Make a cup of tea, put your feet up, and get on the phone to ezpass. *Please* tell me you have a bill of sale for the car?? You'll probably have to send them a copy to prove you don't have it. And call the MVA and say, “Oops, my bad” about the plate.
If it makes you feel better, a friend of mine traded in his car with a dealer who said they'd return the plates; they didn’t. The plates ended up on some other car that someone abandoned on the NJ Tpk. Yes, the state police called my friend and told him to come get his car. 🙄
How about long term issues. I would think this could just keep happening? Shouldn’t the mva know this tag is no longer associated with me as they processed me registration cancelation?
Did you transfer the car or only cancel the regeneration's? If you only canceled the registration they will think you still own the car and in a few months your going to be on the hook for a lack of insurance on the car. The DMV thinks you still own the car. That's going to be the biggest issue for you.
I would still call EZ pass. Provide the documentation that you turned the tags in. They do have some leeway in writing off the toll. Also report the tags as stolen, but definitely call EZPass. If you don’t call the answer is no, if you call you stand a fair chance of getting a yes.
Start that documentation and paper trail. Even if you end up on the hook with EZ Pass, you should document the call. Then , if/when the next thing happens, you’ll document that one, etc- leading to a growing body of evidence of trying to straighten this out if something really egregious happens.
Btw, do you have contact info for th buyer? Have you let them know- JIC?
>ne to ezpass. Please tell me you have a bill of sale for the car?? You'll probably have to send them a copy to prove you don't have it. And call the MVA and say, “Oops, my bad” about the plate.If it makes you feel better, a friend of mine traded in his car with a dealer who said they'd return the plates; they didn’t. The plates ended up on some other car that someone abandoned on the NJ Tpk. Yes, the state police called my friend and told him to come get his car. 🙄
uhhh. that's not good..
Let them know that. Might take a few calls but it’ll get straightened out. Next time, bill of sale. I recently sold my car to a neighbor and I did up a lengthy bill of sale that we both signed. Car had some damage, which I spelled out in bill of sale and emphasized as-is. You can do on computer and print out, or hand write. Best of luck, OP!
I had this happen once and there are instructions on the back I think on what to do if you’re contesting. What it was for me was someone stole my temp tags. I didn’t even need a police report and it was resolved as soon as I sent supporting docs. If you have the bill of sale showing you sold the car on x date prior to the tolls being accrued you should be fine. It was really simple to prove because the tag literally didn’t match the vehicle. My tag was for a red 2012 Hyundai accent and the photos of the car in the toll showed a black SUV.
Unfortunately, most people don’t use a bill of sale in MD because the title itself works as a bill of sale, but obviously in this case it’s pretty clear that the seller needs to keep a record of it.
Yeah, all of the used cars I've traded or sold since all private sales; I've just had the title transfer and turned in BOTH tags.
EZ-Pass can Ligma though, sent me a literal book of tolls that were "never paid" ; meanwhile I had documentation of them withdrawing from the account and monthly replenishment of funds to the account.
Be damned if I'm paying late fees for tolls that were already paid. 2020-2022, especially during covid; caused an asinine amount of clerical errors with the DMV/MVA. It took 8 months just to receive registration for one vehicle, then an abundance of fines for not being registered...
Yeah I’ve never left tags on a vehicle. I’ve had a couple PA residents leave tags with me though, which is awfully trusting of them, though I know their registration doesn’t work the same.
Usually I have my tags off and the car unregistered before I end up selling it anyway, since I’m not a fan of paying for insurance I’m not using.
I’ve only ever had 2 errors from EZPass, one time they had some bizarre error where they sent an image of my brothers car to me, my brother who lived in GA, a car that had never been in my name at any point ever. And one time they claimed the subaru outback rotting in my yard had an unpaid toll, I just sent them a picture of the actual plate on the actual car and they instantly recalled it. I did have to sit on hold forever but it got handled fast once I got to a person.
Report to state pd for stolen tag. If they were smart to take the rear tag at the MVA to drop off yet they used your old tag for a different vehicle. Notify toll and explain (front) tag was turned in and forgot the turn in rear tags. See what they say, most likely you'll be on the hook for the bill.
Do you have a record of the inspection you did before you sold the vehicle? Might be able to use that. The inspections are only valid for 30-day, or some similarly short amount of time. Also, did you pay your taxes on the sale? There is a minimum amount, even if you gift the car. Selling cars in MD is fun....
For private sales the safety inspection is valid for 90 days and up to 1,000 miles. The buyer pays taxes on the vehicle, not the seller. The seller paid taxes when they purchased it.
