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Got a question... Should I cancel my Wells Fargo Discover Card? Many thanks for any comment. 2nd question I got is.. This is really weird, my older sister called me frantic, knowing i'm somewhat above average in credit knowledge and explained to me that she received a letter stating that she owed a fine of approx. $275.00 for a ticket, with a violation date of more than 12 years old, I actually looked at this letter, it's from the superior court of California and it does in fact show an original violation date back to 1997.. |
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Good question... I dunno what is the right answer. I'll do some research in Google and get back to you if I find an answer. You should email the people at Discover Card as they probably can help you..
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If she paid by check I am sure she could get hold of a copy of the cancelled item no? She should call someone in the violations bureau and get hold of the supervisor. I am sure she could at least buy enough time to submit proof of payment. Who needs a judgment for $300?..
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Jack thanks for responding, does it matter if it's government though? i've heard that tax liens and such care under different rules. As I said it is California, I almost wonder if they are phishing for anything or anyone who will bite, since they are in such terrible financial shape..
I mean am I the only one who finds it odd that this is 12 years after the fact and by a government agency? - I seriously wondered if the letter was a fake, no county, state seal or letter head of any kind, the only thing that convinced me was the official return address and bulk mailing stamp... |
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Thanks for responding Goldtrad, I just got off the phone with her she just about bit my head off, ""are you kidding me, for something more than a decade old.......... are you out of your mind"" I calmly respond....... "i know i'm just trying to help don't shoot the messenger".
She says that it's too far back for her record keeping skills, I think anything past 10 years is a stretch for most of us, I my self keep everything but previously before the electronic age would of filed things away that would be virtually impossible to locate.. One thing is for sure, this is a very odd situation... |
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I have the Discover card receipt.
(INVOICE). For the TV I bought at SEARS in 1978. The TV itself lies under dirt at the dump (unless somebody stole it from the dump).. |
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Heres another little interesting detail,.
The letter is dated 5 days prior to the postmark date on the envelope, so they padded themselves by 5 days with their. PENAL. CODE. SECTION 1214.1. Rule of being able to tack on the additional $300.00.. Wow this is both disheartening and intriguing... |
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I think we're missing the obvious point, nothing would have been let go for that long, she would of had her license held from DMV long ago if it hadn't previously been taken care of in a timely manner, that much seems logically obvious enough..
Hiya George. This post has been edited by. Big_Daddy. : 03 August 2009 - 10:37 PM.. |
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IF she can remember what bank the check was written on she can get a copy. If she does nothing she will see her reports if not her credit hurt. While it seems an inordinate amount of time and might even be illegal that won't prevent the State from doing what they will do. Good luck...
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PROVE I DIDN'T PAY.
WHY WOULD THE STATE OF CA (or any other state issue a driver's license) WITH A CITATION PENDING FOR 12+ YEARS. Did you get a. DMV. Driving record???.. |
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Seems pretty easy to me:.
Call the court to determine if the letter and ticket are legit.. Did she actually pay the fine in 1997?. Is there a SOL on traffic citations in CA?. If she is concerned about it popping up on her reports then have her freeze them until this is resolved.. I've read of parking tickets show up after ten years so this doesn't surprise me... |
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Did she go to court? Was she found guilty? Is there a statute of limitations for a traffic ticket? I know there is for bad checks, meaning they have to prosecute you before a certain number of years or else they are out of luck...
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First if it was a valid ticket, that notice would come from the office of revenue recovery from the county that ticket originated in. They still hold the power to suspend her license even though the ticket is 12 years old and if she lives in a reciprical state then her license would be toast till she pays it off. They pay not be able to report to the bureau but they sure still can collect it if they want to and enforce the ticket as if it was written yesterday. Thats the funny thing about government, they like to exempt themselves from laws they force on the public including collections...
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Very true about the government exempting themselves..
As to the letter, in CA these letters are sent on Superior Court letterhead. If a fine was due there is no SOL. The best option in this case is to contact the court and take care of it either by providing proof it was paid or paying (with Discover card) it.. As to the license suspension, the CA DMV will suspend their license if this isn't taken care of. 45 states are involved in the Driver's License Compact including CA which means if CA suspends the license it will also be suspended in 44 other states. The five states that don't belong to the compact are TN, MI, MA, GA, and WI... |
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Tax liens, BK's, and things like that can report for up to 10 years. But I know of nothing that would legally report 12 years after the DOFD..
