What is the name of your state? Texas
I bought a car in July 2004 for which the previous owner is now claiming she has received tolltag citations in her name that occurred after the transfer of ownership. The Tolltag Authority mailed her the citations because the vehicle registration/title had not been transferred yet at the time of the violations. In fact this did not happen until October 2004. The time it took to actually change the title over was because I actually had to wait for the previous owner to send me the title after I had already took possession of the car, so this took some time. After receiving the title, it also took me some time to actually make it to the court house.
The previous owner has received multiple citations requesting she call the Tolltag authority with her response, but she failed to act on these notices. As a result, the tolltag authority forwarded these citations to the district attorney for prosecution under the court system. The previous owner also failed to act on the notices for her to contact and appear in court, so these citations have now reached warrant status.
The previous owner finally chose to contact me concerning this matter, asking me to pay the fines and fees for the tolltag violations and court costs.
My question is: Am I liable for the entire amount of tolltag fines and court fines and fees? Am I liable for only the tolltag fees? Are we both liable and if so, to what extent?
Although I do believe I may have some fault in this situation, I don't believe that ultimately makes me liable for everything. If the previous owner had contacted myself or the tolltag authority and notified them of the ownership change, the matter would have been easily resolved. The tolltag authority would have then asked merely for the amount of the actual tolls and waived any added fines. This would have totaled about $20-$40.
But because no action was ever taken on the notices of the violations, they have now entered the court system and a different manner of resolution. Now the tollwag will only accept payment of the fines, which totals $200. In addition to that amount, the court is also demanding $500 in fees if this route of resolution is taken. So now the total amount is $700 instead of about $40 max.
The previous owner is threatening to sue me in civil court for the entire amount if I don't pay it all now, but this simply does not seem fair to me. Her failure to act or inform anyone on the circumstances surrounding this issue is what resulted in the substantial increase in fines and fees. So in essence, I am being punished for her inaction on legal matters that had solely her name on it.
I should add that I have acted in good faith the entire time. I had a tolltag account at the time of the violations, but my tag was working improperly. I found this out because I also received some citations for the same reason but after the title had been transferred to my name. I handled this matter quickly and the tolltag authority cleared everything up and simply charged me the unpaid tolls which was about $20. Obviously I had no clue that violations had also occurred prior to the title registration change.
Anyhow, if anyone could offer some legal advice concerning this situation and how I should handle it I would greatly appreciate it.
I bought a car in July 2004 for which the previous owner is now claiming she has received tolltag citations in her name that occurred after the transfer of ownership. The Tolltag Authority mailed her the citations because the vehicle registration/title had not been transferred yet at the time of the violations. In fact this did not happen until October 2004. The time it took to actually change the title over was because I actually had to wait for the previous owner to send me the title after I had already took possession of the car, so this took some time. After receiving the title, it also took me some time to actually make it to the court house.
The previous owner has received multiple citations requesting she call the Tolltag authority with her response, but she failed to act on these notices. As a result, the tolltag authority forwarded these citations to the district attorney for prosecution under the court system. The previous owner also failed to act on the notices for her to contact and appear in court, so these citations have now reached warrant status.
The previous owner finally chose to contact me concerning this matter, asking me to pay the fines and fees for the tolltag violations and court costs.
My question is: Am I liable for the entire amount of tolltag fines and court fines and fees? Am I liable for only the tolltag fees? Are we both liable and if so, to what extent?
Although I do believe I may have some fault in this situation, I don't believe that ultimately makes me liable for everything. If the previous owner had contacted myself or the tolltag authority and notified them of the ownership change, the matter would have been easily resolved. The tolltag authority would have then asked merely for the amount of the actual tolls and waived any added fines. This would have totaled about $20-$40.
But because no action was ever taken on the notices of the violations, they have now entered the court system and a different manner of resolution. Now the tollwag will only accept payment of the fines, which totals $200. In addition to that amount, the court is also demanding $500 in fees if this route of resolution is taken. So now the total amount is $700 instead of about $40 max.
The previous owner is threatening to sue me in civil court for the entire amount if I don't pay it all now, but this simply does not seem fair to me. Her failure to act or inform anyone on the circumstances surrounding this issue is what resulted in the substantial increase in fines and fees. So in essence, I am being punished for her inaction on legal matters that had solely her name on it.
I should add that I have acted in good faith the entire time. I had a tolltag account at the time of the violations, but my tag was working improperly. I found this out because I also received some citations for the same reason but after the title had been transferred to my name. I handled this matter quickly and the tolltag authority cleared everything up and simply charged me the unpaid tolls which was about $20. Obviously I had no clue that violations had also occurred prior to the title registration change.
Anyhow, if anyone could offer some legal advice concerning this situation and how I should handle it I would greatly appreciate it.