Collection agency attempting collection on a citation issued to wrong license plate

[bnadeau73]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

A year ago, my wife received a letter from a collection agency indicating we did not pay for a parking citation issued in Spokane, WA. We live in Olympia, WA and have never been to Spokane. My wife contacted the collection agency and inquired as to how we received this citation, they indicated that it was issued to a Chevrolet Impala and gave the license plate number. My wife assured them that it must be a mistake because we have never owned a Chevy Impala and have never been to Spokane, but they persisted. She then contacted Spokane parking services explained the same and they sent her back to the collection agency. She re-contacted the collection agency and spoke with a manager, they indicated they would call back but they never did.
Now, a year later they are calling again and being more forceful, so my wife went to the DOL (Department of Licensing) to inquire as to what vehicle the license plate belonged to; it was a vehicle that we owned in the past (A Saturn SL2 that was totaled in an accident). We happened to own this vehicle when the citation was issued. While at the DOL, my wife re-contacted the collection agency, the agency refused to speak with the DOL representative, and then they refused to speak with my wife while she was at the DOL.
Additionally, my wife was attending College in Tacoma when the citation was supposedly issued; she explained this to the agency and they said that someone could have borrowed our car and taken it there. When confronted with the fact that the license plate belonged to our vehicle and not the Chevy Impala, the agency said that the person issuing the citation might have documented the wrong vehicle make and model.
Nevertheless, we never received this citation, never was in Spokane, and assuredly our vehicle was never there either.
If we just ignore the collection agency, what can they do to us? Is there something that we can do to stop them from harassing us? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

B

 

[cosine]

Additionally, my wife was attending College in Tacoma when the citation was supposedly issued; she explained this to the agency and they said that someone could have borrowed our car and taken it there. When confronted with the fact that the license plate belonged to our vehicle and not the Chevy Impala, the agency said that the person issuing the citation might have documented the wrong vehicle make and model.

Or the person issuing the citation might have documented the wrong license plate number. Better managed cities are making photos of violations these days since high capacity digital cameras make photos cheap and it eliminates errors (which I have read several years ago affects an average of 1 in 200 vehicle citations, nationwide, presumably not involving cases with photo evidence).

Nevertheless, we never received this citation, never was in Spokane, and assuredly our vehicle was never there either.
If we just ignore the collection agency, what can they do to us? Is there something that we can do to stop them from harassing us? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The issue is with the city of Spokane. If there was a court hearing on the ticket, then you need to take legal action to have the ruling vacated. Demand proof of the license plate number.

As for the collection agency, write them a letter (sent certified, return receipt, keeping a copy for your records) telling them that the debt is disputed, you demand proof that the debt is yours (specifically in the form of proof that your license number was actually there and not just something written down by a person), and to otherwise cease communication with you.

 

[bnadeau73]

Or the person issuing the citation might have documented the wrong license plate number.

Excellent point, I was thinking the same thing.

The issue is with the city of Spokane. If there was a court hearing on the ticket, then you need to take legal action to have the ruling vacated. Demand proof of the license plate number.

We have not heard of any court action (which seems odd that there was not one). If there was a hearing, how might we go about getting the ruling vacated? Should we demand proof of the license plate number from the court in the form of a public records request?

As for the collection agency, write them a letter (sent certified, return receipt, keeping a copy for your records) telling them that the debt is disputed, you demand proof that the debt is yours (specifically in the form of proof that your license number was actually there and not just something written down by a person), and to otherwise cease communication with you.

Wonderful, would anything else need to be included with this letter, such as a DOL record indicating the license plate belonging to our Saturn, or school transcripts indicating that my wife and I were attending college in Tacoma (~300 miles from Spokane)?

 

[cosine]

We have not heard of any court action (which seems odd that there was not one). If there was a hearing, how might we go about getting the ruling vacated? Should we demand proof of the license plate number from the court in the form of a public records request?

First find out if there was a court hearing. The city should have recorded a docket number with the court case on it. If not, call the court anyway to inquire without one. If phone calls produce nothing, then write letters (send certified, return receipt) demanding the information. If they cannot provide any evidence there was a court hearing, then include that fact with the next step of disputing the fine. A lawyer can help in all this.

