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.