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Taken to collections by California Highway Patrol, how can I fight this?
Anonymous9 views3 answers
Hello, in 2010 i plead no contest to a misdemeanor DUI. 14 months later, I received a bill from the California Highway Patrol charging me 733 dollars relating to their costs for this. I spoke to my attorney at the time, and he said this is customary for them to try to milk even more money out of people because sometimes people will just pay and to disregard it. It is now 2015 and I just checked my credit report, and I have been taken to collections by the CHP for this "debt". I want to know what I can do to fight this and have it removed from my credit report because I do not believe this is right to charge me anything but the fines I have paid years ago levied against me by the court. Thank you for your help.
Wayland Christopher ChangCriminal Defense AttorneySan Diego, CACA licensed ·
Talk to the attorney who told you to disregard it. Then talk to some other attorneys, because I don't think that attorney gave you the best advice. Under Government Code section 53150, law enforcement can recover for emergency response costs relating to an incident involving drunk driving, including the salaries of the emergency personnel. CHP v. Superior Court (Allende) (2006) 135 Cal.App.4th 488 and Allende v. CHP (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 1006 have interpreted what this means. The court cases have said that not every DUI arrest merits a bill. Nonetheless, it's pretty common for law enforcement to send a bill for any DUI arrest, and when they don't get paid, to send it to collections. Under the law, the CHP can get money for some DUI incidents. So what CHP could bill for depends on exactly what happened and what CHP did at the scene. This should have been disputed when you first got the bill. I don't know if you can dispute the bill now.
I think you received some bad legal advice. You must have been involved in an accident which triggers the CHP's ability to bill you for their time. You'll have to pay the debt to clear your credit report.
Mr's Chang and Finnecy are both correct. You will need to pay this and there is case law on point. Your credit report is and will be affected. As Mr. Finnecy says I have only seen this with accidents. Good luck to you. Go see your attorney again. I hope this helps?
