What is the name of your state? Ticket in VA. I live in CA now.
Hi all,
I've exhausted myself with phone calls over the past two weeks so I thought I would try here to see if maybe anyone has either been in my situation or knows someone else who has.
In late 2005 I moved to VA from CA for family reasons. Upon moving to VA I obtained a VA driver's license. In February of 2006 I was pulled over for wreckless driving. It was 11pm at night and on a bare freeway in Henrico County. I know, I shouldn't have been speeding. After being pulled over and issued the citation I proceeded home. Altho it was not a justification, I was 6 mos pregnant and was just trying to get home to use the restroom. Not an excuse I know, but there was no one else on the freeway and I was literally 5 mins from my destination.
In march of 06 I moved back to CA. I received nothing in the mail about my ticket. I had assumed it was the same as in CA - if you are issued a citation and you get your fine mailed to you. I had forwarded my mail from VA.
Nothing came.
I had my child and was a stay at home mom.
I went back to work a few weeks ago and went down to my local dmv here in CA. I was told my license had been suspended. This was a friday at 4pm. Saturday morning I got up at 5 am (8am EST) to call the VA DMV. I was told yes my license was suspended and that I would have to call the courthouse to get the fines total. But after I paid the fines I would have to pay $85 to reinstate my VA license. I updated my address with them and hung up.
Monday morning I called the courthouse and was told that my account had been sent to collection since it was over a year old. I was given the # to the collection agency.
I called the collection agency and was told that my fines + interest were 422.00 - I inquired about a payment plan as I wasn't trying to avoid the fines, but I certainly couldn't pull that kind of money out of my butt.
I was told that yes they had a payment plan, however I did not qualify since I was not a VA resident. I would need to pay in full. I hung up to try and come up with the funds.
The next day after exhausting all options, I called back and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told she was out. I asked about the payment plan again as I was unable to come up with the 400+ dollars to pay in full. The lady ACTUALLY told me "Well, you could drive safely while you mail in payments, and don't get pulled over. After you complete the total fines we'll send notice to unsuspend your license". I was shocked. This lady actually was advising me to risk getting a ticket for driving on a suspended license, no registration and no insurance! My registration was due, and I needed to get insurance. And in CA you cannot get insurance without a license, and you cant get registration without insurance! I asked for the managers name and said I would call back.
The next day I get a letter from the VA dmv telling me that my license will be cancelled 9.30 at 12:01am unless I can show proof of residency. Which I can't. I don't live on VA. I now have 30 days to get this cleared up.
I call VA dmv and they tell me that the cancellation won't take effect until I get the suspension cleared up. Then I pay the reinstatement fee of $85 and they immediately cancel my license. Nice, huh?
I spend the next week trying to again come up with the funds unsuccessfully. I called and spoke to the manager, Miss West. She said that in fact I did not qualify for the payment plan and I could set up a payment plan of mailing money in but that she would not release my suspension until my fines are paid in full.. and just "for my information, it goes up .07c a day". She suggests asking a friend or employer to let me put it on their credit card. I hang up.
Now -- here's my question. I literally found out about all this less than 2 weeks ago. I am not trying to evade this. I did the crime, I should pay.
However, I need to be able to DRIVE to work to pay these fines. Why should I have to risk additional tickets and fines?
Does anyone know how I could go about getting a restricted license to drive to and from work? Everything I've read seems to say that if you have fines you must pay them first.
Any help would be appreciated.....
Linear Mode
