This is desperation Illinois tries to collect unpaid tickets from 1980's

originally posted by: Middleoftheroad
a reply to: JAGStorm

Illinois is digging deep I see.

I was driving rideshare (Lyft) in 2017, and had to pay a 2008 Red Light Camera Ticket, and a 2006 Parking Ticket, or my contract with Lyft would be terminated. With fees added, I had to pay $450 to the city of Chicago that month.

Lyft and Uber cancelled 11,000 Chicago Lyft/Uber drivers that month (June 2017) because they didn't pay their back traffic tickets, child support, property taxes, and a couple of other categories.

Edit to add: Illinois is HURTING because Democrat tax and fee policies are driving away 300 individuals/families/businesses EVERY SINGLE DAY. People leave, and taxes/fees are increased again to compensate. Big increase just happened on July 1, 2019. The embodiment of INSANITY.

originally posted by: Blue Shift
I can imagine that after a certain point going after the money -- tracking people down from old addresses, sorting out dead people from the still living, going to court on the contested cases, etc. -- is going to cost them far more than they get back.

Nope costs them nothing. They use debt collection services (probably mob tied in Illinois).
When the debt services collect they take 30%. That's why like people in the story, it seems like all kinds of
notices are being sent out in error. They are probably just making stuff up and seeing who will pay.

The lady in the story wasn't even old enough to drive and she got a "ticket".

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: lordcomac
Every few years I get something in the mail about an "unpaid" ticket from GA.
It's a speeding ticket scam they run- if you pay your ticket, they send you a second one. If you don't pay that one, they put a bench warrant out for your arrest.
They call it a "super speeders" ticket - that's what I get for barely keeping up with traffic with an out of state plate.

If I had known I never would have paid the first ticket.

To this day, even though it's been off my record for the better part of a decade, there's a bench warrant out for my arrest in the state of Georgia.
I don't plan on passing through any time soon.

WAIT, you were able to speed in Georgia??????????? DO tell!!! I've never been able to go more than 2-5mph in that state!

Lifelong Georgian here , and I was wondering the same thing.

I grew up in GA and never got a speeding ticket. I regularly would cruise at 80 mph on 285, the worlds largest NASCAR track.

I've gotten a couple here in Chicago. We have speed camera traps. They will set the speed limit near a park at like 25mph even though the road is designed for say 45-50mph speeds. It will be 25 mph for like 1 block. By the time you realize it, you've been got...

I've gotten a few in Kentucky and Ohio. Speed traps. Long stretches of highway with no turns, doing 80-85 on road trips. Nothing but revenue grabs.

originally posted by: Edumakated

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: lordcomac
Every few years I get something in the mail about an "unpaid" ticket from GA.
It's a speeding ticket scam they run- if you pay your ticket, they send you a second one. If you don't pay that one, they put a bench warrant out for your arrest.
They call it a "super speeders" ticket - that's what I get for barely keeping up with traffic with an out of state plate.

If I had known I never would have paid the first ticket.

To this day, even though it's been off my record for the better part of a decade, there's a bench warrant out for my arrest in the state of Georgia.
I don't plan on passing through any time soon.

WAIT, you were able to speed in Georgia??????????? DO tell!!! I've never been able to go more than 2-5mph in that state!

Lifelong Georgian here , and I was wondering the same thing.

I grew up in GA and never got a speeding ticket. I regularly would cruise at 80 mph on 285, the worlds largest NASCAR track.

I've gotten a couple here in Chicago. We have speed camera traps. They will set the speed limit near a park at like 25mph even though the road is designed for say 45-50mph speeds. It will be 25 mph for like 1 block. By the time you realize it, you've been got...

I've gotten a few in Kentucky and Ohio. Speed traps. Long stretches of highway with no turns, doing 80-85 on road trips. Nothing but revenue grabs.

Nowadays , if traffic is moving at or above the speed limit in the left lane , one can be fined for "left lane lagging" if they are not matching speed.(up to super speeder speeds)
This can only be achieved in Georgia from 7:00 pm - 5:00 am
Or , if one happens to be going north during morning rush , or south during going home time...

originally posted by: JAGStorm
They are probably just making stuff up and seeing who will pay.

Ah. Like medical billing.

a reply to: JAGStorm

What sad, is that if Trump mentions this he'll be racist...

No democratic party member will speak up on how much corrupted you have to be, when you need to tap into unpaid tickets from 30yrs ago for "Revenue", they have no shame in using the term so blatant either.

