California Disabled Veteran: Fill & Download for Free

I have never shown my military ID when stopped; only my driver’s license and registration. In fact, I have never thought about doing that. (Maybe I should?)However a couple of years ago I was caught speeding while coming from Reno to San Diego on the Interstate by the CA Highway Patrol. I have some decals on my car that indicate that I was a pilot, and a license plate indicating I was a disabled veteran.Officer: “You were flying pretty low back there.”Me: “Yes sir”, as I handed over my license and registration.Officer: “Well I am going to let you go this time. However be careful. My partner is about 10 miles down the road with a radar gun, so be forewarned.”He did not say why he let me go, even though I was well over the speed limit. I could only assume my disabled veteran license plate was the reason, and I thanked him profusely.Whether there indeed was another Highway Patrol Officer down the road, I did not know. However you can be sure that I stayed under the speed limit for quite some time.[EDIT] I had forgotten to mention, California recently added the word “VETERAN” in bold lettering on their newer CA drivers licenses. It is appreciated.

The fact you are disabled or a veteran is irrelevant to your question, unless you are renting under some special program related to disabled people or veterans. What is relevant is California law and your lease. California has various rent control statutes. Different cities also have different laws about raising rent. You need to look at your specific situation and find out if you are protected by any rent control or rental increase laws. This will require an analysis of state, county, and city laws as well as whether your apartment falls under any protections.

When I was medically discharged from the Army I was living in California. I had a California drivers license and handicapped parking placard since my new state of normal included an AFO (Ankle and Foot Orthotic). My car was registered back in my home state of Alabama.I had been home for less than a week so I went over to Tuscumbia to visit my elderly grandmother. She needed me to run down to the store and get her a few things. I hopped into my 77 Thunderbuzzard (another story for another time), made sure my handicap parking permit was on the dashboard and went on down to the local Woolworth 5 and 10 . Yes they were still in business, barely, and I happened to like shopping at Woolworth…don’t judge me.Upon my arrival I parked in the handicapped space in front of the store on Main Street. I walked/limped into the store, fulfilled my grandmother’s request, exited the shop and lo and behold! Tuscumbia’s finest had been at work! I had a ticket underneath the windshield wiper of my car for parking in a handicapped zone. Of course being a disabled veteran, injured in service to our nation, I was going to fight this. I thought it would be easy.My court date was six weeks later. I took a copy of my DD-214, California drivers license with my California handicap parking permit, and a copy of my medical discharge review board paperwork.When it was my turn to see the magistrate I was very respectful, presented all of my evidence showing that I was recently disabled and had been stationed in California. The fact that I had been home less than a week when the ticket was issued and had not taken the time yet to go get my drivers license switched back over to Alabama (which is required within 30 days of establishing residence) during that time or to jump through the bureaucratic hoops to obtain an Alabama handicapped parking permit. The judge listened carefully to all the evidence presented his decision was immediate. I lost my case. Fine: $50.I was found guilty of parking illegally in a handicapped zone even though I was I disabled veteran, just home with all the proper paperwork and medical diagnoses and a valid handicaps parking permit, in my name, that was recognized and 49 other states.I was not very happy. I told the judge that I did not have the cash on me to pay the fine. ATMs were not as ubiquitous as they seem to be today. Additionally, boys and girls this was back in 1990 before the word “internet” was in common use.Visa and MasterCard Debit Cards were not a thing to be presented at the courthouse to pay fines back then. Hell, they didn’t even exist back then. It was either cash, cashiers check, or money order. I told the judge that I was ill prepared because I assumed that the case was open and shut in my favor. He was kind enough to give me 48 hours to pay the city.I banked at Bank Independent back then. There was a branch only a few blocks away from City Hall. Fortunately when I went into the bank the next morning I found out that one of my old high school friends was the branch manager there. He and I have been good friends as we both played trumpet over at Deshler high school together. The long and short of it is after he heard my story he was pissed off too. All of his family were veterans, his grandfather been injured in World War II, he wasn’t able to get in himself because he had flat feet or something so he decided to help me out. After a few moments of discussion he told me to come back by 3 o’clock that afternoon and he’d have everything ready.I showed up at 10 till three in the cashiers were just putting the final touches on my order… 1000 cashiers check’s for five cents each. He only charge me $15 for the job. He said he would’ve waived it but he would get in trouble from corporate. He told me later he paid the balance of what was due out of his own pocket.City Hall closed promptly at five. Five minutes till five I arrived with a big box in hand. We finally got out of there around 7:30 or 8 o’clock. The cashier was not happy. I’m sure the magistrate wasn’t happy here because the cashier was his wife and she wasn’t home to fix dinner.Oh well, life goes on but it is funny how I’ve never gotten a ticket from the Tuscumbia police department ever again.