IMO, the reports are clear. It's the other stuff she should be more concerned about... |
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That's correct, there is no exemption for states and local governments as far as traffic fines go. The problem here is that they can and will suspend the driver's license. I should have also added to my last post that if you live in one of the five states that don't belong to the compact you're not completely safe. If you are pulled over in another state that does belong to it you will be driving on a suspended license...
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Happens more frequently than you'd realize. My husband had an accident that was not his fault in 1999. The other guy's insurance paid to fix our truck...so no biggie, right? Then in 2003, we moved 800 miles across the country to another state. A month after we moved, DH got his licensed changed from old state to new state. no problems. Fast forward to last year when DH tried to renew his license and was DENIED because the old state said he never turned in proof of insurance for the wreck in 1999 that wasn't even his fault!!! I was livid.
I asked why he was able to change his license over in 2003 if his license was "supposedly suspended." They said it never got entered into the state system until. 2005!!!. Six years AFTER the incident!!! Total BS. We had to track down our insurance company and get records to prove we had insurance....a big problem considering most places DON'T keep records after 4 or 5 years.. +1. They'll suspend your license in a heartbeat until you've paid them what they want.. True, dat.....see above!!!.. |
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Not necessarily...a case can have a warrant that issues prior to the ordinary SOL expiry. It is then incumbent upon the Defendant to raise due dilligence claims when the matter FINALLY resurfaces. There are still people in north Texas on active dockets with warrants on hot checks from more than a decade ago..
The bottom line here is that the driving privileges are at stake...is it REALLY worth looking for loopholes when there are broader consequences to be sustained for a failure to resolve the issue?. Older tickets are going to be popping up more and more frequently as the budgetary issues tighten AND as more agencies get the older records put onto computers. There is a reaosn that people are getting notices for tickets that were never paid as long ago as the mid-70's... |
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Quick follow-up. The ticket was paid and the additional penalties were not imposed due to the post dating of the letter, regardless of the date on the enclosed letter, even though creditwise they couldn't collect because of the SOL, there was obviously still the issue of licensing, my sister resides in Ca. so it was imperative to bite the bullet since proof of prior payment couldn't be produced..
I'm told that the person who collected the money actually smiled and snickered and said that they are sending out 1000's of these letters.. IMO paying (with Discover card) a less than $300.00 ticket that could potentially be doubled and result in various other fines and penalties in conjunction with a suspended license is worth every single penny and the peace of mind.. Thank you everyone for the responses, I am sorry that I took so long to follow up on this. I do feel that I was able to offer solid and informed advise with your help, thanks again; Jack, Shawnee, Hurricanes, George, Ladyrelm2 and everyone who responded... |
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I didn't read through all of the replies but I am pretty sure they issue bench warrants for unpaid fines. It may also affect your credit I guess...
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My comment would still be the same. It depends on what type of traffic violation. When you are pulled over and you receive a speeding ticket you are placed under arrest. When you sign the piece of paper stating that you will pay the fine or appear in court that is your bond and you are released from custody. If you do not pay or show up to court that is a failure to appear and a warrant is issued. If you get a parking fine they can suspend your license.
I would recommend going to the states district court website and doing a search on yourself. You can find the traffic fine's court case on it and see what was done about it... |
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I just wanted to chime in because I'm not speculating, I've actually BTDT..
I got a ticket in 99. Attempted to pay it off but the payments were too much for me at the time so I stopped. 8 years later they suspended my license.. I think they throw in all the "affect your credit" sh*t to scare you into paying, but generally if you got a ticket you didn't pay, the recourse is they suspend your license and sometimes go after your state tax return. That's what they did with me. I actually finally paid it off prior to my tax return so that ended up being safe. They also can go after your registration for some types of tickets, all my city parking tickets are always waiting for me when I register my car.. I really don't think the agencies around CA actually do anything with your credit. I've had various agencies come after me for old tickets and whatnot and NONE of it has ever showed up on my credit report. They just mess with your other stuff... |
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As a former State employee in CA............it's possible. Just sayin'. Happens all the time..
I think you have too high of expectations for my fair state!.. |
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The OP issue has been resolved..
