Old stuff from 1995 popping up

[jcarrabine]

What is the name of your state? ohio

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from an attorney's office saying I owe them $202. Of course I called to see what it was about. They said I had a failure to use a turn signal ticket from 1995 that was unpaid and via fines and late fees that is what I owed. I said BS I'm not paying it because the person offered me very little information about it in order for me to even know what they were talking about. They couldn't even give me an intersection of where it happened. They said that I should contact the clerk of courts to contest it so I did...

The clerk of courts stated that I went to court for a traffic ticket in October of 95 and the ticket (I'm a little vauge on the details of this part) that was dismissed but I had a court cost of $50 to pay which they say I never paid. I don't remember going to court, and the two story's don't even match now.

I'm told that if I don't pay it my licences will be suspended, and a warrant for my arrest has been posted. Now how I heck did this happen if this is legit? 13 friggin years later?!? Why was there nothing done prior to now? What can I do about this? I honestly don't remember anything about this.

Please any help would be apprecciated.

 

[FlyingRon]

Computers. Someone decided to mine the old court records and find the ones never settled. At this point you may be screwed. The costs to protest this would probably be more than the $200 involved especially given your apparently failing memory. The risk of this being entered on your credit report alone is bad enough...a license suspension would cost you much more.

 

[jcarrabine]

exactly. That seems to be the case. The attorney I spoke with said "is it hard to believe that state and federal laws could be passed to allow then to get their money anytime they want? Can't fight that.

 

[seniorjudge]

exactly. That seems to be the case. The attorney I spoke with said "is it hard to believe that state and federal laws could be passed to allow then to get their money anytime they want? Can't fight that.

You had court costs whether you set foot in a courthouse or not.

So, yeah, you don't pay your ticket, it will come back to haunt you.