Whay do I have court costs? (lawyers, charge, about)

[msb0120]

Yes there was an option to pay by mail instead of going to court and I made sure to include proof of registration as asked. I'm not sure when I mailed in the info but it was at least a week before the deadline. It shows my check not going into their treasury until a week after the deadline. I'm going to the court house first thing on Monday to see what is going on, I just get worried with things like this.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by msb0120

Yes there was an option to pay by mail instead of going to court and I made sure to include proof of registration as asked. I'm not sure when I mailed in the info but it was at least a week before the deadline. It shows my check not going into their treasury until a week after the deadline. I'm going to the court house first thing on Monday to see what is going on, I just get worried with things like this.

I'm sure you'll take a copy of your cancelled check, and any other supporting documents you have, just in case you need them. Good luck, and let us know what the upshot is.

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

No. California is BROKE!! The state has NO MONEY and LA is at defcon one broke, but they refuse to file for bankruptcy.

There is NO MISTAKE.

I remember talking to friends who got tickets for other things saying that they were being charged close to a $1000 in 'court costs'. The ticket fee itself was NOTHING.

Originally Posted by marilyn220

If you don't have the money, then you better go to the courthouse to arrange something and get your questions answered.

The few times I got a ticket, I paid it using a credit card and never received anything else after.

Next time, pay using a debit or prepaid card. Maybe it will make a difference, but I remember doing this BEFORE the recession.

Oh hell.

On what authority do you have to tell this guy "There is NO MISTAKE."

There are VERY FEW citations on the LA County Infraction/Misdemeanor Bail Schedule that will rack up $900 in bail for registration related offences. VERY VERY VERY FEW. AND HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THE OP WAS CITED FOR ANY OF THEM.

Marilyn, please explain what you are talking about when telling this poor guy that there is "no mistake"? I'm assuming that you're under the impression that since LA is so broke, they are tacking on $900 court fees to $25 cites, which is SIMPLY INACCURATE.

The Bail Schedule specifically outlines court fees, if you're interested in reading about how they are calculated, as to not lead anyone astray.

Now, on to the OP's question.


It sounds like, for some reason either (a)the court was not satisfied with your proof or (b) there is a clerical MISTAKE (see what i did there?) somewhere along the lines, which has caused a citation to be placed in your name for a violation of a promise to appear (40508vc) for your original citation. I say this in speculation, but the $900 figure it typical in this type of situation. If, in fact, you were cited for 40508, it would be worth while for you to pull your DMV file to make sure your license is not suspended, as driving on a suspended license is not pretty. I don't mean to scare you, just point you in the right direction.

With that being said - there is not enough information here to answer your question specifically, but assume that you'll spend at least an hour in traffic court. One thing is for sure, you are not paying $900 in court fees for the original cite.

Is there any info in the letter regarding a vehicle code you are being cited for, or what specifically the $900 is calculated on?

[ferretkona]

Understanding will only come from the court for this.
I would guess the "Proof of Registration" was not accepted. I think the ticket has to be signed by a officer to be considered corrected after the registration is paid.
The $900 would be a warrant fee and there still may be other court costs at this point.

[CALGUY]

I have not received a ticket in years,but if I recall, it should state that when mailing the fine, mail at least ten days before the deadline because processing takes time.
Perhaps they didn't receive it by the deadline, and when that happens, it automatically goes to warrant which would account for the $900.00
Bob.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by 1200RT

Oh hell.

On what authority do you have to tell this guy "There is NO MISTAKE."

There are VERY FEW citations on the LA County Infraction/Misdemeanor Bail Schedule that will rack up $900 in bail for registration related offences. VERY VERY VERY FEW. AND HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THE OP WAS CITED FOR ANY OF THEM.

Marilyn, please explain what you are talking about when telling this poor guy that there is "no mistake"? I'm assuming that you're under the impression that since LA is so broke, they are tacking on $900 court fees to $25 cites, which is SIMPLY INACCURATE.

The Bail Schedule specifically outlines court fees, if you're interested in reading about how they are calculated, as to not lead anyone astray.

Now, on to the OP's question.


It sounds like, for some reason either (a)the court was not satisfied with your proof or (b) there is a clerical MISTAKE (see what i did there?) somewhere along the lines, which has caused a citation to be placed in your name for a violation of a promise to appear (40508vc) for your original citation. I say this in speculation, but the $900 figure it typical in this type of situation. If, in fact, you were cited for 40508, it would be worth while for you to pull your DMV file to make sure your license is not suspended, as driving on a suspended license is not pretty. I don't mean to scare you, just point you in the right direction.

With that being said - there is not enough information here to answer your question specifically, but assume that you'll spend at least an hour in traffic court. One thing is for sure, you are not paying $900 in court fees for the original cite.

Is there any info in the letter regarding a vehicle code you are being cited for, or what specifically the $900 is calculated on?

Um, let's wait for the OP to come back to see if the "problem" has been "rectified" before commenting further. Mmmmkay??

His latest post says that his check didn't cash until a week after the deadline.

Maybe this is "human" error, but I doubt it.

Like I said, I knew people who received traffic tickets where the bail was what it should be and they had to pay hundreds of dollars extra in "court costs". They didn't miss a court date either. I don't know how they handled it, because I never asked, but I'm not surprised. The state is BROKE!!

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by marilyn220

Like I said, I knew people who received traffic tickets where the bail was what it should be and they had to pay hundreds of dollars extra in "court costs". They didn't miss a court date either. I don't know how they handled it, because I never asked, but I'm not surprised. The state is BROKE!!

Actually, you said "close to a thousand dollars" in court costs, which isn't possible, even 25+ over limit. The only way I see that being accurate is if your friend was cited for 22348(b) Exceeding 100+, or a combo of offences, speed offence in a construction zone, etc.

Now, "hundreds" of dollars is realistic.

http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/bail/pdf/misd.pdf

The OP clearly said that the letter said "not showing up to court" - I'll stand by my guess that he has been cited for a FTA, because the Court was not satisfied with his correction, there has been a clerical error, or some other issue has arisen.

Either way - there is zero possible way that the $900 is based on court costs alone - it is either bail from another citation/offense, late fees, etc.

[marilyn220]

Originally Posted by 1200RT

Actually, you said "close to a thousand dollars" in court costs, which isn't possible, even 25+ over limit. The only way I see that being accurate is if your friend was cited for 22348(b) Exceeding 100+, or a combo of offences, speed offence in a construction zone, etc.

Now, "hundreds" of dollars is realistic.

http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/bail/pdf/misd.pdf

The OP clearly said that the letter said "not showing up to court" - I'll stand by my guess that he has been cited for a FTA, because the Court was not satisfied with his correction, there has been a clerical error, or some other issue has arisen.

Either way - there is zero possible way that the $900 is based on court costs alone - it is either bail from another citation/offense, late fees, etc.

It was actually four people who complained of this.

I hope the OP comes back and explains if it was in "error".

I had three parking tickets and a jay walking ticket and paid all of them by credit card, so I never received any secondary paperwork for "extra" stuff.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

I have not received a ticket in years,but if I recall, it should state that when mailing the fine, mail at least ten days before the deadline because processing takes time.
Perhaps they didn't receive it by the deadline, and when that happens, it automatically goes to warrant which would account for the $900.00
Bob.

This is my guess. That there was some sort of deadline issue.

[marilyn220]

What happened with this OP?