Fix It Ticket From 5 Years Ago

[eamille]

In 2019 I was pulled over for a taillight out & was issued a "fix it" ticket. The taillight was repaired 3 days later, ticket was signed off and mailed to the court. I called the court to ask about a receipt or acknowledgement and the clerk's exact words were, "you'll get something eventually, we're running 2 to 3 months behind". The ticket was never a thought in my mind after that. Two weeks ago (5yrs later), I rec'd a "Notice of Driver License or Driving Privilege Suspension"-reason: FLD ANSWER SUMMONS. What?! I called the court and informed the clerk that the ticket was sent in within 3 days of issue, and my conversation with the clerk at that time. I also commented on receiving this notice 5 years later. She said, "well, with Covid & everything". She instructed me to send an email to the court explaining what I just told her. I wrote the email, explaining the events and said that although I was guilty of the infraction, I am NOT guilty of failing to answer. The proper protocol was followed. Yesterday, I rec'd a a notice from the town court-"the court has accepted your guilty plea", with a $70 fine! Do I have any recourse? This is BS-thanks

 

[adjusterjack]

The court has no record of you complying and I'm guessing you don't either.

Pay the fee and get your license reinstated. If you are driving on suspension and get pulled over things get so much worse.

The lesson here is that, for the rest of your life, keep careful records of everything you do, no matter what. With high speed document scanners and multi-terabyte hard drives with back up redundancy, you don't even have to keep paper files anymore.

And never rely on anybody else to do something without following up to make sure it's done.

PITA, I know, but that's the world we live in.

Self preservation is nobody's business but your own.

 

[cbg]

You didn't list your state. By chance was this in New York? If so, I may have some help for you.

 

[eamille]

You didn't list your state. By chance was this in New York? If so, I may have some help for you.

Whoopsie-yes New York.

 

[eamille]

The court has no record of you complying and I'm guessing you don't either.

Pay the fee and get your license reinstated. If you are driving on suspension and get pulled over things get so much worse.

The lesson here is that, for the rest of your life, keep careful records of everything you do, no matter what. With high speed document scanners and multi-terabyte hard drives with back up redundancy, you don't even have to keep paper files anymore.

And never rely on anybody else to do something without following up to make sure it's done.

PITA, I know, but that's the world we live in.

Self preservation is nobody's business but your own.

My license is not suspended, I have until July to pay this $7 fine with $63 surcharge.

 

[cbg]

The DMV-NY Commissioner is Mark J.F. Schroeder. Without going into detail, when my husband was having trouble getting the attention of the DMV-NY over some fines that he never should have been fined (and Commissioner Schroeder acknowledged that he never should have fined; it's not just my biased opinion) he made the entire problem go away within 48 hours. I will PM you his email.

 

[quincy]

The DMV-NY Commissioner is Mark J.F. Schroeder. Without going into detail, when my husband was having trouble getting the attention of the DMV-NY over some fines that he never should have been fined (and Commissioner Schroeder acknowledged that he never should have fined; it's not just my biased opinion) he made the entire problem go away within 48 hours. I will PM you his email.

It helps to have contacts in high places.

 

[cbg]

that was a very frustrating few months until our lawyer in NY found us Commissioner Schroeder's direct email.

 

[quincy]

that was a very frustrating few months until our lawyer in NY found us Commissioner Schroeder's direct email.

I was advised early on in my working life that you never address a question or a complaint to a named entity but instead you find the name of an individual connected to that entity - pretty much any individual - and you address your complaint and all correspondence to him/her. It of course helps if the individual is an important person in the organization/company/whatever, but that doesn’t always matter.

 

[zddoodah]

ticket was signed off and mailed to the court.

Mailed by whom? You or whomever signed off on it? What method of mailing was used? Ordinary mail? Something with delivery confirmation? Did you keep a copy of what was mailed?

I called the court to ask about a receipt or acknowledgement and the clerk's exact words were, "you'll get something eventually, we're running 2 to 3 months behind".

During this confirmation, did the clerk actually acknowledge receipt? I assume not. Did you get the clerk's name?

I called the court and informed the clerk that the ticket was sent in within 3 days of issue, and my conversation with the clerk at that time.

Did you identify the clerk with whom you previously spoke by name? If so, does he/she still work there?

Do I have any recourse?

Probably. However, I doubt anyone here has sufficient knowledge of the local procedures in Unknown County, NY. You could hire a lawyer, of course, but that would likely cost you 10x the amount of the fine/surcharge.

 

[quincy]

I think cbg offered a good course of action that does not require an attorney.