Is Forgery a Felony in California? Penal Code 470 Explained

Q: Is forgery always a felony in California?

No. Forgery under Penal Code section 470 is a wobbler that can be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 473. Forgery of a check, money order, or similar financial instrument worth $950 or less must be filed as a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 473, subdivision (b), unless you are also convicted of identity theft under Penal Code section 530.5 or have a disqualifying prior.

Q: Can I be charged with forgery if nobody lost money?

Yes. The crime is complete when a document is forged or passed with intent to defraud, and the prosecutor does not have to prove that anyone was actually deceived or suffered a loss. A forged check that the bank refused and a forged signature that was caught before any money moved both support a charge under Penal Code section 470. The absence of a loss does matter for restitution and for the plea offer.

Q: Can a forgery charge be dismissed through diversion?

Sometimes. A misdemeanor forgery charge can be referred to misdemeanor diversion under Penal Code section 1001.95 at the judge's discretion, and completion results in dismissal. Felony forgery is not eligible for that program, but mental health diversion under Penal Code section 1001.36 or military diversion under Penal Code section 1001.80 may apply depending on the defendant's history. Prosecutors in the Inland Empire sometimes agree to a civil compromise or a reduced charge when full restitution is paid before the plea.

Q: Does a forgery conviction affect immigration status?

Yes, and seriously. Forgery is a crime involving moral turpitude because it requires intent to defraud, and a conviction can lead to removal or inadmissibility. When the loss exceeds $10,000, a fraud or forgery conviction can be classified as an aggravated felony. Noncitizens should not enter any plea in a forgery case without immigration-specific advice, which Penal Code section 1016.3 requires defense counsel to provide.

Daniel Gramling, Esq.

11 minutes ago

13 min read

The Short Answer on Forgery Charges in California

The short answer: forgery under Penal Code section 470 is a wobbler, which means the prosecutor can file it as a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the facts and your record. Under Penal Code section 473, the felony version carries a sentence of 16 months, two years, or three years in county jail under Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (h), while the misdemeanor version carries up to one year. Since Proposition 47, forgery involving a check, money order, or similar instrument worth $950 or less is a misdemeanor unless you are also convicted of identity theft. This guide explains what the prosecutor has to prove, how forgery is actually charged in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County, the defenses that work, and the collateral consequences that follow a conviction.

Where these cases come from. Forgery filings in Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Los Angeles County usually start with a bank fraud referral, an employer's internal audit, a check cashing business, a DMV or pharmacy report, or a landlord or lender who received an altered document. They are heard at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the San Bernardino Justice Center, the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse, the Victorville courthouse for cases from Hesperia, Apple Valley, and Victorville, and the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center and the Pomona and Van Nuys courthouses in Los Angeles County. Forgery is almost always paired with other charges, which is why understanding the statute matters before you talk to anyone.

What Counts as Forgery Under Penal Code Section 470

Four ways to commit forgery. Penal Code section 470 is divided into subdivisions that describe different conduct. Subdivision (a) covers signing the name of another person, or of a fictitious person, to a document without authority and with intent to defraud. Subdivision (b) covers counterfeiting or forging another person's seal or handwriting. Subdivision (c) covers altering, corrupting, or falsifying a court record, a will, a deed, a judgment, or similar official or legal record. Subdivision (d) is the broadest and covers falsely making, altering, forging, counterfeiting, uttering, publishing, or passing as genuine any of a long list of instruments, including checks, bonds, bank bills, notes, cashier's checks, traveler's checks, money orders, contracts, deeds, receipts, lottery tickets, and more.

Related statutes that are charged with it. Possession of a completed or blank forged check or instrument with intent to pass it is a separate crime under Penal Code section 475. Making or passing a fictitious check from a nonexistent bank or account is covered by Penal Code section 476, and writing a check knowing there are insufficient funds is covered by Penal Code section 476a. Forging or altering a driver's license or identification card is its own offense under Penal Code section 470a, and displaying a forged license is covered by Penal Code section 470b. When the forged signature belongs to a real person, prosecutors routinely add identity theft under Penal Code section 530.5, which we cover in our guide to identity theft in California.

