Stolen tags and related tickets on stolen tags

[DCrippa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? District of Columbia.

As the title states my tags were stolen.

Perp has run up a nice bill of speeding photo ticket violations + parking violations.

Said violations have since doubled in time... b/c I refuse to pay them.

1. The day of the theft I immediately reported the tags stolen via over the phone (mistake, I should have done in person FYI should this ever happen to you) - I was given a report number + officer #. The mistake of doing it over the phone was evident when I went to the police department to get a hard copy of the report. Ofcourse in true DC fashion - they couldn't find it in their database! Only when I told them that the report was taken over the phone did they find a record of it but still couldn't retreive it to give me a copy. I won't go further into the details of the stupidity but trust me it would boggle your mind.

2. Left the country for a vacation that had been planned...

3. Missed / never got the first notice - which was supposedly mailed out and delivered probably due to said vacation...

4. Received the second notice with a doubling fine $200! Sweet! But since I had previously issued a report of stolen tags prior to the ticket being issued I figured it wouldn't matter right?!

5. Have to re-register my car. Cant because of this mess.

6. Go to get a court hearing. Judge says that as it's passed the sixty days of the ticket issuance have to pay!?

This is what I don't understand. How I can be liable for something that prima-facie - was erroneously issued.!@$!#%

As the report of a stolen plate for that plate was already submitted long before the ticket was issued - how can they have issued a ticket on that plate number which should have come up stolen! WTF!!!!!!!

7. Will not pay the ticket b/c it's absolutely insane that I should have to pay it.

8. Can't re-register nor register any vehicle.

10. Want to find a way to fight this and hear of any others in similar predicaments / how they handled it. The main issue that they are harping on is that I didn't deal with the ticket within the 60 day window for the ticket.

11. Want to find the guy that stole my plates and bring him to justice. I know what car he's driving and places he's been - parking tickets in residential areas are quite telling.

 

[Zigner]

So you reported the theft, but never bothered getting replacements? Had you done THAT, you would be sitting pretty.
Furthermore, you left for (apparently) an extended period and did nothing about the mail that you knew would be coming in?

The problem is that you are likely past the time period allowed for an appeal.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? District of Columbia.

As the title states my tags were stolen.

Perp has run up a nice bill of speeding photo ticket violations + parking violations.

Said violations have since doubled in time... b/c I refuse to pay them.

1. The day of the theft I immediately reported the tags stolen via over the phone (mistake, I should have done in person FYI should this ever happen to you) - I was given a report number + officer #. The mistake of doing it over the phone was evident when I went to the police department to get a hard copy of the report. Ofcourse in true DC fashion - they couldn't find it in their database! Only when I told them that the report was taken over the phone did they find a record of it but still couldn't retreive it to give me a copy. I won't go further into the details of the stupidity but trust me it would boggle your mind.

2. Left the country for a vacation that had been planned...

3. Missed / never got the first notice - which was supposedly mailed out and delivered probably due to said vacation...

4. Received the second notice with a doubling fine $200! Sweet! But since I had previously issued a report of stolen tags prior to the ticket being issued I figured it wouldn't matter right?!

5. Have to re-register my car. Cant because of this mess.

6. Go to get a court hearing. Judge says that as it's passed the sixty days of the ticket issuance have to pay!?

This is what I don't understand. How I can be liable for something that prima-facie - was erroneously issued.!@$!#%

As the report of a stolen plate for that plate was already submitted long before the ticket was issued - how can they have issued a ticket on that plate number which should have come up stolen! WTF!!!!!!!

7. Will not pay the ticket b/c it's absolutely insane that I should have to pay it.

8. Can't re-register nor register any vehicle.

10. Want to find a way to fight this and hear of any others in similar predicaments / how they handled it. The main issue that they are harping on is that I didn't deal with the ticket within the 60 day window for the ticket.

11. Want to find the guy that stole my plates and bring him to justice. I know what car he's driving and places he's been - parking tickets in residential areas are quite telling.

 

[DCrippa]

Ah let me clarify. I did immediately get replacements - yes. As for the issue of the outstanding tickets - I didn't think they'd be a problem as the tags had been reported stolen. As for the mail we got it when we got back - if it ever was there it was misplaced or thrown away accidentally by my wife/kids... I never saw it.

So yeah I had/have new tags on my car but now need new registration and can't because this is impeeding me from getting it.

Regardless if I checked my mail or not - the ticket should never have been issued in the first place -THATS THE POINT!!! How can I now be liable for a ticket that should have never been issued on tags that should have come up reported STOLEN?

 

[Zigner]

When the tags were replaced, it would have "canceled" your ownership of the prior tags. I think we're missing a piece of the story.

In ANY case, holding your breath, jumping up and down and saying "I won't pay! I won't I won't I won't!" hasn't gotten you anywhere so far and will only cause greater difficulties for you in the future.

Perhaps you should pay, then work towards getting it refunded...(I know...crazy thought)

 

[DCrippa]

Trust me the thought has crossed my mind... but I know I'll never see it.

And that's the thing that has me so incredibly worked up. Not missing a single thing here other than replies to two of the three tickets were never made (dude also racked up another photo ticket and a parking ticket) Pretty sure I denied one of the tickets and sent back with report #, I guess I should have done this with all of them. I figured just having the report # come registration time all would be good enough to excuse them.

So again, in true DC fashion - just pay pay and pay for their incompetence - It's truely amazing how smart it is that they found a way to make money off of their incompetence! It really makes me scratch my head.

 

[Zigner]

Trust me the thought has crossed my mind... but I know I'll never see it.

And that's the thing that has me so incredibly worked up. Not missing a single thing here other than replies to two of the three tickets were never made (dude also racked up another photo ticket and a parking ticket) Pretty sure I denied one of the tickets and sent back with report #, I guess I should have done this with all of them. I figured just having the report # come registration time all would be good enough to excuse them.

So again, in true DC fashion - just pay pay and pay for their incompetence - It's truely amazing how smart it is that they found a way to make money off of their incompetence! It really makes me scratch my head.

Frankly, although the gov't folks aren't blameless, you also have shown incompetence in how this was handled.

 

[DCrippa]

Fair enough - I should have probably paid way more attention to this and continued to follow up. But life happens and after having spent a hell of a lot of time going to different police departments trying to resolve this I will admit I threw my arms up in frustration probably let it wait too long.

So, please enlighten me to what the proper steps should have been. Because I'd love to see the flaw in my ways.

After I:

A. Reported the tags stolen immediately after they were stolen
B. Got new tags
C. Started receiving tickets on old tags ???
D. - ?

 

[Zigner]

Fair enough - I should have probably paid way more attention to this and continued to follow up. But life happens and after having spent a hell of a lot of time going to different police departments trying to resolve this I will admit I threw my arms up in frustration probably let it wait too long.

So, please enlighten me to what the proper steps should have been. Because I'd love to see the flaw in my ways.

After I:

A. Reported the tags stolen immediately after they were stolen
B. Got new tags
C. Started receiving tickets on old tags ???
D. - ?

D. - Respond (ie: appeal) the tickets.

 

[DCrippa]

Got it thanks - I thought it was all water under the bridge after you reported it stolen and took out new tags.

At least that's what the PD led me to believe when I spoke to them - they never mentioned anything about a deadline to do so.