Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fines

Insurance screw-up, who's resonsible for the fine?

spaltavian — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:38:07 -0800

My friend's car was totaled in January by a drunk driver. She sold it back to the insurance company and bought a new car. Somewhere, someone screwed up: her car insurance was never switched from her old car to her new car. She was, however, able to switch her tags to the new car and register it. Nonetheless, until last month, she was paying insurance on a totaled car that she no longer owned. She just got a fine from Maryland Vehicle Administration for 2K+ for having tags on an uninsured vehicle. What should she do? The insurance company is blaming the car dealership, and Maryland just wants its money. Isn't her paying insurance on a car the insurance company owned illegal?

I told her she should get a hold of all the documents- canceled checks to the insurance company, registrations, sales slips- and set up an appointment with a supervisor at the the MVA. If that fails, I told her to lawyer up.

I figure either she won't have to pay the fine, or she'll have to be refunded all her insurance payments since January. However, I am not a lawyer nor have I ever had to tangle with the MVA or insurance companies like this before. Any advice? Thank you in advance.

How to fight Lovely Rita the Meter Maid

rileyray3000 — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 17:20:46 -0800

How do I beat a city of Los Angeles Parking Ticket? There was a spot near my block that has, and still has, pointing to it (and only it) "two hour parking." There is a meter pole for the spot (minus the meter). It was a great default spot for a year for me. One night I came home, parked in it and, in the morning?

I discovered they'd painted the curb red.

They hadn't taken down the sign or the pole. Just painted the curb red on a block where the streetlamps are out a tree that hangs overhead blocks what little light there is.

So I contested the ticket based on the signage.

It went into the system, whatever system that is, and then, lo and behold, I got a "Parking: Final Notice" letter where my fine got upped to 160 bucks with penalties and fees. Turns out they'd never done the investigation because you can't charge signage if the ticket specified curb. So they didn't do anything and just charged me interest.

That's been waived and I've requested they investigate the paint (while hoping they look up and see the sign). But is there anything else I can do to fight this parking ticket in the city of Los Angeles? All scurrilous and shady suggestions to use the bueracracy of the city against itself are warmly welcomed.

Make my car go away for free?

serazin — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 09:10:33 -0800

Recently, my little '90 Civic was towed away. Perhaps it was the fact that my car had been unregistered since November. Or it could have been the $900 in unpaid tickets. In any case, I went to the DMV (California) and I think I got some bad advice from a worker there. He told me to just let the tow company keep the car. He said if they can sell it at auction, I won't have to pay the tow company anything. He suggested that I go to court to petition to lower the tickets, but that even though those tickets would stay on my record, I didn't have to pay them in order to get a new car.

Then Friday I got a letter from the tow company saying I had to pay over $600 just to get them to call it even. That is - I pay $600, and I don't get my car back!

I'm confused. Has anyone dealt with a simular problem? I just want this to be over so I can move on to another car.

-Serazin (Who you may remember from such other MeFi questions as 'What car should I buy?' and 'Should i buy a Peugeot?')

How to negotiate parking fines

Airhen — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:03:57 -0800

My boyfriend got a notice in the mail that he owes $600 for two parking tickets from 2004. Though he doesn't think the city of Baltimore is just making up the original fines, this is the first he's heard of them or the penalties. The original fines add up to $84. Is there anything he can do to eliminate or reduce the penalties? He had to renew his license in 2005, after the tickets were issued and presumably had accrued some penalties. At that time, he called City Hall to make sure he had no outstanding fines because if he did, the DMV would send him to pay them before it could renew his license. He did not have any fines. His car has also been impounded (for forgetting he parked in a rush-hour no-parking zone) at least twice since 2004, and no other fines showed up when he went to take care of those infractions.

Of course, he'll go to City Hall and tell them all of this and hope for the best, but he can't prove that he's never received a notice of the fines. The only proof he has of having been told his record was clear last year is that his license in successfully renewed. Any ideas?

speeding ticket questions and concerns

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 15:21:17 -0800

My husband is going to court in Atlanta/Fulton County next week for a speeding ticket. He has an unpaid speeding ticket in another state from two years back, but was able to renew his license here without any problems at all. The primary reason he's going to the court date is because we can't afford to pay the fine before then and they don't accept payments the day of the court date without you appearing in court. I'm scared the judge will somehow see the unpaid speeding ticket and my husband will immediately be thrown in jail. What is the likelihood of this happening? Am I being irrational?

Old Chicago Parking Tickets?

scody — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:43:08 -0800

ChicagoMachineFilter: I left Chicago nearly four years ago, and just last night I received a bill from the Chicago Dept. of Revenue (aka Soprano Family, Midwestern Branch) via some law firm called Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson demanding $670 in fines and penalties for parking tickets incurred in 1995. (the more, she is inside.) They say that I am on the dreaded boot list (or, more correctly, my old car -- which I sold in 1996 and has probably long-since been junked -- is on the list). I know that when I sold the car, I hadn't paid the tickets (though at least two that they show appear to have been incurred after I sold it); however, when my (now ex-)husband and I later registered our new car (or possibly when I renewed my driver's license -- it's been quite a few years now!), we paid back fines/fees on several old tickets -- which I had always assumed were these tickets from 1995. This is literally the first time I've gotten a collection notice for these tickets in nearly nine years. My questions (beyond what the fuck?!) are:

1) Most urgently, can they contact the California DMV and screw up my ability to re-register my car and/or renew my driver's license here? (Or even boot the car I currently drive? Yes, I know, it sounds paranoid -- but that's Chicago!)

2) If I ever move back to Chicago, will I automatically be prevented from registering a car or getting an IL driver's license again?

3) What are my chances for disputing this? I live halfway across the country now, and of course strongly doubt that either I or my ex still have any relevant paperwork. I'm assuming that at the very least, this will wind up on my credit report -- the credit report I've spent many, many long hard years of working to clean up following a couple of disastrous years of post-grad-school poverty.