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Man defaults on OMV payment plan, owes thousands

6 years 4 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, November 07 2017 Nov 7, 2017 November 07, 2017 6:58 PM November 07, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

NEW ROADS - A man paying off a fine for late car insurance payments defaulted on those payments and now he owes thousands of dollars.

Carlton Goodman tells 2 On Your Side he signed an agreement with the Office of Motor Vehicles and planned to pay the fines all along. His bill more than doubled in the last month when he learned he defaulted.

"They claimed that my card payment was unsuccessful," said Goodman.

A total of seven prior car insurance cancellations dating all the way back to 2010 have caught up to him. It's why he entered into an installment plan in the first place with the OMV, so he can continue to drive his van.

"I need to get around to the doctor, stuff like that, get my groceries," he said.

The payment plan began on March 31, 2017, and Goodman made his first payment successfully that day. He planned to chip away at a bill of $982. His next scheduled payment was for May 10, 2017. The OMV says that payment was never made and it came back as "insufficient funds" from the bank.

On June 2, 2017, Goodman says he was admitted to the hospital. He was released in early July but went back to the hospital two days later and didn't go home until July 26, 2017. A few weeks went by and that's when he found out his payments didn't go through.

The OMV tells 2 On Your Side Goodman was notified by email about his default payment. Goodman says he does not have a computer and the email address on file belongs to a friend of his. He says his friend never received an email from the OMV. The office also says it mailed a notice of default to his permanent address on file on May 11, 2017, giving him until July 11, 2017, to enter into a new payment agreement. Goodman was in the hospital at this time and maintains he never received any notice.

"They've never notified me of anything," he said.

Since the OMV did not hear from Goodman, his fines were referred to the Office of Debt Recovery. Goodman was charged with the maximum fine, $656.25 per cancellation. His remaining balance is now $3,994.81.

Since Goodman needs his van to get around town, he signed up for another payment plan on September 1, 2017, and agreed to pay. Although he tells 2 On Your Side there's always been enough money in his account to make these payments.

"There's nothing wrong with my credit card, AT&T drafts money off my card every month," he said.

The OMV says it ran his card twice to double check, once in the morning and once in the evening. It says no mail was ever returned as undeliverable so it assumed the postage was delivered.

The OMV says Goodman's latest payment went through on October 10, 2017. It also says if Goodman can provide proof that there were funds in his account on May 10, 2017, it will reconsider his payments.

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