cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?

tag
ShinyGirl
New Contributor

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?



@llecs wrote:


@Anonymous wrote:
I'm sorry but I beg to differ-a Warrant can be issued-but it is for failure to pay or appear, not the actual traffic citation.
I do about 30 a week


That's harsh. Which state are you in?
I don't think they do that in DC, though. They will go great lengths to collect. Also, OP better not drive in DC with the same car again. If they find that registration, they will ticket and tow. Then they'll charge a good deal of daily storage fees until you pay up.
Another thing they have going on here in No. VA is a police car outfitted with several cameras. That car will drive slowly where cars are typically parallel-parked. The cameras will feed images into a computer and the computer will automatically search for unpaid tickets or out-dated registrations and an alert will pop up. The officer will then boot the car or have it towed until all tickets are paid. I don't know if this is in DC yet or not, but it'll be a matter of time.





Ewwww...that "slow drive to a boot/tow" is harsh!! I've always been afraid of being in my workplace and coming out to a towed car (empty space) when I had unpaid parking tickets.
When my parking tix were unpaid, they added the unpaid ones, plus fees and costs, to my vehicle registration. I couldn't get my car registered until those were paid off. I.e, when they sent the reg notice, it included the $300+ tickets/fees. The pisser was my vehicle was only $100 ish to renew without the tickets.

*frown*
"...what good do your words do if they can't understand you??...."
Message 21 of 47
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?



llecs wrote:

Another thing they have going on here in No. VA is a police car outfitted with several cameras. That car will drive slowly where cars are typically parallel-parked. The cameras will feed images into a computer and the computer will automatically search for unpaid tickets or out-dated registrations and an alert will pop up. The officer will then boot the car or have it towed until all tickets are paid. I don't know if this is in DC yet or not, but it'll be a matter of time.

Makes me love living in the Ozarks. I think our cops just now got safety cameras. No parking meters.
 

 
Message 22 of 47
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?

Im in Colorado.
 
About 40 of the 46 in the ISCP states do the exact same thing
 
the only reason I posted this is so that people werent getting the wrong info and skipping on  tickets that they may get  while traveling. 
 
 I have had too many phone calls to count from  people devastated for either their background check,  employment offer, home purchase or auto insurance  reasons  due to an unpaid ticket not to mention the licenese renewals that had skipped on a ticket  while on vacation or travelling-or worse, they drive back thru the state they got the ticket in and get pulled over, arrested, taken to jail, photo'ed,   finger printed and then have to eithe rbond out or wait for a court appearance
 
Just because you dont live in the state you got a ticket in doesnt mean it wont come back to bite you in the  tuchus!
 
Message 23 of 47
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?

I just read something on another board that is sort of relevant. It had to do with a recent court case involving Unique Collections and their attempts to collect on a library fine. The court ruled that a "fine" is not a "debt" as defined in the FDCPA. That's relevant here, because a fine *IS* a debt in the sense that the city will turn it over to a collection agency and the collection agency will do whatever they can until it is paid. It's especially relevant to us, because when we are dealing with a "fine" rather than a "debt," we consumers don't have the FDCPA to protect us. In the Unique Collections case the consumer sued Unique Collections for actions that would be blatantly illegal under the FDCPA. Unique won. Not a debt. But you still have to pay it.
Message 24 of 47
thinkin
Member

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?

Here is an interesting article (from Yahoo! news) on municipalities that cheat in their photo enforcement:
 
 
 
Message 25 of 47
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?

There's no doubt that localities are doing this for revenue. Heck, DC even admitted to that. However I don't think it is a big deal to set up camera to catch violators. What I do have a problem with is what Fairfax County, here anyway, did at the intersections for their red light camera. It is documented that they changed the time of their yellow light from 5 seconds to 2 or 3 seconds at these intersections thereby increasing the odds of catching a red light runner.
 
It is unsafe especially when you get someone like me who would rather slam my breaks at a yellow than get a ticket when it turns red.
 
Woahh! I'm way off topic for credit. The point is I don't want a red light ticket and forget to pay which could affect my credit via a judgment or a collection. There, kept it germaine.


Message Edited by llecs on 04-14-2008 08:38 PM
Message 26 of 47
Nectarine
Contributor

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?


@thinkin wrote:

I didn't want to post on myfico becuase I knew a bunch of moralizing non-risk taking folks would blather on about how wrong it is to get a traffic ticket. Sure enough....

But thanks for the comments Mr. I've Never Received a Ticket. It inspired to me to actually go out and find the answer.





Not to be a jerk or anything, but I actually lost my license for a couple of "civil offenses" you so casually talk about. My tickets? Going 8 miles over the speed limit (43 in 35) and not wearing a seat belt. That's right, a "civil" problem turned into a "criminal" one -- and yes it CAN be reported, whether you consider it a debt or not.

It is a debt, in the sense that you have to pay it back no matter what.

No one here is totally innocent, free from greed or not risk-takers. I mean, come on. So many people talk about having tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt and you say that no one here takes risks? How very misinformed.

Griffin

PS: it didn't get reported on my CR probably due to a birthdate error, but the costs of getting my license back would far outweigh any FICO score change.

Message Edited by Nectarine on 04-14-2008 06:07 PM
Message 27 of 47
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?

If the CA pulls your credit report for this, it will be NON-PERMISSIBLE purpose.  Be prepared to cite the Pintos case
 
 
 
This is CLEARLY *NOT* a voluntary credit account.
 
 
So wait to see if the CA pulls your credit report, then sue and use the money to pay the ticket Smiley Very Happy
Message 28 of 47
Nectarine
Contributor

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?



@Anonymous wrote:
If the CA pulls your credit report for this, it will be NON-PERMISSIBLE purpose. Be prepared to cite the Pintos case
This is CLEARLY *NOT* a voluntary credit account.
So wait to see if the CA pulls your credit report, then sue and use the money to pay the ticket Smiley Very Happy





Wow, Id love to see how that plays out outside of the 9th circuit courts. In a nutshell, it says that not all debts involve a "credit transaction" but that credit reports only deal with voluntary debt -- so something involuntary like getting your car towed, then it being sold, then you getting charged a fee... that shouldn't be on your CR. I think it's pretty awesome, since I LOVE to see a CA get slapped for doing something that makes No Sense (and Experian just helped them along in that).
Message 29 of 47
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: traffic ticket collections -- affect my credit?



Nectarine wrote:

In a nutshell, it says that not all debts involve a "credit transaction" but that credit reports only deal with voluntary debt -- so something involuntary like getting your car towed, then it being sold, then you getting charged a fee... that shouldn't be on your CR.


Not exactly.  It has nothing to do with whether they can report their account.  It only has to do with whether they have PP to pull a hard inquiry.
 
A victory, yes, but a limited one.


Message Edited by cheddar on 04-15-2008 01:01 PM
Message 30 of 47
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.