Now what course of action do you think he should take?. Also, what do you think he should do to protect his credit report regarding this issue?. This post has been edited by. Jack1212. : 18 August 2009 - 11:55 AM.. |
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Not entirely correct. I am a MA resident and I can assure you that MA is involved as well. A few years back, a co-worker had a real problem when her 16-year-old daughter went for her DL and was denied by the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles. It seems that a young hellcat from Texas, with the same name and DOB as her daughter, decided to run away from mom's home to be with her dad in Florida (mom was awarded custody in the divorce but she wanted to be with dad instead). She stole a car in Texas and headed to Florida, getting arrested and ending up in a youth facility as a result. As a result, her driving privileges were revoked.
It took my co-worker more than 6 months to straighten out this mess, not to mention the cost involved. MA is in tune with all of the states mentioned when it comes to these things. Screw up in another state and it is a virtual certainty that the folks at the MA Registry of Motor Vehicles will find out about it. The National Driver Registry is where all infractions are reported, unless you happen to have a CDL (Commercial Driver's License). All CDL infractions are reported to the National CDL Driver Registry... |
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I live in PA and received a letter from our DMV stating that if I didn't pay a $55 fine I owed the state of Maryland then my license would not be renewed. It was a ticket from March 1989. I called my attorney for the hell of it and there is no SOL on unpaid traffic citations. So I had to pay the state of MD $55 for a ticket I don't even remember getting OVER 20 YEARS AGO..................................................
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Make sure she keeps that receipt....
And have her TRY to get proof of her paying (with Discover card) it before...then she should be able to get a refund.... I wouldn't doubt that this is simply a scam to get more money...who really keeps records that far back (except for people who are perfect in every way, that would have a receipt for something from over 30 years ago readily available) really? VERY few people...so if they send out 10,000 of these...at 300 a pop...they'll stand to collect 2,999,700 bucks..... |
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I fully agree pryan67, I would think after a certain point most people intentionally get rid of certain things to make room for the newer current things they need to keep track of, sorry for the late response didn't catch this before...
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We lived there for 30+ years from.
BIRTH. Till we got told to go to. CO. Or. NY. With her company or quit.. |
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... Pardon me, but when a -Warrant- is issued "Before S.O.L." (probably a Bench warrant at the Municipal level, since that is the court it would be in,) Doesnt "S.O.L." STILL apply if there was one, because the case could be dismissed due to Lack Of Procesution? See, Ive been in Municipal Court and seen cases dismissed due to 1) AGE, 2) Lack of Prosecution, and those were cases that DID have Warrants (or were at least supposed to, it has supposed to become an Automatic Process,) but a that point the State has the Legal Right to take you into Custody if they want, and if they fail to do so within, the say, oh, 7 or 10 years a Statute of Limitations usually is, havent they NOT met their Burden to Prosecute, and it's a Lack of Prosecution? ESPECIALLY if a Human Witness is involved, as too much TIme has passed TO actually "Prosecute," therefore Dismissed without Prejudice?.
I was going to type this yesterday before I went to sleep, but I believe the OP is correct that there IS no S.O.L. on Parking/Moving Violations. However, it is good to know that sometimes these things can be VERY delayed, as OP -moved states- and DID get another License, etc.... I was just thinking about the whole concept of Warrants and S.O.L. in General, even though there IS none on a Traffic violation. In NJ, they mail you a letter: "We have placed a Warrant out for your Arres. TO avoid the Time, Cost and EMbarrasment of being arrested at Work." etc etc etc... with a $50 or $150 or $382 or whatever listed on it.. (They are not coming to your Work for that. You have the SUPERPOLICE...). Just a THought... |
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They may not come to your work but the next time you get pulled over, you're going to go for a ride. Something YOU should think about and get fixed instead of being online 15 hours a day...
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As pertains to SOL on traffic matters....
There IS a statute of limitations on the traffic charge itself, but that is negated by the fact that the citation is generally issued AT THE TIME of the incident. SOL on criminal matters speaks to the time in which to charge someone, not prosecute them (and most traffic matters ARE criminal matters, albeit low-grade misdemeanors). What allows them to linger seemingly into perpetuity when they are ignored is that the case then goes to warrant...and warrants tend not to expire. Due dilligence arguments are something that can be raised AFTER the warrant has been executed (ie. one gets arrested on said warrant). Some courts do periodically clear out older warrants, but is it really something that one wants to take a chance on?.. |
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Nice try but he won't. Not till he's pulled over, officer halls his butt to jail and looses his job because he's in jail, and has yet another thing on his record that he won't admit was his fault...
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