Vehicle dealers: document processing charge.

The document was converted from a formal enrolled bill format (with chapter number placeholder, governor's receipt date line, and traditional legislative layout) to a web page presentation with navigation menus, search tools, version history timeline, and reformatted statutory text.

A bill version history section was added showing the progression from introduction on February 21, 2025 through multiple amendments in both chambers to final enrollment on September 13, 2025.

The maximum variable document processing charge was reduced from $500 to $350, capping how much above the base $70 or $85 a dealer can charge based on vehicle price.

A new subdivision (b) requires dealers using the variable charge to: (1) display an 8x10 inch notice in sales offices and cubicles stating the charge varies by vehicle price but cannot exceed $350 and is not a government fee; (2) provide a pre-contract written disclosure with the specific charge amount in bold 12-point font; and (3) not collect any other document processing charge unless expressly authorized by law.

The exemption from the variable document processing charge was expanded from sales to the State of California only, to also include any local governmental entity, including cities, counties, cities and counties, and special districts.

A new Section 2 amends Vehicle Code Section 11713.1 to add a comprehensive set of dealer advertising and sales practice prohibitions, including rules on price advertising transparency, rebate disclosures, invoice price references, bait-and-switch prevention, used vehicle Buyer's Guide display, autobroker fee disclosure, and requirements for supplemental price stickers.

The maximum document processing charge a dealer may collect above the base $85/$70 caps was reduced from $350 to $260. This cap applies when the charge also does not exceed 1 percent of the total vehicle price. The change appears in Section 4456.5(a)(1)(C)(i)(II), the required posted notice text, and Section 11713.1(c)(2) (the advertisement disclosure requirement).

New subparagraph (C) allows dealers to charge a document processing fee exceeding the existing $85/$70 caps if the fee is both no more than 1% of the vehicle's total price AND no more than $500. This creates a sliding-scale exception that benefits consumers of higher-priced vehicles by permitting proportionally larger fees.

Defined 'total price of the vehicle' as the price before government charges and any additional accessories or services ordered by the purchaser or lessee, establishing the baseline for calculating the 1% threshold.

Added coauthors (Senators Archuleta, Ashby, Dahle, Gonzalez, Strickland; Assembly Members Chen and Flora), updated the legislative counsel digest to reflect the new provision, fixed a typo ('contracts with dealers a dealer' to 'contracts with a dealer'), and made formatting/line-numbering adjustments.

A new subparagraph (iii) exempts the sale of vehicles to the State of California from the document processing charge provisions. State vehicle purchases are now carved out from the fee caps and requirements in the bill.

The digest sentence stating 'This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions' was removed, consistent with the addition of a substantive exemption.