QuestionQUESTION: Back in Aug 2008, this drunk driver hit my car and due to impact my car landed in middle of street and was not drivable. Cops had to manually push it back to curbside and I was issued a report number. I was told by the cop that I must not move my car until investigations and insurance claims were filed. 4 days later, another cop came and issued me citation for parking >72 hours and towed my car away with private tow company.
I called Tow company and they told me I must pay 400 dollars to get my wrecked car back. Then they sent me Lein sale notice in which one option was to 'if I did not want the car back, Tow yard will proceed with Lein sale". I went to DMV office and released the liability on the car and signed it over to the tow yard.
This year in January I received a letter from collection agency that I must pay my balance or my credit will be affected. The balance on this letter is $0.00.... I called the Collections to stop bothering me since my balance is Zero. They then sent me another letter two days later, with a balance of 1400 dollars. What do I do? Tow yard owner is a Jack A** and I cant pay all this money. ALso like as I said, I have a letter from credit collection agency that states balance is ZERO.
ANSWER: Hi,
Isn't it nice how the cops help us?
I would tell you to get in touch with the supervisor in the collection department and ask why there are two different bills.
You did not state if your car or the drunk had insurance. If so, submit the bill to your insurance as well as the drunk's insurance company.
If none of this works, you may have to consult with an attorney. No, its not fair, but you need to protect yourself.
If the bill is in fact $1,400, depending on your state, you may want to sue the drunk in small claims court.
Just some ideas.
Rob
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you so much for your understanding and comforting words.
What is upsetting is that the Law officers are otherwise supposed to protect the general public, but in this situation its quiet the opposite.
I am in CA. The person who was driving drunk was an illegal Alien, with ofcourse no Driver License, and definitely no insurance. So who gets stuck?? Me!! Why?? B/c ofcourse I have a social sec. number and a good credit which now will be messed up by collection services.
You are right! I should write to collection agency. I must tell them that I will consider my legal options for them harrassing me when I have a proof from them of my Zero balance letter. If they are unwilling to sought this out,
I will go to small claims.
What I am not sure of is who to sue? The tow company or the collections agency? Please guide.
Thanks
AnswerHi,
Illegal alien is one option I did not think about, that sucks!
I was left disabled by a convicted felon (because the laws in the the State of Wisconsin state job discrimination laws that require an individual can't be discriminated against for conviction or arrest record) driving a school bus, but at least he had insurance.
This fine law also is the reason convicted drug dealers and other felons were hired as cops in our state as well.
I am sorry that you have the situation you do.
If you talk with the supervisor of the collection agancy and find out exactly what you need to pay, possibly there may be some sympathy and they might discount the amount. If you owe the money, you may be able to get a payment schedule.
The thing that concerns me is that you may already have a blemish on your credit record being that the billing has gone to collections.
You should check your credit record from all three reporting agencies and if this incident of non-payment is in fact noted, you may want to send a letter explaining the details leading up to this collection.
I do not claim to be an expert on credit, but I am just giving you and idea of what I would do in the same situation.
The discrepency between $0 and $1,400.00 concerns me as well. That is why you need to speak with someone at the collection agency on this matter.
In my opinion you are in fact, the victim here because our wonderful legal system does not protect honest hard working citizens. Your example is one of the reasons I won't live in California. This is not to say that California is the only place for illegals. It just means there are other options as to how this situation could have been handled when it happened and I won't expound on that.
As a general rule, the tow truck companies in these matters are authorized by the city to charge the ridiculous towing and storage fees they do. I have seen this many times.
You may want to even speak with your alderman and explain the situation. He may be able to assist you as well.
I have seen where people like you have complained to the city (alderman) and the fees were reduced or eliminated.
As for taking the collection agency to court, that won't work.
You still did not state if you had insurance. This is a good example why you should have.
Try the alderman and try contacting the alderman.
Good luck!
