front plate citation and collection agency

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? C.A.
I got a citation for not having front lic plate. I paid and mailed with proof and CASH $10 for admin fee. Somehow they sent another letter asking for admin fee and sent my file to collection agency.I called the agency and was told it was about me not showing up in court which was written on the ticket. I told collection agency that what was written on the ticket was for me to appeal to court if I feel I didn't do anything wrong. I further explained that it was about the admin fee the courth trying to collect, and I told them it was CASH. I made a mistake by sending cash which can't be proven. The collection agency insisted that I need to pay regardles and this won't affect my credit. Is it true that it won't affect my credit? and do I have a chance to win fighting my case in court which is scheduled for 3 months for now? it's probably hard to proof that I sent cash. Please advice. Thanks.

ftfans said:

I got a citation for not having front lic plate. I paid and mailed with proof and CASH $10 for admin fee. Somehow they sent another letter asking for admin fee and sent my file to collection agency.I called the agency and was told it was about me not showing up in court which was written on the ticket. I told collection agency that what was written on the ticket was for me to appeal to court if I feel I didn't do anything wrong. I further explained that it was about the admin fee the courth trying to collect, and I told them it was CASH. I made a mistake by sending cash which can't be proven. The collection agency insisted that I need to pay regardles and this won't affect my credit. Is it true that it won't affect my credit? and do I have a chance to win fighting my case in court which is scheduled for 3 months for now? it's probably hard to proof that I sent cash. Please advice. Thanks.

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Proving you sent cash is next to impossible ... this is why the notices I see state that you are not mail cash.

We have no way to know whether this is or will be reported to the credit reporting agencies. I suspect that as long as it does not go into collections, and the collections agency has not yet reported it in collections, then all things are good.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

Proving you sent cash is next to impossible ... this is why the notices I see state that you are not mail cash.

We have no way to know whether this is or will be reported to the credit reporting agencies. I suspect that as long as it does not go into collections, and the collections agency has not yet reported it in collections, then all things are good.

- Carl

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Thanks for your reply. Shoud I go on with the court appearance then? I'm afraid my license will be suspended and besides I've heard bad things about collection agency. Will they eventually report it? I asked them they said nothing to do with credit report, but who knows? any advice, please? thanks

ftfans said:

Thanks for your reply. Shoud I go on with the court appearance then? I'm afraid my license will be suspended and besides I've heard bad things about collection agency. Will they eventually report it? I asked them they said nothing to do with credit report, but who knows? any advice, please? thanks

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I'm afraid I can offer no advice on collection agencies as I have no experience with them. I have heard both good and bad stories, so I just don't know.

Unless you can handle the issue with the court sooner than March, I would wait until that time to take care of it. But, if you can handle it sooner, maybe you can get this monkey off your back.

Good luck.

- Carl

Thank you so much for your input. I will try walk in to the court, hopefully they'll take me. Have a blessed day!

Not legal advice. If you have a court date, you can take care of any owed money. Carl, gave good advice for that.

Collection agent. If you take care of this with the court. Sometimes collection agencies can be a tad crazy and keep going. I'm not sure on the collection laws in California. O.k you can't do one part of this cause you do not have a WBA#. But this seemed to work for a friend of mine when I sent a collection agency's lawyer a nice letter:

Dear M/S

Further to our telephone conversation of the other day, I contacted XXXX Company. They informed my agent that, although he never personally had an account with their organization, he may be a Director Of a Company that may have had an account.

I'm sure your partners sleep well at night, knowing that they are not personally liable for your mistakes.

Please keep your liability insurance payments current.


Kind Regards,

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Seemed to scare the collection agency attorney cause they stopped trying to collect a debt my friend did not even have. So take care of it with the court and if the collection agent bothers you find out who handles their small claims, etcetera and send them a nice letter.

poncho said:

Not legal advice. If you have a court date, you can take care of any owed money. Carl, gave good advice for that.

Collection agent. If you take care of this with the court. Sometimes collection agencies can be a tad crazy and keep going. I'm not sure on the collection laws in California. O.k you can't do one part of this cause you do not have a WBA#. But this seemed to work for a friend of mine when I sent a collection agency's lawyer a nice letter:



Seemed to scare the collection agency attorney cause they stopped trying to collect a debt my friend did not even have. So take care of it with the court and if the collection agent bothers you find out who handles their small claims, etcetera and send them a nice letter.

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The collection agency is an agent of the court. They stop attempting to collect the minute an arraignment date is scheduled... your letter is useless.

CourtClerk said:

The collection agency is an agent of the court. They stop attempting to collect the minute an arraignment date is scheduled... your letter is useless.

