Posted on 06/07/2011 4:13:01 AM PDT by beachn4fun
I'm posting my situation on a thread in order to alert others to be on the look out of ways the government, especially the local government, may be ripping us off.
I believe we are being targeted as fools to pay for our politicians shortfalls. I live in Maryland, a very liberal state which taxes everything, and am seeing signs they are desperate to raise money instead of ways to cut spending.
Here is a situation I found myself in recently:
I received a "final notice" for speed monitoring violation from the town of Forest Heights PD (Maryland). However, I NEVER received prior notices. And, this incident apparently happened a year ago. On top of that the letter says Maryland MVA will impose a $40 "flagging fee." I received the notice from MVA yesterday.
So, not only did I have to pay the $40 ticket, I had to pay a $25 late fee and now $30 to MVA to unflag my vehicle.
This rings, loud and clear to me, as a SCAM!
How am I to prove that I never received the prior notices they claimed they sent? I mean anyone can put any date in the computer saying a ticket was mailed. I know I was in that area in May this year but a year ago? I'm lucky I remembered I was around that spot this May since I seldom go in that area.
Another thing, they give me 7 calendar days to pay this ticket/fine. The letter was dated May 18 (Wed). I received it on the 20th (Fri). The payment had to be sent to Philadelphia, PA. WTF??? 7 days to get the notice, write the check (they wanted to add another $3.50 to pay by credit card online - another part of the scam) and get it to PA?
Additionally, on the 23rd I called the number on the citation notice and told them that 7 calendar days was not enough time to get the payment in and credited to avoid the flag. The gal told me she was putting a temp hold on the record to allow time for the payment to get to PA. (I also complained that their system had major flaws, which she did not deny).
I put the check in the PO on the 21st. It got posted in my account on the 27th. Ok, that was one day after the MVA flag date. Why did it take this long to make it to PA and get posted? What happened to the "hold" the gal in the Town of Forest Heights claimed she put in my record?
This is a glaring example of the flaw in, not only the whole system, but especially in the speed cameras. It is becoming apparent that the MVA is becoming a monster similar to IRS.
I am now looking into what avenue I need to take to file a complaint about this situation. I will also be posting on facebook and hope that some news source picks up the mantle and does some research into how prevalent this has become.
So, my fellow Americans, be vigilant. Let our politicians know that we are not fools and we will not "go quietly into the night."
Boo Hoo! You brought it all upon yourself by not paying the ticket when due. Now you whine about the additional costs because you chose not to pay the ticket on time.
I can see nothing wrong on the side of the police.
You didn’t read what he wrote.
No kidding!
Send it certified next time. They have to sign for it when it is received in the mail room. If it takes them 30 days to post it...it ain’t your fault and you have proof of receipt.
I learned long ago when dealing with any agencies via mail...reply certified.
I noticed on a trip last week that I went through a city with multiple traffic cameras and wondered at that time what were they measuring, traffic light violations or that plus speed? If I violated any parameter, would I be willing to contest it in a city hundreds of miles away? Are we now becoming the locality-determined potential victims of revenue-need. Thus we move from 'speed traps' to anything?
, I NEVER received prior notices-——
Missed that part?
Not getting prior notices and ‘chose not to pay’ isn’t the same thing...
Which was the whole point.
Yes, I know better. Don't know why I didn't this time.
Exactly. I'm seeing more and more of this. And, MVA is like IRS, you can't seem to win in the fight.
Just a suggesion (won’t help with this one but might if it happens again). Call your state delegate’s office and tell them your tale. They may be abe to direct you to the right place to correctly voice your protest. At least they will be able to see what is happening out here.
Awesome, thank you for the advice on state delegate. I want someone to know what’s going on. If it’s just the Town of Forest Heights, then I’d like them investigated.
Off on another incident, I purchased some items recently from one store, that sells from 2 of it’s stores under different names.
They cleared the checking account one day, all on one stores name, no problem there.
The next day the same charges, for the same amounts were ‘pending’ my checking account under the second store’s name.
And the balance of those charges taken out of my account, even though they were ‘pending’ charges.
