Owe $10k to courts and trying to find a way to get license back

[dcole47]

My father lives in Arizona and has numerous civil traffic tickets (primarily for no registration and no insurance - no moving violations) that he has accumulated over the past 20 years, none of which he has paid. So now, he owes around $10,000 between a few different cities. Therefore, his license has been suspended for many years, and he has recently learned that he will lose his job if he doesnt get his license back.

He has met with a judge at the biggest city court who has most of the tickets. They told him that even if they do make a payment arrangement with him, they would not give him his drivers license back until it is paid in full. Since he needs his license ASAP, that is not feasible.

Recently, my father has been reading a bunch of legal stuff, and he is wondering whether he can file some sort of a motion to get the case moved to a higher court (such as the Arizona Superior Court) so that he can try to fight the case by pointing out that the cities have not followed due diligence in trying to collect the money (they havent withheld his state taxes, they havent garnished his wages, etc) or conclude the matter in some way. Even though he takes responsibility for getting all these tickets on the first place, he is at a point in his life where he is trying to resolve them, but feels that the hole is too deep. That is why he is considering trying to get these cases dismissed or the fines greatly reduced. He always makes the point that it is not right for the state to hold his license ransom for the money and cause a hardship on the family (since he will lose his job without a license) when he has no moving violations and is not a threat to the public. I dont know whether I completely agree with him, but nevertheless, I am trying to help him.

Do you guys know what type of motion he can file to get the cases moved to a higher court (above the municipal courts) and whether there is specific language and/or procedures that need to be followed to do this? And, does he even have a good defense to try and get the cases dismissed, reduced, or get a restricted license (to get to and from work only) while making monthly payments on the fines (since the municipal courts wont make such arrangements)?

Any help is greatly appreciated What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[justalayman]

it would likely be cheaper to pay the fines. It is very unlikely he would prevail in any action. Since this is such an immediate need, he needs to forget about any such attempt.


Beyond that, trying to claim the state has not tried to collect so he is not liable is a bit silly especially since they have suspended his license in an effort to get him to pay the fines.

As with so many problems; they are self made.

The fact he ignored them for 20 years and only now has become an immediate problem for him does not mean everybody else has the same sense of urgency. He refused to deal with this before and only now when it threatens his livelihood does he want to do anything about the fines. I guess he should have thought about this a long time ago.

 

[Zigner]

My father lives in Arizona and has numerous civil traffic tickets (primarily for no registration and no insurance - no moving violations) that he has accumulated over the past 20 years, none of which he has paid. So now, he owes around $10,000 between a few different cities. Therefore, his license has been suspended for many years, and he has recently learned that he will lose his job if he doesnt get his license back.

He has met with a judge at the biggest city court who has most of the tickets. They told him that even if they do make a payment arrangement with him, they would not give him his drivers license back until it is paid in full. Since he needs his license ASAP, that is not feasible.

Recently, my father has been reading a bunch of legal stuff, and he is wondering whether he can file some sort of a motion to get the case moved to a higher court (such as the Arizona Superior Court) so that he can try to fight the case by pointing out that the cities have not followed due diligence in trying to collect the money (they havent withheld his state taxes, they havent garnished his wages, etc) or conclude the matter in some way. Even though he takes responsibility for getting all these tickets on the first place, he is at a point in his life where he is trying to resolve them, but feels that the hole is too deep. That is why he is considering trying to get these cases dismissed or the fines greatly reduced. He always makes the point that it is not right for the state to hold his license ransom for the money and cause a hardship on the family (since he will lose his job without a license) when he has no moving violations and is not a threat to the public. I dont know whether I completely agree with him, but nevertheless, I am trying to help him.

Do you guys know what type of motion he can file to get the cases moved to a higher court (above the municipal courts) and whether there is specific language and/or procedures that need to be followed to do this? And, does he even have a good defense to try and get the cases dismissed, reduced, or get a restricted license (to get to and from work only) while making monthly payments on the fines (since the municipal courts wont make such arrangements)?

Any help is greatly appreciated What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

The motion would be one of reaching in to his pocket, withdrawing his checkbook, reaching in to his other pocket, withdrawing his pen, uncapping his pen, and writing a check.

 

[tranquility]

Even if such a "motion" were possible, it would take years to get to court.