What the Prosecutor Must Prove Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Forgery by false signature. For the most common charge under Penal Code section 470, subdivision (a), the prosecutor must prove that (1) you signed someone else's name, or the name of a fictitious person, to a document, (2) you did not have authority to sign that name, (3) you knew you did not have authority, and (4) when you signed the name you intended to defraud. CALCRIM 1900 sets out these elements for the jury. The document does not have to be a check; a lease, a loan application, a contract, a medical form, or a permission slip can qualify if it has legal significance.

Forgery by altering or passing an instrument. For a charge under Penal Code section 470, subdivision (d), the prosecutor must prove that (1) you falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited one of the listed instruments, or passed, uttered, or published a document you knew was forged, and (2) you did so with intent to defraud. Altering a single number on a check, changing the payee, adding a zero to a receipt, or endorsing a check made out to someone else with that person's name are all charged under this subdivision.

Intent to defraud is the heart of the case. A person intends to defraud when they intend to deceive another person in order to cause a loss of money, goods, services, or something else of value, or to cause damage to a legal, financial, or property right. The prosecutor does not have to prove that anyone was actually deceived or actually lost money; the crime is complete when the forged document is made or passed with the required intent. That is why a check that bounced before it was cashed, or a forged signature that the bank caught, still supports a charge. Our guide to what prosecutors look at before filing charges explains how intent evidence is evaluated at the filing stage.

Knowledge the document is forged. In a passing or uttering case, the prosecution must prove you knew the document was forged when you presented it. A person who cashes a check they received from someone else, deposits a money order they were paid with, or presents a document a family member handed them is not guilty unless they knew it was false. Knowledge is usually proved circumstantially, through the relationship between the parties, the amount, whether the instrument looked altered, and what you said when questioned.

How Forgery Is Charged: Felony, Misdemeanor, and the $950 Rule

Forgery is a wobbler. Penal Code section 473, subdivision (a), makes forgery punishable by up to one year in county jail as a misdemeanor or by 16 months, two years, or three years under Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (h), as a felony. The prosecutor makes the initial choice based on the amount, the number of documents, your record, and whether a vulnerable victim was involved. A felony filing can later be reduced to a misdemeanor by the judge under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b), at sentencing or after probation, which we cover in our guide to reducing a felony to a misdemeanor. The differences between the two classifications are explained in our article on misdemeanor versus felony in California.

The Proposition 47 limit. Penal Code section 473, subdivision (b), provides that forgery relating to a check, bond, bank bill, note, cashier's check, traveler's check, or money order with a value of $950 or less is a misdemeanor, not a wobbler. The exception is a defendant who is also convicted of identity theft under Penal Code section 530.5 in connection with the same forgery, or who has a disqualifying prior such as a serious sex offense or a violent felony listed in Penal Code section 667, subdivision (e), paragraph (2), subparagraph (C), clause (iv). That is why the identity theft count is not an afterthought in a check case: it is the charge that takes the case out of the misdemeanor rule.

Instruments outside the $950 rule. The misdemeanor rule applies only to the listed financial instruments. A forged deed, a forged will, a forged lease, a forged prescription, or a forged court document is a wobbler regardless of value, because those documents are not on the subdivision (b) list. Forged prescriptions are often charged under Health and Safety Code section 11368 instead, and forged vehicle documents can be charged under the Vehicle Code.

Multiple checks and aggregation. Each forged document can be charged as a separate count, and a stack of altered checks from the same account can produce a complaint with a dozen counts. Prosecutors in Riverside and San Bernardino County also add grand theft under Penal Code section 487 when the total exceeds $950, as explained in our guide to grand theft in California, and embezzlement under Penal Code section 503 when the forgery happened at work, as explained in our guide to embezzlement charges. Patterns involving $100,000 or more can trigger the aggravated white collar crime enhancement under Penal Code section 186.11.

Defenses to a Forgery Charge

No intent to defraud. The single most important defense is that you had no intent to deceive anyone to their detriment. A spouse who signs the other spouse's name on a joint account check, an adult child who signs a parent's name on a routine form at the parent's request, or an employee who signs a supervisor's name on a document the supervisor would have signed anyway may have acted without authority in a technical sense but without any intent to defraud. The circumstances of the signing, the prior course of dealing, and what happened to the money are the evidence that proves or disproves intent.