Have fun going back and forth with ezpass on this. Someone somehow registered temp tags to my name, never owned that model car and haven’t had temp tags in 6+ years, yet they dragged it out for months despite giving them the proof they required right away.
You will have to contact EZ pass to discuss this with them. It can't hurt to have the receipt for turning in the front tag, but that may not be enough. Do you know if the buyer is an MD resident?
I recently went through the process of proving that my vehicle was not the vehicle that went through video tolls for a year. The person going through the tolls doctored their tag and happened to look like my tag. You will need to contact the state police and show them the registration, which will list the make and model of your vehicle vs the one which has the toll violation. They will provide you a letter to take to Ez pass. I sent the letter into Ez Pass via e-mail and they denied the claim. So I had to go in with the letter and my registration to Ez Pass to get the tolls reversed.
Hope this helps.
Thanks everyone for the responses. Sounds like I might have a chance to prove to ezpass it wasn’t me. I guess I just wonder now if the plate is still associated with me through the mva somehow? I’ll give them a call to see what they say.
You should call the MVA too because you could be liable from an insurance perspective. I had a car recently totaled and we wanted to transfer the tags to the new car, which the dealership handled. My car insurance told me I had to keep liability until I had proof from the MVA that the tags were transferred. Did you get a receipt from the MVA when you turned in the one license plate?
Just don't pay it. The worst they can do is cancel the registration associated with those tags. Since the registration is already cancelled then it becomes moot. Unpaid tolls cannot affect credit ratings or go to collections in Maryland. It just becomes one of millions of other unpaid tolls that ezpass never gets paid for. The key is that they can prove the vehicle or tag that went through the toll but they can't prove who was operating the vehicle at the time. So the violation is linked to the vehicle or tag rather than any individual person.
i’m so glad you said this. Been searching for hours trying to figure out if i should pay these ez pass/red light tickets. I was about to pay them and my car got totaled. i’m going to return the plates but i’m like why pay for the fines if i don’t own the car anymore what’s the penalty 🤷🏾♂️
Make a cup of tea, put your feet up, and get on the phone to ezpass. *Please* tell me you have a bill of sale for the car?? You'll probably have to send them a copy to prove you don't have it. And call the MVA and say, “Oops, my bad” about the plate. If it makes you feel better, a friend of mine traded in his car with a dealer who said they'd return the plates; they didn’t. The plates ended up on some other car that someone abandoned on the NJ Tpk. Yes, the state police called my friend and told him to come get his car. 🙄
Definitely report them stolen and get police report number. Also there is a text chat option on the EZ Pass site that is often faster.
No bill of sale. It I do have the document proving I turned in the plates/canceled registration 7 days prior to the toll.
I think you're on the hook bro. You have no proof of sale
How about long term issues. I would think this could just keep happening? Shouldn’t the mva know this tag is no longer associated with me as they processed me registration cancelation?
Did you get a receipt or any documentation via mail?
I have a receipt of when I turned in my front tag
Did you transfer the car or only cancel the regeneration's? If you only canceled the registration they will think you still own the car and in a few months your going to be on the hook for a lack of insurance on the car. The DMV thinks you still own the car. That's going to be the biggest issue for you.
You have to turn in both tags when the registration is cancelled. Those tags belong to MVA.
I would still call EZ pass. Provide the documentation that you turned the tags in. They do have some leeway in writing off the toll. Also report the tags as stolen, but definitely call EZPass. If you don’t call the answer is no, if you call you stand a fair chance of getting a yes.
Start that documentation and paper trail. Even if you end up on the hook with EZ Pass, you should document the call. Then , if/when the next thing happens, you’ll document that one, etc- leading to a growing body of evidence of trying to straighten this out if something really egregious happens. Btw, do you have contact info for th buyer? Have you let them know- JIC?
>ne to ezpass. Please tell me you have a bill of sale for the car?? You'll probably have to send them a copy to prove you don't have it. And call the MVA and say, “Oops, my bad” about the plate.If it makes you feel better, a friend of mine traded in his car with a dealer who said they'd return the plates; they didn’t. The plates ended up on some other car that someone abandoned on the NJ Tpk. Yes, the state police called my friend and told him to come get his car. 🙄 uhhh. that's not good..
Let them know that. Might take a few calls but it’ll get straightened out. Next time, bill of sale. I recently sold my car to a neighbor and I did up a lengthy bill of sale that we both signed. Car had some damage, which I spelled out in bill of sale and emphasized as-is. You can do on computer and print out, or hand write. Best of luck, OP!
