PC 470 Wobbler
Clearing a forgery conviction
Forgery is a crime of dishonesty, which means it does more damage with licensing boards and employers than its sentence suggests, and makes the reduction unusually valuable.
What makes this charge different
- Proposition 47 reclassified forging or writing a bad cheque of $950 or less as a misdemeanour
- It is a wobbler independently, so the PC 17(b) route remains where Proposition 47 does not reach
- As a crime of dishonesty it weighs especially heavily with financial, insurance and real estate licensing bodies
What this charge is
Penal Code 470 covers signing someone else's name, altering a document, or passing a forged instrument with intent to defraud. The commonest real-world version is a cheque.
Felony or misdemeanour?
Forgery is a wobbler. A felony conviction may be reducible to a misdemeanour under Penal Code 17(b).
Which relief applies
Where the forgery involved a cheque of $950 or less, Proposition 47 reclassification may apply. Otherwise the 17(b) reduction is the route, because the offence is a wobbler. The dismissal under 1203.4 comes afterwards, and the two are best filed together.
The thing to watch out for
Where you intend to use the clean record. Crimes of dishonesty are the category licensing boards scrutinise hardest, because they go directly to whether the offence is substantially related to the work. A board may not deny a licence based on a conviction dismissed under 1203.4 — but you need to be able to prove the dismissal, which means having the court order rather than relying on automatic relief.
The law that applies
- Felony reduced to misdemeanour (PC 17(b)) — For an offence that could have been charged as either a felony or a misdemeanour — a wobbler — the court can declare it a misdemeanour for all purposes.
- Proposition 47 reclassification — It lets a person who has completed a sentence for a qualifying felony apply to have the conviction designated a misdemeanour.
- Expungement (PC 1203.4) — The court lets you withdraw your plea or sets aside the verdict, then dismisses the case, which releases you from most of the penalties of the conviction.
Our flat fee for a case like this is $999, all in, with the court filing fee included. What that covers.
Common questions
It was one cheque, years ago.
Then Proposition 47 may well reach it, which would make it a misdemeanour. That is usually the more valuable step, and the dismissal follows.
Will this stop me getting a real estate licence?
Not by itself. A board may not deny based on a dismissed conviction, though forgery is the kind of offence a board will look at closely. Having the court order to produce matters here more than on most charges.
Legal information on this page was last checked against primary sources in October 2026. California law changes; if you are reading this long after that date, confirm before you rely on it.