Wonderful, would anything else need to be included with this letter, such as a DOL record indicating the license plate belonging to our Saturn, or school transcripts indicating that my wife and I were attending college in Tacoma (~300 miles from Spokane)?

There's not much you need to put in the letter to CA. Tell them the fine is not valid, that you are disputing it (with them, as well as the city), and to cease all communication with you per the FDCPA. Send everything, that you might ever need to prove you sent, via certified, return receipt, mail. The whole idea with this step is for them to send the debt back to the city. The city might send it to another CA in which case you repeat the same thing.

 

[bnadeau73]

Thank you for the information, we are sending a letter to the collection agency today.

 

[racer72]

Don't waste your time with the collection agency. Only a judge can dismiss the ticket, the collection agency cannot and will not. Read my answer in your other post.

https://forum.freeadvice.com/parking-tickets-non-moving-violations-44/parking-citation-issued-incorrect-vehicle-washington-state-479734.html

 

[cosine]

Don't waste your time with the collection agency. Only a judge can dismiss the ticket, the collection agency cannot and will not. Read my answer in your other post.

My post recommending a letter to the collection agency is NOT asking for the collection agency to dismiss the ticket. Maybe if you would actually read what I post you would realize that. The purpose is to send the collection account back to the city itself so that it can be handled at the city.

Try some logic, if you can. A collection agency cannot cancel a debt held by a creditor, either. The "Cease Communication" letter is NOT asking the CA to cancel a debt or dismiss a ticket. The effect of such a letter in usual cases is for the CA to return the account assignment back to the creditor, which in the case of this thread, is most likely the city.

So to the OP ... do go ahead and send the letter to the collection agency. The difficulty in taking care of this might be greater if you don't.

 

[racer72]

My post recommending a letter to the collection agency is NOT asking for the collection agency to dismiss the ticket. Maybe if you would actually read what I post you would realize that. The purpose is to send the collection account back to the city itself so that it can be handled at the city.

Try some logic, if you can. A collection agency cannot cancel a debt held by a creditor, either. The "Cease Communication" letter is NOT asking the CA to cancel a debt or dismiss a ticket. The effect of such a letter in usual cases is for the CA to return the account assignment back to the creditor, which in the case of this thread, is most likely the city.

So to the OP ... do go ahead and send the letter to the collection agency. The difficulty in taking care of this might be greater if you don't.

The collection agencies that work for the courts are not the same type that collect on consumer debt. Often the offices for these collection agencies are in the same office as the court clerks. Once a ticket has been turned over to these collection agencies, they will not turn the account back over to the city. The only way to deal with it is to have a court dismiss the citation or assign the citation to another party. The court will then notify the CA to stop collecting on that particular account. I have dealt with this issue on a very personal level and helping others in the state of Washington, including the city of Spokane. The OP will just be wasting time dealing with the CA. That is the very reason the CA would not listen to the DOL when they attempted to clear up the issue. I have been dealing with court issues in the state of Washington for 15 years, what is your experience in this state?

 

[cosine]

The collection agencies that work for the courts are not the same type that collect on consumer debt. Often the offices for these collection agencies are in the same office as the court clerks. Once a ticket has been turned over to these collection agencies, they will not turn the account back over to the city. The only way to deal with it is to have a court dismiss the citation or assign the citation to another party. The court will then notify the CA to stop collecting on that particular account. I have dealt with this issue on a very personal level and helping others in the state of Washington, including the city of Spokane. The OP will just be wasting time dealing with the CA. That is the very reason the CA would not listen to the DOL when they attempted to clear up the issue. I have been dealing with court issues in the state of Washington for 15 years, what is your experience in this state?

I don't claim to have experience in Washington. Nevertheless, I stand by my recommendation to send the letter to the CA anyway, even if for nothing more than a legal formality involving Federal law. It is standard procedure to use ALL legal processes to deal with an issue, rather than just try them one at a time and see what works. That means both sending the letter AND proceeding to the court to deal with the issue. And the city office the OP spoke to should have explained this. Something is rotten in Spokane.