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Follow TURFSacramento man billed for $17,000 in wrongful toll violations
Call Kurtis: $17,000-Plus In Toll Violations And They’re Not Mine!
By Kurtis Ming
July 23, 2013 11:56 PM
CBS Sacramento
SUISUN CITY (CBS13) — A Suisun City man receives $17,000 plus in toll violations in Southern California.
But he says not one belongs to him.
After a four year battle, it was time to call Kurtis.
A four year long battle trying to convince the toll authorities it wasn’t him.
Turns out, it was a DMV mistake. But in four years, the DMV didn’t seem interested in helping him clear this up.
“Surprise, shock, I don’t live in Southern California,” said Myron Martin, Suisun City resident.
Yet Myron has received more than $13,000 in toll violations from The Toll Roads in Orange County and about $4,000 from the Orange County Toll Authority in the past four years, all stemming from a DMV mistake.
A year after he bought his truck in 2008, he realized his license plate didn’t match the one listed on his registration.
The DMV got him new plates but the violations from Southern California kept coming. And he says they refused to help him get these violations dropped. Some are now in collections.
“You go to DMV, you raise this red flag with them, you’d think they’d fix it right away. Uh uh, year after year after year, we can’t do anything about it Mr. Martin,” said Myron.
“It’s really outrageous for the DMV to let this go on for years,” said Rosemary Shahan, President, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.
Shahan says Myron shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to fix the DMV’s mistake.
“That’s their responsibility, they’re the ones that made the mistake,” said Shahan.
Myron received this letter from the DMV, clarifying the plates were not his but he couldn’t figure out where to send it.
Our volunteer Dan took the case and we got that letter into the right hands at the toll companies.
“After that time, the toll company removed the charges from his account,” said Dan.
Finally.
So why didn’t the DMV help fix this years ago?
They’d only say “… sometimes mistakes happen due to human error. This customer’s issue has been resolved and the DMV apologizes for any inconvenience.” – Jan Mendoza, spokesperson
Myron no longer on the hook for whoever racked up these violations!
“He hasn’t had to pay his registration now for four years. And he’s probably dancing in the tulips, right?” asked Myron.
He says the person is driving the same make and model but different color. His truck is blue, theirs is white.
The Orange County Transportation Authority didn’t want to comment.
The other company, The Toll Roads, tells us they stopped mailing violations to Myron in the fall when he contacted them.