Baltimore Co. family received notices for $2,800 of E-ZPass toll bills a month before grace period ends

BALTIMORE - A Baltimore County family told WJZ they recently received an E-ZPass bill for nearly $2,800.

As the grace period for toll penalties comes to an end on Nov. 30, Robert Loudermilk said they were only given 30 days to pay the bill to avoid an even bigger fine.

Loudermilk told WJZ they don't understand why they weren't notified of the outstanding toll sooner.

Paperwork they received this week said if they don't pay their balance before the due date, they will owe more than $14,000.

Loudermilk said there were 477 notices of unpaid E-ZPass tolls in his mailbox this month.

"Down here it says if I don't pay that, I'm going to owe $14,000 and something, and they only gave me a month to pay it."

Loudermilk was given 30 days because the grace period on late toll fees is ending on at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 30.

Earlier this year, the Maryland Transportation Authority started a nine-month grace period waving civil penalties for video tolls because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Loudermilk said before the pandemic he would pay cash at the toll booth.

When toll attendants stopped manning the booths, he would pay when he got bills in the mail, and he said he regularly checked his E-ZPass account for more charges.

Loudermilk told WJZ he had no idea this bill would be coming and doesn't know how he'll be able to pay it.

"I was working during COVID. I could have paid all this throughout the time," Loudermilk said. "Send me weekly bills. Not this. Not this way. Not a trap, you know?"

We reached out the MDTA about the Loudermilk family's bill. 

The agency can't comment on specific customer accounts for privacy reasons, but a spokesperson said they will reach out to the family.

The spokesperson also told us, video toll balances delayed because of the pandemic were posted online in September and that they have been sending out regular notices about the grace period.

The MDTA encourages anyone with toll fees that need to be paid to reach out to them and to check your toll balances at DriveEzMD.com.

Here's the full statement from MDTA:

"We've already had many Video Toll customers reach out to us, and we've provided them significant savings when they open up an E-ZPass Maryland account, in addition to the civil penalty waiver. Drivers who use our toll facilities regularly and accrue high volumes of Video Tolls can really benefit and save."

"In September, the MDTA announced that all pandemic-deferred Maryland customer tolls were posted online. MDTA encourages customers to check for Video Tolls at DriveEzMD.com and pay now before civil penalties are assessed." 

"As of November 15, 2022, $119 million in civil penalties have been waived for approximately 724,000 drivers and businesses that have paid their outstanding Video Tolls. For nine months, the MDTA has leveraged every notification platform available to make sure that all customers are aware of the civil penalty waiver opportunity, such as direct mailers, billboards, social media, email and text alerts, monthly news releases, and TV, radio and digital."

"To protect the privacy of our customers, by law the MDTA is unable to comment on specific customers' tolling details. Our account specialists will be reaching out to this customer, and we ask any of your viewers with outstanding toll debt to contact us for savings opportunities and to take advantage of the civil penalty waiver grace period, which ends 11:59pm on Nov. 30, 2022."