I am livid! DMV fiasco's

[DammitJanet]

Ok...this is a vent...but it could happen to you too.

husband had an accident when he was 17. He had given the money for his car insurance to his father but his father neglected to pay it so his car was uninsured. Obviously this caused a huge problem. husband ended up losing his license, having to pay some fine, etc. He didnt have a license when I met him in 83. In 85 we went to Columbia SC and got all this junk straightened out so he could get his license back. Not sure of the exact dates of all this.

He did get some tickets during this time where he drove without a license and got tossed in jail and I had to bail him out. HE PAID THE TICKETS!

He was in an accident in 87 with a state road work vehicle...a road scraper. It turned into our car and the accident was found to be the states fault. He was NOT given a ticket. He had a drivers license at the time and the car was in my name, licensed and insured. The state had to pay for the car because they deemed it totaled.

We moved to NC in 1988. He got a NC drivers license in 1989.

Forward to today.

His NC Drivers license broke in half so he had to go to our local DMV to get it replaced. Suddenly a hit popped up from SC saying that he had a suspension from SC that he hadnt paid for the reinstatement. From 1989. HUH? So we had to drive down to SC to pay a $100 fee to reinstate the license. Well we felt it was a scam because he didnt live in SC in 89 but what could we do?

We get there and pay that hundred and suddenly they start popping up with all these other tickets and suspensions and fees. From well over 20 years ago. Saying he was driving uninsured vehicles or paying tickets but not going to court after paying them and other assorted bs junk. Number one...if you pay the ticket, why on earth do you have to go to court? Number two...any vehicle he would have been driving would have been mine and I had insurance. But even more important...how does one prove anything like this 20 years after the fact? You cant! No one keeps records that long and insurance companies dont keep records that long even if you did remember who you had your policy with.

I even asked the people why there wasnt a statute of limitations on something like this considering you cant be found guilty of anything but murder after 7 years!

SC effectively has made it so that no one can get a license in any state in this country if they uploaded information incorrectly! I honestly feel this is incorrect information. This junk was paid. It is a scam to get money for a state we no longer live in. I dont know how to get out from under it other than to keep giving them money.

I did threaten to contact the ACLU because he is a minority.

 

[Shari]

My sitter was telling a story like this yesterday.

7 years ago (she knows how long cause she was pregnant with her oldest), she ran a credit check with Equifax online. She entered her info to pay by check (8.50), hit enter, and an error popped up saying they couldn't process the check, print the page and mailed it in. So she did, she wrote a check for 8.50 and mailed it in. They were young and broke, and she got a returned check - for 8.50. When she went thru her checkbook, they had processed the electronic check AND tried to cash the physical check.

Equifax contacted her, wanting the 8.50 plus the $30 returned check fee. She refused to pay it. She contacted a lawyer, followed his advice, sent letters and copies of info and never heard a thing.

Until yesterday when she got notice that Equifax turned it over to the prosecuting attorney's office for a total of $175.

And to top it off, she never received her credit report from them.

Now how the heck do you prove that?

 

[Liahona]

I'm sorry you're going through this. It sounds like you need a lawyer. DMVs are much more powerful than individuals and like being told they're wrong about as much as any one else. If I remember correctly paying for a lawyer for you would be like trying to fly to the moon. They are so expensive. Maybe a law student? Maybe the ACLU? Don't just threaten; do it. Update us on what the ACLU says. Good Luck.

 

[DammitJanet]

What makes me really mad is they supposedly pulled up the ticket online but could "barely" read it! They could make out my first name, his name, the make of the car, the type of ticket it was, but not the troopers name (how convenient), and the fact that it was an accident. Hmmmm. They couldnt see that the accident was THEIR fault!

Now why would we get a ticket if the accident was their fault? Hmmmm?

This is bs.

 

[kris]

<span style="color: #663366">what the FRAK??

okay, jarrod is going to try & research some stuff for you. have to admit tho it would seem hiring a lawyer is the way to go. it's a convoluted & complicated tale & i doubt you can untangle it by yourselves.

kris </span>

 

[DammitJanet]

This just gets weirder and weirder!

