WTF?? Just got a notice today about a collection agency asking for payment of a 2005 speeding ticket in DC. I checked my records and I was in DC at the time, but this is the first I heard of this.
I turned that car in three years ago, but oh, bureaucratic wizards of the DC DMV, isn't it possible to send some kind of notice in, oh, I don't know, the FIRST TWO YEARS after a camera takes a picture? I was living in DC for almost a whole year after that "ticket" date, and had my mail forwarded for another year after that, and I'm sure I'd remember seeing something like this.
At least this never showed in any insurance, lease return, or credit checks in the last 4 years.
I'm torn between just paying the $100 they say I owe, and getting on the phone to DC first thing in the morning and chewing someone out. Hopefully if I pay to make it go away it continues not showing up anywhere.
I've been poking around on the DMV website and it's spectacularly not helpful:
"If the ticket is more than 60 days old, then you can file a Motion to Vacate Judgment*. However, your Motion to Vacate Judgment must be received within 120 calendar days from the date the ticket was issued."
Yeah, and if I don't get a notice until 1200 calendar days from the date the ticket was issued, THEN what? Also please note that the link to the motion to vacate judgment does not work.
Asshats.
3 comments:
It looks like DC is doing what other cash-strapped cities are doing, going after long-outstanding citations. (Denver started going after parking scofflaws last year.)
Did you receive a copy of the photo with all details relevant to the deed? When Mom got caught by a photo radar you could see that it was her driving the car. Around here signage is required 100 feet or more in front of the camera warning of its use. Does DC have a similar provision?
I'm assuming you've checked to make sure this isn't a scam, checking addresses and phone numbers at independent sites.
Given the age of the offense, a request to vacate is certainly in order. Good luck!
I made sure it was for real (or at least possible). I double checked that I was in DC at the time, and the location was on my normal commute route. No photo available, but I also went online on the DMV site to make sure there weren't other "surprises" attached to that license plate (there aren't).
According to the site if I was going to contest I had to do it in the first 60 days (the fine doubled when I didn't respond in the first 30 days, total racket). I finally got the pdf of their "vacate" form, but it doesn't have any areas that apply to this case.
It's a total pain in the ass, but paying the $100 is going to be less trouble, and this way I also don't have to worry about VW charging me more if this wasn't taken care of by Sept 3.
I paid online directly to the DMV 1) because I could (sometimes I hear you can't pay directly if they've hired an agency), and 2) because the paper trail is better. I now have documentation that the ticket is paid, and that balances for that ticket and for my license plate are all $0, and proof of payment on my credit card statement.
The collection agency probably won't like that I didn't go through them, but with proof in hand like this I don't think they can do anything. Nyah nyah nyah. I'm sending everything to them and to VW via registered mail and have requested letters letting me know the case is closed. Choke on THAT stack of paper, you vultures!
BTW, there is part of that road that has white stripes on it, but I never did see the camera. It must have been there, though.
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