SJ cracks down on issuing citations for expired vehicle registrations

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- In a previous report, we told you how San Francisco is ticketing fewer vehicles with expired registrations.

But in the South Bay, it's the opposite. The city of San Jose announced ticketing is increasing there.

This is after DMV data found thousands of vehicles with registrations that had been expired for more than six months.

Albert Pham is a San Jose Parking and Traffic Control Officer. We were invited to drive with him around San Jose to see how that city is now dealing with those vehicles that are not registered on city streets.

MORE: SF not as strict when it comes to ticketing for expired vehicle registrations: Here's what we found

Lyanne Melendez: "How do you know when the vehicle registration might be expired?"

Albert Pham: "Usually, the car is really dirty. Might have cobwebs underneath it."

Here's where some forensic knowledge is helpful.

By now, he knows that the yellow and red stickers, representing 2025 and 2026, are current. He eventually finds a car with a missing license plate and pulls over to run the VIN number. Using his hand-held device, he inputs the information.

"OK and now, we'll run this on the laptop," he said as he clarified that all the information he needs is available in real-time on a laptop in his vehicle.

It took just over a minute.

"Expired 2022," he said.

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The car -- with a coat of dust -- not only had an expired registration, but had been cited before for other infractions.

"If it gets two more tickets on the dashboard, it will be reported to the VA team and a case will be created, and we'll come and investigate it. If it's still expired, we'll just tow it on the spot," Pham said.

Why the increased enforcement? San Jose obtained 2022-23 DMV data that found that more than 4,200 car owners who had previously registered their vehicle now had their registration expired by more than six months.

That doesn't seem all that much when you consider that there are a lot of cars here, but it's money they're not getting.

"When you pay your registration, nobody is profiteering off of that. That money is going to useful projects to maintain our roadways, to pay for transportation improvements, to fund the parking officers who are going to make sure that parking spots are staying open and available," said Colin Heyne, public information manager with the San Jose Transportation Department.

"Right, for the whole month of July, we're warning people, and in August is when we start giving real tickets and start towing vehicles," Pham said.

MORE: SF Civil Grand Jury finds part of 'Vision Zero' failure due to lack police traffic enforcement

Beginning Aug. 17, that ticket will cost you $63.

"Our practice is going to be if your registration has expired between six months to a year, and there is nothing going on with your vehicle, we are leaning toward ticketing, and if it's more than a year expired, then we can tow you immediately," Heyne said.

It's not like San Jose hasn't been ticketing vehicles. The latest numbers show that in 2023-24, officers issued 2,600 citations for expired registrations alone, and 1,300 cars were towed.

"But with this added capacity, we're expecting to significantly boost these citations, and we should have capacity to tow upward of 3,000 vehicles," Heyne said.

Lived-in vehicles parked on the streets will be given a warning to move within 72 hours. The San Jose Housing Department is responsible for outreach and offering resources.

This overall effort to ticket more people comes with a few challenges. There are only 50 of these officers in San Jose. About six focusing solely on expired registrations. They have to cover an area nearly four times the size of San Francisco -- which, by the way, has 370 parking control officers in the city.

MORE: Santa Cruz police warn of fake parking tickets being issued: Here's what they look like

An then, there's always the surprises when approaching vehicles.

"Take a picture of it, get the plate, so I have to go back to the laptop real quick to run the plate real quick," Pham said.

Pham found a car which had an expired 2023 sticker, but the DMV information showed otherwise.

"The car is up to date," he said.

Lyanne Melendez: Why do you think people don't put the stickers on?

Albert Pham: "I don't know. Maybe they're saving it for something, putting it on a different vehicle. It could be many reasons, right?"

In this case, we'll never know.