Driver Says She Paid Red Light Ticket But Is Still Being Penalized By The City Of Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago woman says she paid her red light camera ticket, but the city sent a collection agent after her anyway.
Dawn Kloc's issue hinges on what she calls a city delay. She got her ticket and started paying it months before it was in the city's online system. Months later she has not heard anything from the city other than penalty notices she said she is still getting in the mail.
She had her "oh no" moment at Halsted and 99th, where she was caught on camera.
"Make sure you always stop at a red light," she said.
It's a mistake she says she's paid for in full, but months later the City of Chicago is coming after her anyway.
"My ticket has been paid and I'm being penalized," she said.
It was sent to collections by the city.
"How can you put somebody into collections when they made their payments?" Kloc said.
Now she is paying for this in time and frustration, too. She said she has tried reaching city departments over the phone, via email and mail.
"Nobody contacts you," she said. "The only time they do is by mail to send you another fine."
She said she sent notes with each check she sent in, paying her ticket since she said she couldn't pay online.
"When I went online, the notice number was not in there," she said. "I proceeded to make three payments and my notice number still was not in there."
Now Kloc claims the city wants more money from her for what she calls their mistake. She said she sent three checks over the course of a month, paying her ticket in full, but now the city is penalizing her for paying in installments without setting up a payment plan online -- something she says she couldn't do since her ticket wasn't in the system.
"The girl told me, she said, "Oh I see you made your payments, but now you're in collections," Kloc said.
CBS 2 reached out to the city for answers. A spokesperson for the Department of Finance, which handles fines, payments and collections, denied these issues are widespread and said they are not aware of any glitches online. They gave the following statement:
We double checked and we are not aware of any glitches impacting motorists ability to pay or enter into a payment plan online or in-person.
We continue to offer motorists with affordable payment plans with extended terms.
We confirmed that she spoke with someone at 744-PARK and they are working with her to resolve this.
But Kloc said she is still waiting on the callback she was promised.
"There is nobody at the city who will help you or work with you. It's very concerning to me for everybody else," she said.