N400 submitted, just found out a "Failure to Appear" case in driving record

H

helloting

Registered Users (C)
I filed my N400 already and is waiting to do fingerprint and interview. I just noticed from a driving record I ordered to prepare for the interview that I have a "FTA" case, details below:
violation date: begining of 2003
description: Negligent driving - 2nd degree

I recalled that it's a driving accident I had when I was on my way back from skiing. I didn't get any ticket on site (there are ambulance arrived to do some basic check-up to ensure I'm ok). I didn't know about the traffic case until now (my speculation is I moved shortly after that so that's must be how I missed the court letter).

From 2003 til now I have some traffic tickets and I either have them dismissed or paid my fine but I never heard about this from the same jurisdiction (same county as the above accident) so I don't realize it until I request a driving record. After I found this out I called the court and they said I didn't owe them anything.

So I wonder how should I handle this FTA record and how do I proceed?
 
helloting said:
I filed my N400 already and is waiting to do fingerprint and interview. I just noticed from a driving record I ordered to prepare for the interview that I have a "FTA" case, details below:
violation date: begining of 2003
description: Negligent driving - 2nd degree

I recalled that it's a driving accident I had when I was on my way back from skiing. I didn't get any ticket on site (there are ambulance arrived to do some basic check-up to ensure I'm ok). I didn't know about the traffic case until now (my speculation is I moved shortly after that so that's must be how I missed the court letter).

From 2003 til now I have some traffic tickets and I either have them dismissed or paid my fine but I never heard about this from the same jurisdiction (same county as the above accident) so I don't realize it until I request a driving record. After I found this out I called the court and they said I didn't owe them anything.
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Whatever do you mean, you "didn't owe them anything"? That is a meaningless phrase in the legal sense and it does not explain anything.

You need to find out what exactly was the official final disposition of that "Negligent driving - 2nd degree" charge. Were you convicted of something? If yes, of what exactly, and with what penalties? Or was the charge dismissed? Or is the case still open? If the case is still open, was there a bench arrest warrant issued because of your failure to appear?
 
I was afraid to inquire further on the case from the court, that it may trigger something in their system which affect something to report up. Too chicken on my side, you are right I should be more proactive.

I called the court today and found out that the violation was convicted in court, due to my failure to appear in court. It was sent off to collection agency 3-4 months later. The case is still open as it hasn't been paid yet, the court officer told me that I need to talk to the collection agency to pay the debt, only the collection agent could contact the court to have it closed, I can't pay the court directly now.

I resided in WA and the statue of limitations of debt for WA is 6 years and it's well passed. I'm not sure what to do here, contact the collection agency? or to speak with the court again to have them remove since the SOL has passed?
 
Hi,

I think your situation is pretty simple due to the fact that it is a traffic violation not a criminal offense that resulted in the issuance of a warrant to your arrest for failure to appear. Since you have already filed your application it is not a big deal. However make sure you call the courts to take care of it ASAP before you go for your biometrics on the N-400. Usually minor traffic violations do not show up on your Rap Sheet with the FBI only criminal and immigration offenses does show up.

You are in good hands but try to resolve it and get the certified court disposition papers and take with you to your interview. If the issue is ever raised then you can submit it and give a detailed explanation of what the situation was. Also I would advice you don't be neglegent to such things in the future as it could cause alot of inconviniences.

*
 
Thanks for the reply Peter, today I submitted to the court a Request for Relief and ask for a court hearing as I never received the ticket. I put a note to ask the court to process it asap as I'm in my N400 process. Hopefully the court hearing will happen before the N400 interview. I will make sure I got the certified court disposition papers and the receipt of any payment I made and filed them properly to bring to the interview.

I will update the latest status here as things proceeds.
 
Jackolantern said:
Did you apply for a new license or report your change of address to the DMV soon after you moved?
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No just use my old license (which have my old address printed on it, as reflected on the ticket copy which I requested from court record), I *think* I applied for address change after every move but since this one was so long ago I'm not 100% sure. From the same court records I requested , on the witness statement that I provided to the state patrol at that time it shown that I already fill that in with my new address already. Apparently the ticket was mailed to me using the address on my old license.
 
helloting said:
No just use my old license (which have my old address printed on it, as reflected on the ticket copy which I requested from court record), I *think* I applied for address change after every move but since this one was so long ago I'm not 100% sure. From the same court records I requested , on the witness statement that I provided to the state patrol at that time it shown that I already fill that in with my new address already. Apparently the ticket was mailed to me using the address on my old license.
Click to expand...

When the address you give on the statement conflicts with your address in the DMV record, they'll probably choose what's on the DMV record.

In addition to paying the ticket, you'll probably have to pay some kind of late payment penalty because it was your fault that the notice went to your old address (unless you promptly informed the DMV of your new address).
 
helloting said:
Thanks for the reply Peter, today I submitted to the court a Request for Relief and ask for a court hearing as I never received the ticket. I put a note to ask the court to process it asap as I'm in my N400 process. Hopefully the court hearing will happen before the N400 interview. I will make sure I got the certified court disposition papers and the receipt of any payment I made and filed them properly to bring to the interview.

I will update the latest status here as things proceeds.
Click to expand...


From what I understand, negligent driving is a civil, not a criminal offense in WA, so it is unlikely that the negligent driving offense itself will show up during any of the background checks related to your N-400 application.
I am not sure about the consequences of the "failure to appear" conviction.
In any case, it is a good idea for you to try to straighten this issue out, since it may eventually catch up with you anyway.

I would also check with the court in question if any bench arrest warrants have been issued for you - ask them about this point specifically and directly. In many jurisdictions, a bench arrest warrant will be issued after some period in case of an unpaid traffic ticket (although this practice varies greatly from court to court, and so does the practice of sharing the info about these warrants with other agencies). You don't want to be arrested after some routine traffic stop. Plus if there is an open bench arrest warrant for you, that info might pop up during your N-400 background checks.
 
Some update:
I took care of the FTA case finally, by settling with the collection agent that the court appointed. Before that I tried to do a relief from judgement from the court but the judge declined it saying that there's no record of return mail saying that the defendant was no longer resided at that location (it could be my ex-landlord just recycle the letter without letting me know).

There's no bench warrant arrest issued as far as I know, as a matter of fact I had been stopped a few times and renewed my license since then but never once did this come out as an issue, which is why I didn't aware of it until very recently.
I will make sure to bring my settlement deposition paper along in the interview, in case this issue was raised and I need support documentation for it.

Thank you all for your reply! Will let you know how the interview goes.
 
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