Getting Screwed by the Courts
A friend who's a reputable, well respected business owner in my community tells the following story of how government inefficiency and incompetence makes good citizens' lives more difficult:
I went down to the Municipal Court today because I found out this week by the DMV that my driver's license has been expired since Sept '07 because of a correctable citation I got in April '07 for my car windows being too dark/tinted. That citation was taken care of and sent in on time. The court acknowledged that they recieved it in time, however two weeks after they recieved it, they sent me a letter saying I needed to pay a $10 dismissal fee. Hmmm, the citation didn't mention any type of dismissal fee, and I never received a letter in the mail.
In the meantime, the court has penalized me $706 and said I had to pay that to clear this case. It's also been turned over to a collection agency which is now ruining my perfect credit that I've worked so hard to build up. My only option is I had to set a court date in July to argue my case that I never received that letter asking for the $10. Meanwhile, my drivers license is being reinstated because I paid the $10 dismissal fee today; however, I am not sure what repercussion this suspension of my license will have on my automobile insurance rates.
It sounds like a scam to me, and when I asked the clerk if other people had complained that they never received this type of letter, she nodded a quick "affirmative" to me without risking actually saying anything to admit it.
Labels: big government, municipal courts
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 3/06/2008 10:15:00 PM
6 Comments:
'
There is an advantage to being an illegal alien in California. You can't have your non-existant Ca. driver's license suspended for any DMV clerical error.
On a smaller note, the overly zealous meter men and maids are a pain, too -- discouraging patronage of small businesses. I stopped at a meter on Pico near Robertson, and the store I was going to go to looked close so I walked to their door, a few feet from my car right in front, to check -- meanwhile, the meter guy gave me a ticket with a smug look, not listening to anything, insisting I'd left my car. The store owner came out to corroborate my story, and said he loses a lot of customers this way.
I thought you couldn't get a ticket if you were within sight of the car and hadn't even left it yet. This city is so intent on getting money from the law-abiding citizens to make up for its mismanagement.
Now Rosendahl wants to raise meter rates to some $4/ hour. That should help local businesses, too.
"Municipal Court"??
There hasn't been one in about 8 years in California since the unification of the Municipal and Superior Courts.
"Expired"?
You find that out by looking on your license; it "expires" on your birthday and they tell you the year, unless they send you a renewal in the mail.
The credit bureaus have to accept your explanation for this and should set it straight.
Your friend should have asked for a supervisor at the collection company. They still can.
The court will undoubtedly set it straight in July but just have them call the collection agency now and ask for the supervisor; tell him or her what transpired and that you did pay on time and will pay the additional $10.00, but want your credit straightened out.
They really don't like to take court time for these and will try to rectify them before the hearing if they can.
If they don't make it right, call the office of your Memeber of the Board of Supervisors and ask for the Justice Deputy. Tell him or her what happened and they will contact the collection agency and get it straight.
Your friend, the business owner should know how to do this. What's he doing with dark tinted windows? Doesn;t he know that it is an invitation for police and gang members to look more closely and assume the worst?
People bring this stuff on themselves in many cases.
There hasn't been a "Municipal Court" in California since about 2000 when the courts unified and all became Superior Courts.
You license "expires" in California on yuor birthday; the license tells you which year.
Instead of whining to you, tell your friend to call the office of his member of the Board of Supervisors and ask for the Justice Deputy. Tell him or her the story and they will contact the county's collection agency and they'll have a supervisor at the collection agency set it straight. They don't want unnecessary court appearances anymore than your friend does.
They'll clean up the credit blemish as well.
You are being scammed!
Here's another one: I picked up a friend in front of his office on Olympic and Purdue...pulled over into the red zone for him to get in my car, and drove off.
5 weeks later, I recieved an official notice that I had an unpaid 'parking ticket' and the $70 fee had doubled to $140!
I never even received the ticket to begin with, but I was forced to pay the fine. I tried to file for an appeal but was told I didn't have a case.
How can you give a parking tkt to someone without their knowledge???
This is the most corrupt city in the universe!!!
And there's more! After setting up my court date for the "$10 dismissal fee" scam which turned into $706, I had to go to the DMV, wait in another line, and then pay $50 for to reinstate my license. A missed day of work, $10 court parking, and $50 at the DMV...is there any chance I can get reimbursed for all this?
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home