The attorney generals office wont help you, they just turn you back over to the DMV folks. I did get a hold of someone else who said something about the 89 ticket being a Driving Under Suspension ticket....that doesnt make sense to me. They did verify that he got his license back in 85 when we lived in Conway. Ok...5 +4 =9 so he should have still had his license in 89. He never lost his license due to any DUI or anything. His problem was always that initial insurance problem.

The only thing we can even think of is that maybe one of his brothers used his name if they got stopped once we moved. But how on earth does one prove this after all this time?

 

[everywoman]

The SC DMV has had issues for years. I'd talk to someone in legal aide near you or on the border---try Cheraw or Bennetsville. They may be of help.

 

[DammitJanet]

I wonder if they could be required to give him his entire driving record if he requested it?

 

[DammitJanet]

I tried to do an online request for his DMV record just now and it comes back saying that both his social security number and his birthdate do not match the DL number they gave us on the receipt today. I entered all numbers that are on the receipt just to double check.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[Shari]

I'd demand the driving record before doing much more. That's insane.

 

[timer lady]

:faint: What craziness! :faint:

 

[Liahona]

If the numbers don't match could his identity have been stolen?

husband sends his sympathy.

 

[Wiped Out]

:smile:How maddening :grrr:I hope it is straightened out soon.

 

[Loris]

It does sound like it may be difficult to untangle. It really could be a case of stolen identity. Or DMV has their info transposed! Hope you can fix it soon!

 

[1905]

This sucks! Here is what happened to us: In 93 husband got a ticket. I physically went to the court house and paid it. Months later, husband got a letter saying his lisence is now suspended for not paying the ticket. Furthermore, the letter stated this was its third attempt to send me a letter that I never responded to. They never sent me any other letters or I would have said,"I did pay this, here is my cancelled check and everything was in the right time frame." Anyhow, at that point I called-with cancelled check in hand (proof), telling them they made a mistake; it was indeed paid. They then said it was 89.00 to re-instate the lisence. WTF??? It was their mistake. It never should have been suspended!!! They didn't care!!!! If husband wanted the lisence he had to pay it. I tried to say I never got their 2 letters, but so what, they were mistakes as well. I'm still PO'd that I was treated like that! Even with proof they don't care. I would keep trying to get in touch with a person there who has the AUTHORITY to make decisions. They may say they do, but after you waste your time expaining, they would rather say, "No" than admit they don't have the power to help even if they wanted to.-This is so aggravating!-Alyssa

 

[DammitJanet]

Alyssa...that is the entire problem in a nutshell. We know we paid any fines that were due but who can prove it 20 something years later!

Anyway...thanks for letting me vent. Im gonna keep attempting to get this sorted out somehow. My first thoughts jumped to solving this in not so nice ways...lol...bombs, hackers and computer viruses...lol. I have also decided if we have to pay this stupid reinstatement fee I am going on a one woman campaign to thwart the tourism trade in SC...lol. They may get $200 from us in the short term but Im gonna attempt to cost them at least that much.

 

[Liahona]

Would a bank keep records that long? If you took it court would the burden of proof be on you or the DMV? What proof do they have the you didn't pay?

 

[DammitJanet]

I didnt have a bank back then. We were even poorer then than we are now. Everything we did was cash and money orders. Heck now most everything we do is cash and money orders...lol.

They really hold the upper hand here. They can say anything and we cannot prove jack. Of course, the most interesting factor is that back then if you got caught driving without a license or without insurance they took you to jail. Then you had to go get bailed out in the amount of the ticket! So they always had the ticket paid.

 

[totoro]

LAME LAME LAME LAME

These are the same people that kept giving my father a liscense after 6 or 7 dui's!!! Then put him under house arrest for a year, and still gave him a driver's liscense after that... he just kept moving states...

LAME

 

[Hound dog]

Janet

If the info is not matching you are either dealing with stolen identity or error in their filing or their program. Were you able to print the results out that you got???