft and is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 546, Sec. 1. (AB 1290) Effective January 1, 2023.

(a)Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a companion animal of another which is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) is guilty of grand theft.
(b)(1) For purposes of this section, “companion animal” means an

animal, including, but not limited to, a dog or a cat that a person keeps and provides care for as a household pet or otherwise for the purpose of companionship, emotional support, service, or protection.

(2)For purposes of this section, “companion animal” excludes feral animals, including, but not limited to, feral cats as defined in Section 31752.5 of the Food and Agricultural Code.

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 546, Sec. 2. (AB 1290) Effective January 1, 2023.

(a)Every person who feloniously steals, takes, or carries away a companion animal of another which is of a value not exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) is guilty of petty theft.
(b)(1) For purposes of this section, “companion animal” means an animal, including, but not limited to, a dog or a cat that a person keeps and provides care for as a household

pet or otherwise for the purpose of companionship, emotional support, service, or protection.

(2)For purposes of this section, “companion animal” excludes feral animals, including, but not limited to, feral cats as defined in Section 31752.5 of the Food and Agricultural Code.

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