Authority or consent. If the person whose name you signed gave you permission, there is no forgery. Authority can be express or implied from a history of permission, and it is a complete defense even if the person later regrets giving it or denies it after a falling out. Text messages, emails, prior signed documents, and witnesses who knew about the arrangement become the key exhibits, and our guide to how police use your text messages against you explains why preserving your own messages matters as much as worrying about theirs.

No knowledge the document was forged. In passing cases, the prosecution must prove you knew the instrument was false. People who cash checks for acquaintances, accept payment in money orders, or deposit items for a roommate are frequently charged on the theory that the forgery was obvious. The strength of that inference depends on the facts, and a careful review of what you actually saw and knew often undercuts it. Our article on what makes a criminal case weak covers how knowledge evidence falls apart.

Mistaken identity and handwriting. Forgery cases often depend on surveillance footage from a bank or check cashing store, a teller's identification, and a handwriting comparison. Bank video is frequently low quality, teller identifications made weeks later are unreliable, and handwriting comparison is an opinion rather than a certainty. When the only evidence that you were the one who signed or passed the document is a comparison of signatures, the case can be contested at trial.

Statements and the interview. Fraud investigators and bank security staff often call before any charges are filed and ask for an explanation, and a detective may invite you to come in and clear things up. Anything you say becomes evidence, and statements to private investigators are not protected by Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 because the Miranda rule applies only to custodial interrogation by law enforcement. Our guides to whether you can talk your way out of charges and what not to say to police explain why the answer is to decline the interview and retain counsel.

Statute of limitations. Forgery is often discovered long after it happened. The general limitations period for a felony is three years under Penal Code section 801, but for offenses involving fraud or breach of a fiduciary obligation, Penal Code section 803, subdivision (c), delays the start of the period until the offense is discovered. Whether the prosecution filed in time is a legitimate issue in older cases, as covered in our guide to how long the DA has to file charges in California.

Penalties, Probation, and Restitution

Misdemeanor forgery. A misdemeanor conviction under Penal Code section 473 carries up to one year in county jail, a fine, and informal probation. Judges in the Inland Empire commonly impose probation with restitution, a short jail term or community service, and a stay-away order from the bank or business involved. First-time misdemeanor forgery charges are frequently eligible for misdemeanor diversion under Penal Code section 1001.95, which results in dismissal upon completion, as explained in our guide to misdemeanor diversion in California.

Felony forgery. A felony conviction carries 16 months, two years, or three years under Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (h), served in county jail rather than state prison, or formal probation with a jail term as a condition. Forgery is not a strike. Because it is served locally, part of the term can often be served on mandatory supervision, and a judge can later reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b), for a defendant who completes probation.

Restitution is mandatory. Under Penal Code section 1202.4, the court must order restitution to the victim for the full economic loss caused by the forgery, and that obligation survives bankruptcy and the end of probation. In many forgery cases restitution is the real battleground, because the bank's loss figure and the amount actually attributable to the defendant are not the same. Our guide to restitution in California criminal cases explains how the amount is contested.

Dismissal after probation. A forgery conviction can generally be dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 after probation ends, using form CR-180 and order CR-181, which we cover in our guide to expunging a criminal record in California. The dismissal must still be disclosed on applications for public office, state licenses, and contracts with the state lottery, and it does not erase the conviction for immigration purposes.

Collateral Consequences of a Forgery Conviction

Immigration. Forgery is treated as a crime involving moral turpitude because it requires intent to defraud, and a conviction can make a noncitizen deportable or inadmissible. A forgery or fraud offense with a loss to the victim exceeding $10,000 can be an aggravated felony with far more severe consequences. Under Penal Code section 1016.3, defense counsel must advise a noncitizen client of these consequences, and prosecutors must consider them in plea negotiations.

Employment and licensing. Forgery is a crime of dishonesty, which means it is reported and weighed by licensing boards for nurses, real estate agents, insurance agents, notaries, accountants, and security guards, and it can disqualify you from jobs that require bonding or handling money. Employers who run background checks see the conviction, and under Evidence Code section 788 a felony forgery conviction can be used to impeach your credibility if you ever testify in another case.

