A WOMAN was left confused after being told she was responsible for several speeding fines linked to her old number plates.
She only knew about the extra tickets when she called parking authorities.
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Pennsylvania resident Brittany Walker purchased a 1995 Mercedes-Benz sedan when someone she knew posted an ad online saying they were selling it at a used car dealership.
She contacted someone she knew with interest and they met at the dealership to make the sale – they transferred the titles, wrote up a bill of sale and she got new plates to replace the old ones.
When Walker found a boot in her vehicle after her shift, she assumed it was for the four tickets she received in the year she owned the vehicle that she knowingly failed to pay.
She called the Pennsylvania Parking Authority to set up a payment plan to pay off the four fines.
Read more about expired tags
Then she was shocked by what the representative told her.
“I had eleven tickets, totaling $1,260,” Walker told the ABC affiliate WPVI.
Upon inquiring further, she discovered that the remaining seven tickets were from a previous owner of the Mercedes.
She recognized the owner’s name, however.
“He owned it and then sold it to the next guy who sold it to me, but they are friends,” she explained.
Although she was able to find out exactly why she was kicked, she was told the boot could not be removed due to legal complications.
His name and address were not associated with the tickets, so the vehicle was impounded.
To make matters worse, the vehicle may have been registered and titled in her name, but the plates were “dead” to PennDOT.
It means the license plates have been deleted from the agency’s database and should not be on the road.
“It’s a big mess,” she said.
In this specific case, she did nothing wrong. She did everything she was supposed to do. And she just didn’t know and got involved in the system because there was an error on the front end of the labeling agency.
PPA Executive Director, Richard Lazer
Walker reached out to reporters from WPVI, who contacted the PPA on his behalf, who then granted him an emergency court hearing.
After the hearing, the agency revoked the tickets that were sent to the incorrect address, was ordered to pay the fines owed for its four tickets and obtained new license plates.
“In this particular case, she did nothing wrong,” said PPA Executive Director Richard Lazer.
“She did everything she was supposed to do. And she just didn’t know and got caught in the system because there was an error on the front end of the tagging agency.”
PennDOT Statement
PennDOT’s full statement to WPVI reporters is as follows:
“This was an error initiated by a PennDOT contracted agent. When the previous owner of Ms. Walker’s current vehicle attempted to transfer her license plate to a new vehicle, the agent inadvertently transferred Ms. Walker’s current license plate to the vehicle of the previous owner,” the spokesperson explained.
“Neither the agent nor the previous owner noticed that the incorrect plate was transferred until a few days later. When the previous owner transferred the correct plate, Ms. Walker’s plate was invalidated, which led to her current situation. We apologize for the error and we addressed the issue with the agent.”
Source: CBS affiliate WPVI
A PennDOT spokesperson issued a statement that helped clarify exactly what happened to Walker.
“This was an error initiated by a PennDOT contract agent. When the previous owner of Ms. Walker’s current vehicle attempted transfer her registration plate to a new vehicle, the agent inadvertently transferred Ms. Walker’s current plate to the previous owner’s vehicle,” the spokesperson explained.
“Neither the agent nor the previous owner noticed that the incorrect plate was transferred until a few days later. When the previous owner transferred the correct plate, Ms. Walker’s plate was invalidated, which led to her current situation. We apologize for the error and we addressed the issue with the agent.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