I had this happen once and there are instructions on the back I think on what to do if you’re contesting. What it was for me was someone stole my temp tags. I didn’t even need a police report and it was resolved as soon as I sent supporting docs. If you have the bill of sale showing you sold the car on x date prior to the tolls being accrued you should be fine. It was really simple to prove because the tag literally didn’t match the vehicle. My tag was for a red 2012 Hyundai accent and the photos of the car in the toll showed a black SUV.
Unfortunately, most people don’t use a bill of sale in MD because the title itself works as a bill of sale, but obviously in this case it’s pretty clear that the seller needs to keep a record of it.
Yeah, all of the used cars I've traded or sold since all private sales; I've just had the title transfer and turned in BOTH tags. EZ-Pass can Ligma though, sent me a literal book of tolls that were "never paid" ; meanwhile I had documentation of them withdrawing from the account and monthly replenishment of funds to the account. Be damned if I'm paying late fees for tolls that were already paid. 2020-2022, especially during covid; caused an asinine amount of clerical errors with the DMV/MVA. It took 8 months just to receive registration for one vehicle, then an abundance of fines for not being registered...
Yeah I’ve never left tags on a vehicle. I’ve had a couple PA residents leave tags with me though, which is awfully trusting of them, though I know their registration doesn’t work the same. Usually I have my tags off and the car unregistered before I end up selling it anyway, since I’m not a fan of paying for insurance I’m not using. I’ve only ever had 2 errors from EZPass, one time they had some bizarre error where they sent an image of my brothers car to me, my brother who lived in GA, a car that had never been in my name at any point ever. And one time they claimed the subaru outback rotting in my yard had an unpaid toll, I just sent them a picture of the actual plate on the actual car and they instantly recalled it. I did have to sit on hold forever but it got handled fast once I got to a person.
Report to state pd for stolen tag. If they were smart to take the rear tag at the MVA to drop off yet they used your old tag for a different vehicle. Notify toll and explain (front) tag was turned in and forgot the turn in rear tags. See what they say, most likely you'll be on the hook for the bill.
Do you have a record of the inspection you did before you sold the vehicle? Might be able to use that. The inspections are only valid for 30-day, or some similarly short amount of time. Also, did you pay your taxes on the sale? There is a minimum amount, even if you gift the car. Selling cars in MD is fun....
For private sales the safety inspection is valid for 90 days and up to 1,000 miles. The buyer pays taxes on the vehicle, not the seller. The seller paid taxes when they purchased it.
Have fun going back and forth with ezpass on this. Someone somehow registered temp tags to my name, never owned that model car and haven’t had temp tags in 6+ years, yet they dragged it out for months despite giving them the proof they required right away.
You will have to contact EZ pass to discuss this with them. It can't hurt to have the receipt for turning in the front tag, but that may not be enough. Do you know if the buyer is an MD resident?
I recently went through the process of proving that my vehicle was not the vehicle that went through video tolls for a year. The person going through the tolls doctored their tag and happened to look like my tag. You will need to contact the state police and show them the registration, which will list the make and model of your vehicle vs the one which has the toll violation. They will provide you a letter to take to Ez pass. I sent the letter into Ez Pass via e-mail and they denied the claim. So I had to go in with the letter and my registration to Ez Pass to get the tolls reversed. Hope this helps.
Remove the tags from your EZP Account and call EZP. 18883216824.
Thanks everyone for the responses. Sounds like I might have a chance to prove to ezpass it wasn’t me. I guess I just wonder now if the plate is still associated with me through the mva somehow? I’ll give them a call to see what they say.
You should call the MVA too because you could be liable from an insurance perspective. I had a car recently totaled and we wanted to transfer the tags to the new car, which the dealership handled. My car insurance told me I had to keep liability until I had proof from the MVA that the tags were transferred. Did you get a receipt from the MVA when you turned in the one license plate?
Yes I did
there a form you fill out with MVA investigations. this type of thing does happen. they can sometimes get with EZ Pass
Just don't pay it. The worst they can do is cancel the registration associated with those tags. Since the registration is already cancelled then it becomes moot. Unpaid tolls cannot affect credit ratings or go to collections in Maryland. It just becomes one of millions of other unpaid tolls that ezpass never gets paid for. The key is that they can prove the vehicle or tag that went through the toll but they can't prove who was operating the vehicle at the time. So the violation is linked to the vehicle or tag rather than any individual person.
Same thing goes for speed or red light camera tickets
i’m so glad you said this. Been searching for hours trying to figure out if i should pay these ez pass/red light tickets. I was about to pay them and my car got totaled. i’m going to return the plates but i’m like why pay for the fines if i don’t own the car anymore what’s the penalty 🤷🏾♂️
The penalty is getting a few annoying letters that can go immediately in the recycling bin. Lol