Firearms and other effects. A felony forgery conviction results in a lifetime firearm prohibition under Penal Code section 29800 unless the conviction is reduced to a misdemeanor, which restores firearm rights for this offense. A conviction can also affect custody and family law cases where credibility is at issue, and it creates a prior that prosecutors will use to argue for a felony filing if you are ever charged again.

What to Do If You Are Under Investigation for Forgery

Do not contact the bank, the employer, or the alleged victim. Explanations given to a fraud investigator, a bank's security department, or a former employer become part of the referral package the district attorney reviews, and offers to repay are treated as admissions. The same goes for texting or emailing the person whose name was signed. Our guide to how prosecutors build criminal cases explains how these early statements are used.

Preserve your own records. Bank statements, text messages showing permission, emails about the account, and prior documents the other person signed are the evidence that establishes authority or lack of intent. Gather them and give them to your attorney rather than to the investigator. An attorney can often present them to the filing deputy before charges are filed and obtain a declination, a misdemeanor filing instead of a felony, or a diversion referral.

Understand the court process. A felony forgery case goes through arraignment, a preliminary hearing under Penal Code section 872, and a possible motion to dismiss under Penal Code section 995 if the evidence at the hearing was insufficient, which we cover in our guides to what happens at a preliminary hearing and 995 motions. Plea offers in forgery cases usually track the restitution amount and the defendant's record, and our guide to whether to accept a plea deal explains how to evaluate one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is forgery always a felony in California?

No. Forgery under Penal Code section 470 is a wobbler that can be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 473. Forgery of a check, money order, or similar financial instrument worth $950 or less must be filed as a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 473, subdivision (b), unless you are also convicted of identity theft under Penal Code section 530.5 or have a disqualifying prior.

Can I be charged with forgery if nobody lost money?

Yes. The crime is complete when a document is forged or passed with intent to defraud, and the prosecutor does not have to prove that anyone was actually deceived or suffered a loss. A forged check that the bank refused and a forged signature that was caught before any money moved both support a charge under Penal Code section 470. The absence of a loss does matter for restitution and for the plea offer.

Is signing my spouse's name on a check forgery?

It can be, but usually only if there was no permission and an intent to defraud. Signing a spouse's name on a joint account check with the spouse's knowledge, or in keeping with how the couple has always handled bills, is not forgery because there is authority and no intent to defraud. Signing a spouse's name on a loan application, a deed, or a check from a separate account during a divorce without permission is the kind of fact pattern that produces charges under Penal Code section 470 and Penal Code section 530.5.

What is the penalty for felony forgery?

Sixteen months, two years, or three years in county jail, or formal probation. Penal Code section 473 provides that felony forgery is punished under Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (h), which means the sentence is served in county jail rather than state prison. Restitution under Penal Code section 1202.4 is mandatory, and the conviction can later be reduced to a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b), and dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 after probation.

Can a forgery charge be dismissed through diversion?

Sometimes. A misdemeanor forgery charge can be referred to misdemeanor diversion under Penal Code section 1001.95 at the judge's discretion, and completion results in dismissal. Felony forgery is not eligible for that program, but mental health diversion under Penal Code section 1001.36 or military diversion under Penal Code section 1001.80 may apply depending on the defendant's history. Prosecutors in the Inland Empire sometimes agree to a civil compromise or a reduced charge when full restitution is paid before the plea.

Does a forgery conviction affect immigration status?

Yes, and seriously. Forgery is a crime involving moral turpitude because it requires intent to defraud, and a conviction can lead to removal or inadmissibility. When the loss exceeds $10,000, a fraud or forgery conviction can be classified as an aggravated felony. Noncitizens should not enter any plea in a forgery case without immigration-specific advice, which Penal Code section 1016.3 requires defense counsel to provide.

Talk to a Forgery Defense Lawyer in the Inland Empire

Gramling Law Group defends forgery, identity theft, and theft cases at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the San Bernardino Justice Center, the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse, the Victorville courthouse, the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, and the Pomona courthouse, and across the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Southern California. Daniel Gramling, Esq. offers flat-fee criminal defense and limited-scope options so that you know the cost before the first court date. Call (909) 654-4575 or contact us through this website for a consultation.

This article is educational and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It addresses California law only.