Texas surcharge

[Bartswife91]

We had an old car and it needed a lot of things fixed to pass the safety inspection, money I was trying to save. I was using one of those "discount" insurance companies and had mailed my payment in, apparently if they didn't receive the payment on the due date they cancelled your policy on midnight that day even though they received the payment the following day. We were pulled over because our safety sticker was invalid and I told the officer that the repairs were more then I could afford and I was doing all I could to save to remedy the situation. He ran my husbands drivers licence and came back and told him his insurance was not valid. I told him I sent the payment but I am sure everyone else does too. From all this my husband had to pay a 760.00 ticket which we did and we were glad to be past this. Later we received a letter from the Texas Dept. of Safety that said my husbands licence was suspended because he hadn't paid the Texas surcharge which is another fee added to tickets that have to do with insurance issues. We were not notified of a surcharge by the judge or the court when we paid the ticket and had no idea that there was such a thing as a Texas surcharge, a second punishment for the one issue. We bought a new car here in Texas and not being from here it didn't have a front plate and we didn't know it required one so we were pulled over for that. Again the officer ran my husbands licence and told him he was driving on a suspended licence. I realized I had forgotten to send in the 13.00 payment and it was a week late, an oversight because we had traveled to California for our sons graduation and I really didn't mean to forget. We went straight home and I called the Tx. surcharge office and made a 40.00 payment the day the officer made me aware and we took our car to the dealer and had the licence plate mounted because all the mounting kits we ordered were not right. We took all this information to the justice of the peace, the Judge in Hearne to show her our mistake was not intentional and we had fixed the problems immediately. The judge said she would reduce the ticket from 500.00 to 100.00 to cover paperwork and she told my husband that would handle the issue. This was 7/5/14 on 7/30/14 we received a letter that my husbands licence was suspended from 7/6/14 until 8/7/14 and would not be reinstated until he filed an SR-22 and payed the Texas Department of Public Safety 100.00 reinstatement fee and a 105.00 TX.GOV fee. We asked what we payed the justice of the peace for? No one knows they tell us its a different department. Now he has two 260.00 surcharge fees that he has to pay for three years. I cannot seem to get any help from anyone because honestly this is over a 13.00 oversight I dont know where to start to right this situation, we cannot afford this with my husband and I in college along with our two sons. HELP

 

[army judge]

If you don't pay, he'll continue to get arrested, if he persists and drives.
The fees will continue to grow.
The only way to make the bad man stop is to pay him EVERYTHING he demands.
That's just how it works, no way off the merry go round unless you pay in full to the satisfaction of the ride operator.
They don't negotiate. They demand, we pay, or they lock us up.

 

[shinerbocl]

We had an old car and it needed a lot of things fixed to pass the safety inspection, money I was trying to save. I was using one of those "discount" insurance companies and had mailed my payment in, apparently if they didn't receive the payment on the due date they cancelled your policy on midnight that day even though they received the payment the following day. We were pulled over because our safety sticker was invalid and I told the officer that the repairs were more then I could afford and I was doing all I could to save to remedy the situation. He ran my husbands drivers licence and came back and told him his insurance was not valid. I told him I sent the payment but I am sure everyone else does too. From all this my husband had to pay a 760.00 ticket which we did and we were glad to be past this. Later we received a letter from the Texas Dept. of Safety that said my husbands licence was suspended because he hadn't paid the Texas surcharge which is another fee added to tickets that have to do with insurance issues. We were not notified of a surcharge by the judge or the court when we paid the ticket and had no idea that there was such a thing as a Texas surcharge, a second punishment for the one issue. We bought a new car here in Texas and not being from here it didn't have a front plate and we didn't know it required one so we were pulled over for that. Again the officer ran my husbands licence and told him he was driving on a suspended licence. I realized I had forgotten to send in the 13.00 payment and it was a week late, an oversight because we had traveled to California for our sons graduation and I really didn't mean to forget. We went straight home and I called the Tx. surcharge office and made a 40.00 payment the day the officer made me aware and we took our car to the dealer and had the licence plate mounted because all the mounting kits we ordered were not right. We took all this information to the justice of the peace, the Judge in Hearne to show her our mistake was not intentional and we had fixed the problems immediately. The judge said she would reduce the ticket from 500.00 to 100.00 to cover paperwork and she told my husband that would handle the issue. This was 7/5/14 on 7/30/14 we received a letter that my husbands licence was suspended from 7/6/14 until 8/7/14 and would not be reinstated until he filed an SR-22 and payed the Texas Department of Public Safety 100.00 reinstatement fee and a 105.00 TX.GOV fee. We asked what we payed the justice of the peace for? No one knows they tell us its a different department. Now he has two 260.00 surcharge fees that he has to pay for three years. I cannot seem to get any help from anyone because honestly this is over a 13.00 oversight I dont know where to start to right this situation, we cannot afford this with my husband and I in college along with our two sons. HELP

Bartswife91, my sister is in a very similar situation in Texas. She got pulled over and her insurance was expired, which she was not aware of at the time (her recently divorced husband had removed her from their insurance policy without notifying her). She received a ticket for driving without valid insurance & paid the ticket, but before she was able to save enough $$ to get liability car insurance, she was pulled over again. Another ticket was issued for not having insurance and this time her license was suspended. She is a single mother with a job, so she continued to drive her kids to school and drive herself to work. She gets pulled over a third time and gets 2 tickets this time; Driving While License is Invalid (DWLI) and another ticket for not having insurance. She was pulled over a 4th time and was arrested and taken to jail (apparently she had a warrant out because she had not paid the last 2 tickets). She has since paid all of the fines/tickets but now has nine (9) $260 surcharges to deal with. They won't let her "bundle" them together and make 1 minimum payment; her only options are to; A) pay all 9 surcharges in full, or B) make the minimum monthly installment payment for all 9 surcharges. It's got to the point of being ridiculous IMHO. Now I will say this; she should have obtained liability insurance immediately after getting the 1st ticket...that's on her for sure. And she should have paid the tickets within the required time frame...that's definitely on her as well. But to arrest a single mom and take her to jail for what started out as a ticket for not having insurance (which she was unaware of because her ex is a total jerk & took her off their policy) is ridiculous in my book. On top of that she is saddled with an insane amount of surcharge fees which she can not pay back. Is there any hope to get out of this? Or to put it a better way, do you think it's worth it to hire a lawyer?
Thank you for your input/advice!

