Red Light to collections

West Hollywood, CA

I got a collection notice today saying that I owed $590 because "failure to appear on your citation". The letter from the collection agency was my first correspondence that I even got a citation. No citation in the mail, no courtesy letters before sending me to collections.

A while back I was turning left at an intersection. I had to wait for oncoming traffic as the light turned yellow and then red before making my left turn. I saw the camera flashing as I made my turn on red. I thought, maybe they will ticket me, or maybe not.

I'm not concerned with the red light ticket since I deserved it, I concerned by being submitted to collections and late fees. I'm trying to buy a house in the next 12 months, taking a hit like this to my FICO score and the 7 year mark on my record.

Thanks for any advise,
Todd

They send the notice via mail to the address of the registered owner on the vehicle registration. If that address is NOT current, then the notice goes to the wrong address and the owner is not advised. The presumption is that the US Mail is reliable and that the letter was delivered to the appropriate address.

You might consider contacting the court where the citation was issued and asking for a court date. At least ask what your options are regarding the cite. Maybe you can pay a lesser fine minus the collections fees. And if you can argue you never received the cite, it MIGHT help ... but if your registration address is different than where you really live, that might not fly. Its worth a try to get it out of collections.

Carl

Address is correct

Thanks for the reply. The DMV has my correct address, I got my vehicle registration letters about two months ago for both my cars.

I know their suppose to mail me the citation in the mail, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. I don't think going into the fine department and saying, "but I didn't get it," is going to do much good.

Thanks.