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Collection Agency Attempting Collection on a Citation Issued to Wrong License Plate

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  • 08-14-2009, 09:36 PM
    bnadeau73
    Collection Agency Attempting Collection on a Citation Issued to Wrong License Plate
    Washington State

    A year ago, my wife received a letter from a collection agency indicating we did not pay for a parking citation issued in Spokane, WA. We live in Olympia, WA and have never been to Spokane. My wife contacted the collection agency and inquired as to how we received this citation, they indicated that it was issued to a Chevrolet Impala and gave the license plate number. My wife assured them that it must be a mistake because we have never owned a Chevy Impala and have never been to Spokane, but they persisted. She then contacted Spokane parking services explained the same and they sent her back to the collection agency. She re-contacted the collection agency and spoke with a manager, they indicated they would call back but they never did.
    Now, a year later they are calling again and being more forceful, so my wife went to the DOL (Department of Licensing) to inquire as to what vehicle the license plate belonged to; it was a vehicle that we owned in the past (A Saturn SL2 that was totaled in an accident). We happened to own this vehicle when the citation was issued. While at the DOL, my wife re-contacted the collection agency, the agency refused to speak with the DOL representative, and then they refused to speak with my wife while she was at the DOL.
    Additionally, my wife was attending College in Tacoma when the citation was supposedly issued; she explained this to the agency and they said that someone could have borrowed our car and taken it there. When confronted with the fact that the license plate belonged to our vehicle and not the Chevy Impala, the agency said that the person issuing the citation might have documented the wrong vehicle make and model (**note** to me it would seem impossible to mistake a huge Chevy impala for a midsized Saturn SL2).
    Nevertheless, we never received this citation, never was in Spokane, and assuredly our vehicle was never there either.
    If we just ignore the collection agency, what can they do to us? Is there something that we can do to stop them from harassing us? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you,

    B
  • 08-14-2009, 11:55 PM
    price5
    Re: Collection Agency Attempting Collection on a Citation Issued to Wrong License Pla
    is there anyway you could find the officer who issued the citation? because with all the tickets i've gotten, they also write my VIN down also, with my LP number...if you could get the original citation, then maybe they can correct the issue...ALSO, when the issuing officer ran the plates, he'd have learned that the LP number went to a saturn, not an impala, therefore the driver would have gotten several tickets. i don't know the deal in washington, but i know kentucky arrests people who have false plates on vehicles and they impound the vehicle(esp if there is no driver around). did you ever notice the plates to the saturn missing? mostpeople who hijack plates, switch them out. meaning, they'd have put their impala plate on your saturn. given the tickets would be unpaid, call the police dept/sherriff's department, and find out if you have any outstanding warrants for that specific stop. and then take your evidence to them. most people don't even know their plates have been stolen, as who looks at the plates to ensure they're correct?
  • 08-15-2009, 01:36 AM
    bnadeau73
    Re: Collection Agency Attempting Collection on a Citation Issued to Wrong License Pla
    Quote:

    is there anyway you could find the officer who issued the citation?
    We can definitely try this, Spokane is ~300 miles away so it will have to be by phone.
    Quote:

    did you ever notice the plates to the saturn missing?
    No, they were never missing.
    Quote:

    most people don't even know their plates have been stolen, as who looks at the plates to ensure they're correct?
    I am thinking they were the correct plates because when the car was totaled there was a police investigation; the police would most likely have discovered the discrepancy.

    Thanks for the suggestions.

    -B
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