 

[disagreeable]

What is ridiculous about citing someone who continues to break the law? 2nd OP has me confused.

 

[army judge]

Bartswife91, my sister is in a very similar situation in Texas. She got pulled over and her insurance was expired, which she was not aware of at the time (her recently divorced husband had removed her from their insurance policy without notifying her). She received a ticket for driving without valid insurance & paid the ticket, but before she was able to save enough $$ to get liability car insurance, she was pulled over again. Another ticket was issued for not having insurance and this time her license was suspended. She is a single mother with a job, so she continued to drive her kids to school and drive herself to work. She gets pulled over a third time and gets 2 tickets this time; Driving While License is Invalid (DWLI) and another ticket for not having insurance. She was pulled over a 4th time and was arrested and taken to jail (apparently she had a warrant out because she had not paid the last 2 tickets). She has since paid all of the fines/tickets but now has nine (9) $260 surcharges to deal with. They won't let her "bundle" them together and make 1 minimum payment; her only options are to; A) pay all 9 surcharges in full, or B) make the minimum monthly installment payment for all 9 surcharges. It's got to the point of being ridiculous IMHO. Now I will say this; she should have obtained liability insurance immediately after getting the 1st ticket...that's on her for sure. And she should have paid the tickets within the required time frame...that's definitely on her as well. But to arrest a single mom and take her to jail for what started out as a ticket for not having insurance (which she was unaware of because her ex is a total jerk & took her off their policy) is ridiculous in my book. On top of that she is saddled with an insane amount of surcharge fees which she can not pay back. Is there any hope to get out of this? Or to put it a better way, do you think it's worth it to hire a lawyer?
Thank you for your input/advice!

Some crimes, even the best lawyers can't stop the legal monkey from beating you down, down, down.

This is an example of the legal monkey working a person over again and again.

Her best bet is to save the money a lawyer requires and use it to negotiate a payment plan and stop driving until she secures proper insurance.

She owes about $2,500 in surcharges. A lawyer would cost about $2,000, and can't guarantee he or she will get you what you want. Paying the $2,500 will fix it, and she can begin fixing the rest of the mess.

Maybe YOU can lend or give her the $2,500? You want to help, right?
Once the $2,500 is paid in full, obtaining auto insurance will be her next mountain to climb.

She's no longer married to her once husband, so why should he continue to insure her? Insuring a former spouse is undertaking a liability over which you maintain no relationship, and many insurance companies discourage dong just that.

Nope, she created the problem, got cited, then persisted in repeating her silly offense, useless, expensive folly over and over. That's a perfect example of inviting the vicious legal money to beat you into bankruptcy.

In Texas, you commit and get convicted of three DUIs, you go to prison.

I'm not saying its right, I'm saying I want take the risk.
I'm also saying its our law in Texas.
I don't want that vicious little, legal monkey beating the snot, my freedom, and my money outta me!

Sorry, she needs to stop doing stupid stuff. Stupid stuff always hurts you and the ones who love you.

 

[shinerbocl]

Some crimes, even the best lawyers can't stop the legal monkey from beating you down, down, down.

This is an example of the legal monkey working a person over again and again.

Her best bet is to save the money a lawyer requires and use it to negotiate a payment plan and stop driving until she secures proper insurance.

She owes about $2,500 in surcharges. A lawyer would cost about $2,000, and can't guarantee he or she will get you what you want. Paying the $2,500 will fix it, and she can begin fixing the rest of the mess.

Maybe YOU can lend or give her the $2,500? You want to help, right?
Once the $2,500 is paid in full, obtaining auto insurance will be her next mountain to climb.

She's no longer married to her once husband, so why should he continue to insure her? Insuring a former spouse is undertaking a liability over which you maintain no relationship, and many insurance companies discourage dong just that.

Nope, she created the problem, got cited, then persisted in repeating her silly offense, useless, expensive folly over and over. That's a perfect example of inviting the vicious legal money to beat you into bankruptcy.

In Texas, you commit and get convicted of three DUIs, you go to prison.

I'm not saying its right, I'm saying I want take the risk.
I'm also saying its our law in Texas.
I don't want that vicious little, legal monkey beating the snot, my freedom, and my money outta me!

Sorry, she needs to stop doing stupid stuff. Stupid stuff always hurts you and the ones who love you.

thank you for your insight! I will probably end up loaning her the $$

 

[army judge]

thank you for your insight! I will probably end up loaning her the $$

That's very loving, but be advised, those loans often never get repaid.
I've helped relatives and friends, and when I do, I call it a gift.
That way I avoid getting disappointed when the money isn't repaid or ever mentioned again.
When one does bring some money, I take the person, the money, and let them choose if they wish to gift it to a homeless, a charity, or a church. Doing that makes a lasting impression about commitment.

Most of these people aren't bad, they've never been held accountable. They manage their precious lives with great inattention and live recklessly. Gotta start somewhere, but keep your expectations low.