What is the name of your state? CA
In the 1990's I had a number of FTA's on speeding tickets...eventually license was suspended, warrants were issued and I continued to drive until I finally got arrested. The FTA amounts had accumulated to almost $20,000... I was bailed out by my mom & prcoceeded to attend each & every court date (with mom
) and pay EVERY fine.
I had to before I could get my license back and because it was a stipulation of the bail bondsman (I had to provide him with copies of all the abstracts before he released the bond).
I had screwed up, had gotten caught, paid my "dues" - and groveled to mother for years! It was all over in 1999- got my license back and have been law abiding since.
Until last September (2005)... I received a notice from the Department of Revenue stating I owed $342 and giving a case number. I called and was informed the bill was from an unpaid traffic fine from 1993, they gave me the citation number and said I would have to contact the court to obtain details. I immediately emailed the traffic division @ the Santa Clara County Courts. They replied by informing me it was a Palo Alto court case and they forwarded the email...No reply ever from PA... I researched all the papers I still have in my possession-- I can find a few papers referencing the citation # (including paper from when I had been arrested) But I could not find the abstract with that citation number on it.
I finally went to the courthouse and was informed I could no longer go to "court" to contest the situation (too much time had passed--yet it was ok for them to send a bill 13 years later!) I was also told I could not dispute the fine to the Dept of Revenue...
My questions: I would NOT have been able to obtain a driver's license if I still had an outstanding ticket- correct??
Is there a way to contest this situation with the Dept. of Revenue?? They said I had to deal with the court, the court says it is too late to go to court!
Lastly, Would it be worthwhile to obtain my DMV record-- aren't all violations listed? How far back do DMV records go?
Thank you in advance to anyone who actually read this entire post and is willing to provide any advice
In the 1990's I had a number of FTA's on speeding tickets...eventually license was suspended, warrants were issued and I continued to drive until I finally got arrested. The FTA amounts had accumulated to almost $20,000... I was bailed out by my mom & prcoceeded to attend each & every court date (with mom
) and pay EVERY fine. I had to before I could get my license back and because it was a stipulation of the bail bondsman (I had to provide him with copies of all the abstracts before he released the bond).
I had screwed up, had gotten caught, paid my "dues"
- and groveled to mother for years! It was all over in 1999- got my license back and have been law abiding since.Until last September (2005)... I received a notice from the Department of Revenue stating I owed $342 and giving a case number. I called and was informed the bill was from an unpaid traffic fine from 1993, they gave me the citation number and said I would have to contact the court to obtain details. I immediately emailed the traffic division @ the Santa Clara County Courts. They replied by informing me it was a Palo Alto court case and they forwarded the email...No reply ever from PA... I researched all the papers I still have in my possession-- I can find a few papers referencing the citation # (including paper from when I had been arrested) But I could not find the abstract with that citation number on it.
I finally went to the courthouse and was informed I could no longer go to "court" to contest the situation (too much time had passed--yet it was ok for them to send a bill 13 years later!) I was also told I could not dispute the fine to the Dept of Revenue...
My questions: I would NOT have been able to obtain a driver's license if I still had an outstanding ticket- correct??
Is there a way to contest this situation with the Dept. of Revenue?? They said I had to deal with the court, the court says it is too late to go to court!
Lastly, Would it be worthwhile to obtain my DMV record-- aren't all violations listed? How far back do DMV records go?
Thank you in advance to anyone who actually read this entire post and is willing to provide any advice