 

[dcole47]

it would likely be cheaper to pay the fines. It is very unlikely he would prevail in any action. Since this is such an immediate need, he needs to forget about any such attempt.


Beyond that, trying to claim the state has not tried to collect so he is not liable is a bit silly especially since they have suspended his license in an effort to get him to pay the fines.

As with so many problems; they are self made.

The fact he ignored them for 20 years and only now has become an immediate problem for him does not mean everybody else has the same sense of urgency. He refused to deal with this before and only now when it threatens his livelihood does he want to do anything about the fines. I guess he should have thought about this a long time ago.

I agree 100%. My Dad is a anti-establishment rebel/hippie from the 60's. I keep trying to get him to think logically about all this, but he is thick-headed.

That said, he is trying to resolve it now. And even though any normal people would agree that he is too little too late, and that these problems are self-inflicted, there must be a way to get the courts to make a more reasonable arrangement in which he can make monthly payments while getting at least a restricted license in the meantime. Do you know of any motion that can be filed to do so?

 

[justalayman]

, there must be a way to get the courts to make a more reasonable arrangement in which he can make monthly payments while getting at least a restricted license in the meantime.

There must be? Not really. Sometimes you just have to pay the piper what he demands.

 

[Antigone*]

I agree 100%. My Dad is a anti-establishment rebel/hippie from the 60's. I keep trying to get him to think logically about all this, but he is thick-headed.

That said, he is trying to resolve it now. And even though any normal people would agree that he is too little too late, and that these problems are self-inflicted, there must be a way to get the courts to make a more reasonable arrangement in which he can make monthly payments while getting at least a restricted license in the meantime. Do you know of any motion that can be filed to do so?

I guess Mr. anti-establishment, rebel/hippie has decided that he needs to play nice with the man since it is hitting him where it hurts, huh

There is another way other than dad reaching into his pocket and paying his debt. You seem so interested in taking care of Dad's problems, why don't you fork over the cash?

 

[tranquility]

there must be a way to get the courts to make a more reasonable arrangement in which he can make monthly payments while getting at least a restricted license in the meantime.

You would be looking for a writ of mandamus from a higher court to force a lower court to do something. The lower court acted legally and there is no abuse of authority. In other words, you want to sue the judge for doing things legally.

All because the legal way is VERY inconvenient to a person who intentionally and repeatedly violated the law. Good luck with that.

And, as I said, it is unlikely to get HEARD in less than a year.

 

[Kiawah]

Simple solution,

Son/Daughter lends dad the money to pay the fines, so he can keep his job. Dad then repays Son/Daughter from proceeds of the job, with reasonable interest if required.

 

[dcole47]

You guys crazy? I dont have that kind of money

 

[CourtClerk]

Surely dad has amassed at least 10k since all this went down. He chose to spend it elsewhere. Now... he gets to deal with the consequences of his actions.

 

[cyjeff]

My next question is that most people don't realize 10,000 worth of traffic tickets in a lifetime.

There may be more to the story here.

 

[GoIllini]

it would likely be cheaper to pay the fines. It is very unlikely he would prevail in any action. Since this is such an immediate need, he needs to forget about any such attempt.


Beyond that, trying to claim the state has not tried to collect so he is not liable is a bit silly especially since they have suspended his license in an effort to get him to pay the fines.

As with so many problems; they are self made.

The fact he ignored them for 20 years and only now has become an immediate problem for him does not mean everybody else has the same sense of urgency. He refused to deal with this before and only now when it threatens his livelihood does he want to do anything about the fines. I guess he should have thought about this a long time ago.

I think the short-term solution here is for father to lose his job, go back to the court, and maybe see if he can negotiate a reduction in any penalties that might make up that $10K. Obviously, anyone with an ounce of pragmatism would realize he could easily move to a city where he doesn't need a car and get paid cash, avoiding wage garnishment AND state taxes to boot. It's hard to get around the original fines, but IF (and this is a huge if) a chunk of that $10K is late payment penalties, he might be able to get those waived.

My next question is that most people don't realize 10,000 worth of traffic tickets in a lifetime.

There may be more to the story here.

That's my suspicion- though not totally an assumption. If it's $10K worth of original traffic tickets, that's one thing. If it's $3K worth of original traffic tickets and $7K worth of penalties, that's another.

You can often get the penalties waved if you genuinely can't afford them, but it's a lot harder getting around the original ticket amount.