I fight a lot of traffic tickets in LA County. If you are given a traffic citation and don’t do what it tells you to do, i.e., you fail to pay it or fail to appear in court on the date the citation tells you to, then your ticket will be referred to GC Services – a private collections agency contracted with the LA Superior Court.
Once GC Services is involved, your original fine has at least doubled. This is because GC Services is evil and will charge you the maximum fines possible. Also, if you pay GC Services the amount they are asking, this results in an automatic conviction on your ticket, which can be a misdemeanor for a failure to appear. Now you have a misdemeanor on your record, and all you thought you were doing was being a good citizen and paying what you owe.
Be careful, because GC SERVICES WILL LIE TO YOU. Just today in fact, I had two separate clients call me to tell me that each of their tickets were referred to GC Services, and that GC Services told them THEY COULD NO LONGER APPEAR IN COURT AND THE ONLY THING THEY COULD DO AT THIS POINT WAS PAY. This is a deceitful lie from the pit of Hades. Even if you’ve already set up a payment plan with GC Services, until the amount they say you owe has been paid in full, you still have the opportunity to hire an attorney.
What I do is remove the hold from your license, set an arraignment, and fight the ticket (which often results in a dismissal and ZERO fees are owed). Just remember: don’t confuse GC Services with an extension of the government that has to be fair. On the contrary, they are a private business out to make a profit off of you.
If you’d like help dealing with GC services, call me at 310-200-4519, email me at paul.socaldefense@gmail.com, or you can also reach me through my website.
