Did not pay speeding ticket---collection agency!!! HELP

[lmarielmm]

I live in Solano county California and I recieved a letter re: a civil judgement from a collection agency for a ticket I thought I had paid ( I had 2 tickets at the same time and thought I paid both, but only paid 1.) I already completed the traffic school for the ticket...what can I do? the amount due is $487 and the original ticket was only $160 I think...This was an honest mistake...what can I do since I cannot pay the $487?? Is there any way out of this mess?

 

[Antigone*]

I live in Solano county California and I recieved a letter re: a civil judgement from a collection agency for a ticket I thought I had paid ( I had 2 tickets at the same time and thought I paid both, but only paid 1.) I already completed the traffic school for the ticket...what can I do? the amount due is $487 and the original ticket was only $160 I think...This was an honest mistake...what can I do since I cannot pay the $487?? Is there any way out of this mess?

Have you tried calling them to negotiate??? If not, that would certainly be a good place to start.

If they don't negotiate with you, I would call it a tough lesson learned and pay your bill.

 

[I_Got_Banned]

Have you tried calling them to negotiate??? If not, that would certainly be a good place to start.

If they don't negotiate with you, I would call it a tough lesson learned and pay your bill.

It has been my experience that the collection agencies that are hired by California's Superior courts will not negotiate at all. To the contrary the will insist on getting the amount due TODAY or else...

Chances are, you license has been placed on hold by the court (i.e. suspended) as well so you might want to be VERY CAREFUL about driving.

The traffic school certificate should have been submitted to the court on time otherwise its worthless. So check with the traffic school itself to see if they submitted a copy of the certificate to the court and on what date.

Needless to say, completing traffic school and showing proof of completion to the court does not relief you from having to pay the full fine. In fact, I am confused as to how you were allowed to choose traffic school for the citation if you had not paid the full fine beforehand.

As far as the amount due, it sounds about right considering the $300 civil assessment that is added due to the failure to appear/failure to pay... What you might want to do is visit the courthouse and check to see if the collection agency has a window there where you can speak to someone. If so, then ask them to schedule a court date for you (that will buy you some time during which you can save up the $487)... It will give you the opportunity to appear before a judge and ask for a reduced fine (although that is highly doubtful) but, most importantly, and once your court date is scheduled, the court will lift the hold off of you license so that you are able to drive in the meantime.

Lastly, there might be an additional fee that you'd have to pay the DMV to have your license reinstated. So don't count on the court doing what they say they will do; Go to the DMV and make sure your license is in fact valid.