What's going to happen when millenials start to retire? More crime? More violence? More poverty? Maybe Cummings should start making those deductions

We're all mentalists...

a reply to: JAGStorm
About 3 or 4 years ago, Illinois sent out a bunch of collection letters for "overpayment" of state aid funds going back into the 80's. I know somebody who received one of those letters. Illinois made the dispute process such a pain that it was easier to pay it than to prove you didn't owe it. I'm sure it's the same with this new assault on the taxpayers.

Illinois has become an embarrassment to its residents, especially those of us in Southern Illinois. So much so there is a petition circling to split Chicago and Cooke county from the state. Of course, that will never happen.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Secretrooster
If they owe for the unpaid ticket they should pay it. No matter how long it’s been.

Do you REALLY think it is reasonable 30 years after the fact.
How would they even prove that?

There is no way I would trust Chicago paperwork from 1983.

A debt is a debt. No matter how old. Like any other debt, dispute it. If they can’t prove it then they can’t collect.

originally posted by: Secretrooster

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Secretrooster
If they owe for the unpaid ticket they should pay it. No matter how long it’s been.

Do you REALLY think it is reasonable 30 years after the fact.
How would they even prove that?

There is no way I would trust Chicago paperwork from 1983.

A debt is a debt. No matter how old. Like any other debt, dispute it. If they can’t prove it then they can’t collect.

This is a good point. Keep all your paper work, esp. citations and judgements. If this trend spreads, it will be up to you to prove your innocence and if everyone contested these fines in court, they'd be back logged into eternity and spending far more than they make from these actions.

Force their hand into having to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you owe them, have a lawyer handy to give them a run for your money. Make it as hard as possible to prove you owe them and make them spend more money than it's worth. If you get called on a jury for such a case, jury nullification. Screw them as hard as they are trying to screw you.

Get involved in a grass roots effort to eliminate any laws they can use to try and pull this crap. Vote out the laws, politicians and judges that are pursuing this. Resist, react, give them hell over this.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Its sad that someone breaks the law, gets a ticket and then waltezes off into the sunset never paying the fine.
Thats what is sad.

Good . THey should charge these people late fees too.

a reply to: JAGStorm

if they send you a notice I guess they can prove you owe the money.

About every 3 years I get a letter from a collection agency that says i owe a electric bill from someplace in Detroit. Never lived in Detroit but gave up trying to explain that. It's up to like $750 now and I haven't heard from them in a year or two. It's on my credit report but the address is not. Oh well.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: JAGStorm

Its sad that someone breaks the law, gets a ticket and then waltezes off into the sunset never paying the fine.
Thats what is sad.

Good . THey should charge these people late fees too.

You must not know about Illinois.
If you read the story you will see that a lot of these tickets aren't even valid. The lady for example was not even of driving age! That is what I'm talking about, pure corruption. Hard to imagine unless you have lived in that state for a while.

I do agree if you have a ticket, pay for it. If you live in Illinois, pay your ticket and keep that receipt!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Out of interest, do you not have a time limit on debt / fines over in the States? They wouldn't be allowed to still pursue you for a fine that old over here and i just assumed (always wrong!) it would be the same for you.

originally posted by: Flavian
a reply to: JAGStorm

Out of interest, do you not have a time limit on debt / fines over in the States? They wouldn't be allowed to still pursue you for a fine that old over here and i just assumed (always wrong!) it would be the same for you.

I'm pretty sure we have a statue of limitation on medical debt, not sure about others. These tickets seem like new territory.

Once got a ticket for a toll road in NJ or somewhere. They even sent us a picture. It wasn't our car and we hadn't been to Jersey on like 10 years. We called and it was cleared up.

I once got a parking ticket for 50 bucks in chicago on my motorcycle. My bike was no where near where the ticket was claimed. Said I didn't move bike for street cleaning. I dont even live in city proper and wouldnt have been where claimed. They conveniently did t have a picture of my supposed infraction.

I wrote a protest to court and they still gave me the ticket. The big problem is my time is worth more than 50 bucks. I would have needed to go traffic court. Pull together all the evidence etc.

originally posted by: Edumakated
Once got a ticket for a toll road in NJ or somewhere. They even sent us a picture. It wasn't our car and we hadn't been to Jersey on like 10 years. We called and it was cleared up.

I once got a parking ticket for 50 bucks in chicago on my motorcycle. My bike was no where near where the ticket was claimed. Said I didn't move bike for street cleaning. I dont even live in city proper and wouldnt have been where claimed. They conveniently did t have a picture of my supposed infraction.

I wrote a protest to court and they still gave me the ticket. The big problem is my time is worth more than 50 bucks. I would have needed to go traffic court. Pull together all the evidence etc.

My friend in the North burbs just got a ticket for something, for something they didn't do. They went to dispute it and came to the sad realization that disputing the ticket costs much more than just paying it. #Corruption!