Penal Law § 170.65

Forgery of a vehicle identification number · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 170.65 Forgery of a vehicle identification number.

A person is guilty of forgery of a vehicle identification number when:

(1) He knowingly destroys, covers, defaces, alters or otherwise changes the form or appearance of a vehicle identification number on any vehicle or component part thereof, except tires; or

(2) He removes any such number from a vehicle or component part thereof, except as required by the provisions of the vehicle and traffic law; or

(3) He affixes a vehicle identification number to a vehicle, except in accordance with the provisions of the vehicle and traffic law.

(4) He or she, with intent to defraud, knowingly manufactures, produces or reproduces a vehicle identification number label, sticker or plate which was not manufactured, produced or reproduced in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the United States National Highway Safety Administration and/or in accordance with the provisions of the state vehicle and traffic law.

Forgery of a vehicle identification number is a class E felony.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/170.65

In plain English

A person forges a vehicle identification number by:

(1) knowingly destroying, covering, defacing, altering, or changing a VIN on a vehicle or component other than tires;
(2) removing a VIN except as Vehicle and Traffic Law requires;
(3) affixing a VIN except as that law allows; or
(4) intending to defraud and knowingly making or reproducing an unauthorized VIN label, sticker, or plate. ★

It is a class E felony.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.