TAKES A TOLL
Driver told ‘nothing can be done’ as he racks up $3,000 towing fees for a car he doesn’t even own
It took a threat to go to the media to get the ball rolling
AFTER selling his son's used car to a stranger in need for cheap, he discovered thousands of toll violations were in his name.
As it turns out, the buyer never registered the car in his name.
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Jim Okerblom, a father and a writer in San Diego, California, sold his son's 1999 Chevy Camaro to a stranger, Hector, in June 2010 for just $600.
It needed some engine repairs, but otherwise, it was in decent condition.
The registration for the Camaro was in Jim's name.
He'd done everything right - created a bill of sale, kept the sale's receipt, and signed a release of liability form with the DMV.
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The release of liability form does just that - it notifies the DMV that the car has been sold to another driver privately, and the vehicle is no longer under the original owner's insurance or legal responsibility.
The next step would be the buyer promptly taking the vehicle to the DMV and registering it in their name.
However, Jim quickly learned that Hector failed to do that.
He'd trusted that Hector did the right thing, but FasTrak's stacking toll evasion violation notices as Hector repeatedly crossed the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area indicated otherwise.
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"Hector, you a***ole, you haven't registered the car and it's still in my name!" he wrote.
He tried to contact him with a written letter to an address Hector gave him to send an extra key if Jim ever found it.
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However, the post office told him the address wasn't valid, so there was no way to contact Hector.
To add insult to injury, he'd lost the only way to prove to the DMV that the car no longer belonged to him.
"Unfortunately, I had neglected to save a copy of the “release of liability” form I had filed with the DMV and had to write to get a copy," wrote Okerblom.
"As I waited, I got more bridge toll violations from the same bridge."
As the pile of violation notices grew a few inches taller, another bill came in the mail for the Camaro.
"Then I got a notice from the CHP that the car had been impounded to Fast Tow in Concord because the driver was unlicensed," he said.
His jaw hit the floor when he saw the total from the towing company.
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"A bill for $3,075 from Fast Tow for towing and storage charges. Then a demand letter from CBA, a collection agency, for that amount."
Several weeks later, his copy of the release of liability form came in the mail, and he'd sent a copy to the FasTrak, the towing company, and the collection agency to relieve himself of the financial burden Hector accumulated in his name.
He wrote that if he continued to get violations sent to him, he'd sue.
And for a while, notices stopped arriving for Hector's shenanigans.
In 2021, though, Okerblom would feel a strange sense of déjà vu.
As luck would have it, someone had stolen the plate from the Camaro and was driving a Chevy across the same bridge, sending more violations.
He tried to file a stolen plate report with the DMV but was told to file a police report, but the police told him it was a "civil matter" and nothing could be done on their part because the plates weren't stolen - just unregistered.
When he contacted the DMV's Investigation Unity, it took two weeks to call them back, only to again be told it was a civil matter.
How to prepare for the DMV
Here are some ways to streamline your DMV experience:
- Check the DMV website for your state to see if the task can be done completely online. Many processes can now be done online, like renewing a vehicle's registration or changing an address. Otherwise, several processes can be started online and finished at an in-person location, like renewing a driver's license.
- Schedule an appointment. While walk-ins are available at all locations, having an appointment time can help reduce frustrating wait times.
- Check the DMV's website to ensure you have all the necessary forms for the task.
- Get there early. Since many people prefer to try and tackle simple tasks on their lunch breaks or days off, showing up early can mean you're only one of a few.
- Eat before you go or bring a snack. Since wait times can exceed expectations, bring some form of sustenance.
- Be positive. The process is temporary.
His only option was to contact an attorney and sue the new owner or dispute each notice individually and prove he no longer owned the Camaro.
"I’ve gotten about 60 $6 or $8 violation notices thus far, though I have lost count, and I am sure there are many more in the pipeline that haven’t arrived yet," he said.
Another flurry of violations arrived, and this time, a picture of the car that showed it was a Honda - not a Chevy Camaro - and Jim felt he finally had solid proof the car didn't belong to him.
Another dead end - he was told by the DMV nothing could be done.
In a last-ditch effort, Okerblom threatened to take his story to the media.
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The threat stuck, and he was finally reached by the DMV's investigation division who "discovered" his release of liability, and that the license plate "somehow" was disconnected from the form.
Then the DMV's public affairs contacted him to apologize, and finally, the violations stopped coming.