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I assumed like some places even in California. They contract out collections to private companies and like most agents sometimes the client forgets to tell them they got their money. Courts never make mistake's right?

I said after the court date and if they keep trying to collect, nip it in the bud. Even better and more fun to send letters to city/county/ lawyers for mistakes. OP should not have sent cash by mail. Cash can be pocketed easily.

Not really legal advice. I wonder how many license plates the DMV gave OP? Sometimes state agents known as Police Officers make mistakes and write tickets that do not apply to everyone. What kind of car does OP own?

In order to understand why you are wrong, you have to understand how the courts work in conjunction with the collection agency. You also have to know how their system is intertwined with the court's - and how they transmit information.

You obviously don't, therefore, you are unable to give accurate information. Does the court forget to tell the CA that they receive money? No, because they don't HAVE to because of the way the information is transmitted. Does the CA have to tell the court when they receive money? Not in the way you think... because of those nifty little things called computers.

As for the kind of car the OP owns, COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT. CA law states that no matter what the car, ALL VEHICLES driven on the road in CA MUST have a front and back license plate. The vehicle code makes absolutely NO PROVISION for cars that don't have a front license plate holder. None, whatsoever.

CourtClerk said:

In order to understand why you are wrong, you have to understand how the courts work in conjunction with the collection agency. You also have to know how their system is intertwined with the court's - and how they transmit information.

You obviously don't, therefore, you are unable to give accurate information. Does the court forget to tell the CA that they receive money? No, because they don't HAVE to because of the way the information is transmitted. Does the CA have to tell the court when they receive money? Not in the way you think... because of those nifty little things called computers.

As for the kind of car the OP owns, COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT. CA law states that no matter what the car, ALL VEHICLES driven on the road in CA MUST have a front and back license plate. The vehicle code makes absolutely NO PROVISION for cars that don't have a front license plate holder. None, whatsoever.

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Computers are only fool proof when humans enter the correct information.

How much do you want to bet on CA VC requiring both plates?

Display of License Plates
5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.

(b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004.

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poncho said:

How much do you want to bet on CA VC requiring both plates?

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Sure, and as a life long resident of CA, I can tell you with great certainty that CA issues 2 license plates....
5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for
use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which
they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.

How many times have you registered a private vehicle in CA and only received 1 license plate? I didn't think so.

The state has not issued a single plate to cars and trucks for many years. This section remains for a couple of reasons: (1) because until sometime in the 70s, many vehicles were issued only one license plate, and, (2) motorcycles, trailers, and special equipment are issued one plate.

- Carl

CourtClerk said:

Sure, and as a life long resident of CA, I can tell you with great certainty that CA issues 2 license plates....
5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for
use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which
they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.

How many times have you registered a private vehicle in CA and only received 1 license plate? I didn't think so.

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You only quoted half the law. Even if the DMV issue's you 2 plates, several makes and models built past and presently are exempt by federal motor vehicle manufacture standard laws from having to have front license plate brackets. No place to mount them.

So state law trumps federal?

Answer: No or maybe I should get my money back. Oh, never mind CA VC exempts some vehicles by law anyway.

5200. (b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004.

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So If I give you my last CA registered vehicle plate number you could run it at your work? You just can't tell people how seedy my second house neighborhood is and how I drive clunkers. And exempt from needing a front plate.

poncho said:

So state law trumps federal?

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The feds may not force them to put on mounting brackets, but that does not mean that states cannot require them. The feds also do not require cars to meet CA smog control emissions standards, yet cars sold or registered here MUST meet those standards.

So If I give you my last CA registered vehicle plate number you could run it at your work?

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If I had a lawful reason, sure.

You just can't tell people how seedy my second house neighborhood is and how I drive clunkers. And exempt from needing a front plate.

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It depends on how old your car is and when it was last registered. If the car is 30 years old, I might not be concerned about no front plate ... provided the single plate it does have is either blue or black.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

The feds may not force them to put on mounting brackets, but that does not mean that states cannot require them. The feds also do not require cars to meet CA smog control emissions standards, yet cars sold or registered here MUST meet those standards.

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Instead of having 50 different sets of emissions laws, states can choose between either the California or lower range of Federal regulations. On emissions the Fed left that to the states. Most manufactures build for the Californian market in mind. Some of the more specialty exotic. Well Jay Leno does have out of state dealer plates.

It depends on how old your car is and when it was last registered. If the car is 30 years old, I might not be concerned about no front plate ...

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Guess you must write a lot of tickets to Corvette owners. I'll ask Glendale Chev in the A.M how they deal with that. Corvette's have no front bracket or space for a front plate. Hope they don't put them on after market. I don't want one.

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