I called the bank. Explained what was happening. First thing out of the CSR’s mouth was, well it was the same girl that coded both.
Then she explained that if they ‘posted’ to my account, and it was an error, I would have to file a ‘claim’ so to speak, an appeal. But that they MAY not ‘post’ to my account.
So I asked how can they not ‘post’ and yet you have taken the amount out of my account-TWICE already? And if they didn’t ‘post’, would they restore the balance amount. She said yes they would.
So, I was ready for the fight to begin.
The amount we are talking about is over a $100 and less than $500...
The next day, checked the account again.
Balance was restored, ‘pending’ charges (2nd time around for the same charges) were GONE.
I believe had I not caught this, before the deed was done, it would have went through the account twice ‘appearing’ as 2 different stores even though it was one technically. And I would have had to prove (appeal) the bank’s charges against my account.
I do not know and probably won’t know if the ‘girl who coded them both’ was fired..
Keep your eyes open...
My money is on the notion that the local jurisdiction has ALREADY gotten its revenue. I'll bet they have sold the rights to a private company (some politician's BIL) for money up-front while the company collects the down-stream revenue or part thereof. It would also explain why the author must send the MD fine payment to PA.
WOW! I’ll bet DH shows up at the donut shop every morning to lick the jackboots clean of his local PD. I wonder if DH stands for Dick Head? Nothing is as irritating as attacking a man after NOT reading his post! I’ve noticed as municipalities become desperate for money they’ll resort to most anything to avoid cutting back in even the smallest degree. Our local PD had set up a speed trap on a long cul-de-sac that led to a medical park. A few of the businesses on that street were a cancer treatment center, an oral surgery group and a pediatrician. I guess the city figured if you need and can afford the services of these businesses you could afford to pay your speeding ticket. This road is a new 4 lane road with a center turning lane and falls downhill most of the way. The speed limit was 25 and they had little old lady cancer patients lined up day after day issuing tickets. This went on for 6 months. The speed limit was raised to 35 and five oh has gone elsewhere. It’s now us against “them”. We have the money and “they” want it. I suspect it will only get worse.
Does your “industrial electronics manufacturing business” produce/maintain stoplight/speed cameras?
I’ll bet they have sold the rights to a private company (some politician’s BIL) for money up-front while the company collects the down-stream revenue or part thereof.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Potential ‘monies’ aside, the basic (original) idea for that cruiser sitting alongside the road was to ‘slow people down’.
Once the message was and people know the cruiser would be sitting there, ‘the traffic slowed down’. Success!..
Now the unintended consequence of speed/red light cameras is when the citizenry starts paying attention and obeying the existing laws, the investment made by the camera company starts drying up and they are ‘stuck’ with equipment etc because the public is ‘following the rules’.
So now, in order to pay off their investors/stock holders etc, the system has to be ‘tweaked’.
Virtually the same ‘vicious cycle’ gets invoked, much like the govt ‘complaining’ about big oils profits when in reality the ‘government’ receives many times more, while, actually, not doing ANY of the work - except writing legislature to will itself more money.
Actually, you can if you can make your case. I once got a ticket in the mail (back in the 80s) with the same kinds of warnings you got. It was sent to my address and had my plate number on it--but the driver was listed as someone else. I only had to explain that I did not know that person, nor could that person have been driving my vehicle. The ticket was removed from my record.
I'll add that I wasn't dealing with the MVA, but with some lawyer's office in Crofton.
I know what you mean about the police. I live in a small city of about 40,000. If you drive across town, you’ll see at least 5 cop cars, no they don’t make me feel any safer. They are only looking for some reason to pull you over. We live in a police state.
It is ALWAYS and FOREMOST about $$$$$.
Public safety is merely the cover politicians use to get MORE MONEY!
” I only had to explain that I did not know that person, nor could that person have been driving my vehicle. The ticket was removed from my record. “
That ‘loophole’ has since been removed - nowadays, the legal fig leaf is that the ticket is issued to the vehicle, not the driver - and the burden is on the owner of the vehicle to ‘prove innocence’....
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