Hmmmmm....
if your story is true, this is an administrative mix-up that could take a loooong time to clear up. good luck.
I’m not a lawyer - I don’t even play one on the internet, but from personal experience I might guess that this is one of those stupid “same name” scenarios. Good luck - hope you can get it resolved quick and cheap.
What you explained seems simple enough. Assuming you have already attempted to work this through with CA MV — up to the state capital level of that bureau, well then go to your local State Representative and ask them for help, and if they refuse hire a lawyer.
One other thought that occurred to me. You should be able to make the state of Alabama send you copies of all the information they have regarding this situation. That may give you enough information to start towards a resolution.
That car you had and never registered....what happened to it? My guess is the title is still in your name but you don’t have the car and someone (the one who got it in 1985) used your information......
Two years ago I got a notice from another state that I owed back child support and my wages would be garnished. Luckily I got a reasonable person to work with and it was all straightened out. One thing to remember to do if you do get it worked out is to request that AL send you a letter spelling out the mistake and that they have corrected it, and you have no liabilities left.
Attention everyone. Many inaccuracies exist in databases for several reasons:
GIGO - Garbage in, Garbage out.
Bad Algorithms - Matching software tries to determine if person A1 and person A2 are the same person. About Half the time they can’t determine the answer one way or the other.
About Half the time they can determine “definitely yes” or “definitely no”.
But it is a judgment call as to how many matching criteria are used to determine “yes” or “no”.
The result is a high percentage of factual errors in databases. The credit bureaus are a good example. Equifax seems to have a higher rate of factual errors than the other 2 big credit bureaus. That probably means their matching algorithm is looser in its matching requirements. For example, a customer of Equifax can purchase a list of millions of names to do a telemarketing campaign and discover the list is nearly useless because so many phone numbers have been incorrectly matched.
Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t make it so. Just because it exists in somebody’s database doesn’t make it so.
Just wait til we have the healthcare database and get these mis-matches. Men with hystorectomies because their name is Sue, etc.
I would say Alabama has lost because of the statute of limitations.
Tell the Alabama DMV to send you a copy of the “driver’s license” you never had and see what they say.
Looks like you were stationed at the Benning school for boys. Didn’t you get told to avoid Phoenix City? ;-)
I experienced a very similar situation. Renewal of my Kansas DL was denied because of a database hold from the State of NC for a ticket in 1981. I contacted NC who said that I had an unpaid ticket from the state of NY. I did live in NY in 1981, but on the date of the ticket, I had moved to Germany.
NC DMV told me that they needed a statement from NY DMV that the matter was resolved. Turned out that NY had no record of the ticket, so they issued a statement to that effect. NC DMV removed the hold and I got my license renewed. It cost me a number of phone calls, waiting on hold, etc. and $25. No lawyer, that would have been alot more than $25.
Good luck.
BTW, from the information in the database, the ticket was probably issued to my father. We share the same name, both had NC drivers licenses (he was from NC, I was in the military). His address was listed, but my birthdate, go figure. As I said, I was in Germany on the date on the ticket, he was visiting my sister on Staten Island. They probably sent the ticket to my old address and it was never forwarded. Who knows?
I would think that the Statutes of Limitation would have passed by now.
Start with Georgia. Get the Georgia DMV to issue a document that shows a Georgia residence as the the address at the time of the alleged accident. Then challenge Alabama’s records. This looks to be a case of mixed up identities.
I’M NOT A LAWYER. I’m a houswife.
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Talk to someone else at the DMV (Alabama) or send them an email:
http://www.dmv-department-of-motor-vehicles.com/AL_Alabama_dmv_department_of_motor_vehicles.htm
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Check here for resource links:
http://www.usattorneylegalservices.com/free-legal-aid-california.html