Los Angeles traffic ticket search – check status

GC Services, Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Simpson, & Harris and Harris

If you failed to appear in court for your ticket, the Los Angeles Superior court will transfer your ticket to a collection agency or a law firm and then put a DMV hold on your license. The Los Angeles Superior Court is now using the Law firm of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson and the collection agency Harris & Harris to collect money for tickets in failure to appear (FTA) status. They no longer use GC Services.

Please call us at (310) 285-1516 if you have a DMV hold on your license or suspended license and your ticket is with Linebarger or Harris & Harris or used to be with GC Services. We specialize in helping clear up suspended licenses and helping people save money so they don’t have to pay Linebarger, Harris & Harris or GC Services as long as you have never been to court to see the Judge. We fix your license problems.

If you failed to appear (FTA) in court your ticket will be assigned a case status by the Los Angeles Superior Court. Your ticket case status could be one of the following:-

• Case Status – DMV Driver License Hold
• Case Status -In Collections FTA
• Case Status – Collections Wave 3 FTA
• Case Status – Pending Collections
• Case Status – Bench Warrant
• Case Status – Arrest Warrant
• etc.

If you failed to appear in court for your ticket you will probably receive a Notice of Delinquency from the Los Angeles Superior Court or a Notice of Delinquent Fees or Fines from Law Firm of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson seeking money for a ticket that used to be with GC Services or a letter from Harris & Harris indicating you owe an outstanding debt to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Superior Court now uses the Law firm of Linebarger, Goggan, Blair, & Sampson and the collection agency Harris & Harris to collect money for tickets in failure to appear (FTA) status. They no longer use GC Services Collection Agency.

Keep in mind if you pay these collection agencies or Law Firm you are pleading guilty to the charges and you might be putting a DMV point on your record that could hurt your DMV Record and result in an increase in your insurance rates and making these worse. You have other options besides paying these collection agencies. The better option is to get your ticket back in court and fight all the charges, DMV Point and fines you are facing.

We can help you clear up your license and fight the fines and DMV point you are facing. Please call us at 310-285-1516 for a free legal consultation how to clear up your license and not pay these collection agencies.

Paying GC Services or other Collection Agency

Keep in mind, if you have not seen a Judge regarding your ticket and you pay LGBS or Harris and Harris (the collection agency) the fine amount:-

• You are essentially pleading guilty to your ticket
• If the ticket was for a moving violation, such as a stop sign or speeding ticket, you are putting a DMV point on your record. A DMV point can result in your insurance rates going up. A DMV point can also possibly hurt you if you apply for a job that requires driving. Four DMV points in a one year period will result in the DMV trying to suspend your license for 6 months for being a negligent operator.  Read more about the DMV Points System and how it works.

Do you have a traffic ticket problem in Los Angeles? The first thing you should do is check the status of your traffic ticket. You can do this online at the Los Angeles Superior Court website:-

http://www.lacourt.org/division/traffic/traffic2.aspx

Show ALL your traffic tickets

On that courts page:

1. If you know your ticket number, then click to “Enter your ticket number” and you will be asked for:-
   • Your Court Location (found near the bottom of your traffic ticket)
   • Law Enforcement Agency (e.g. Los Angeles Police Department).  Found at the top of your Traffic Ticket.
   • Optionally your Date of Birth
2. If you do not have your ticket number, then click to Search by Drivers License.
   • Then enter your driver’s license number, the state you are licensed in, and your date of birth.

The court website will pull up all your traffic ticket information for your tickets out of Los Angeles County.  It will tell you:-

Note the warning on the court website that your ticket information may not be posted online until after 30 days – see below for more detail.

30-day delay before tickets get posted online

Note the warning on the court website that your ticket information may not be posted online until after 30 days, but that even if your ticket is not online, you must still take care of it by the deadline.

What your ticket status means

See below for details for:-

• In Collections FTA (Failure to Appear)
  • In Collections FTA
  • FTA RF Phase 1 or FTA RF Phase 2a
  • DMV Driver License Hold
• Arrest Warrant or Bench Warrant
• FTP Failure to Pay

In collections FTA (Failure to Appear)

If you fail to appear in court for a ticket, the Court will usually contact the DMV and put a hold on your license and your license will then soon be suspended.

When you fail to appear in court the court will first put your ticket in FTA RF Phase 1 – this means the court will charge you a $150 fee on top of your ticket fine and will then send you a letter indicating you have failed to appear in court. Once this letter is sent to you if you do not take any action on your ticket within 20 days the court will then put your ticket in FTA RF Phase 2 – this means the court will charge you another $150 and then will transfer control of your ticket from the court to LGBS or Harris and Harris, the collection agency assigned to your court.

FTA RF Phase 1 – this means the court will charge you an additional $150 fee on top of your original fine and send you a letter informing you of your failure to appear in court (FTA)

FTA RF Phase 2 – this means because you didn’t take any action on your ticket within 20 days after a letter was sent to you, the court will then transfer your ticket to the control of LGBS or Harris and Harris, the collection agency assigned to your court and charge you another $150 for a total of $300 in civil assessment fees on top of your original ticket fine.

Please call us if your license is suspended and your ticket is in FTA RF Phase 1 or FTA RF Phase 2 or the status of your ticket is DMV Driver License Hold or In Collections FTA.  We can help in Los Angeles County – (310) 285-1516.

VC 40509.5 (Case Status – DMV Driver License Hold)

If the status of your ticket is VC 40509.5 In Collections FTA or DMV Driver License Hold this means the court has charged you with a failure to appear in court. This means you failed to take care of your ticket by the due date.  As a result of your failure to appear in court (VC 40509.5), the court system will now try to do three unpleasant things to you:-

1. The Court will increase the fine you are facing.  The fine you are potentially facing for your failure to appear in court (case status – In Collections FTA or DMV Driver License Hold (VC 40509.5) can now possibly be close to, or over $1,000.
2. The Court will contact the DMV and get the DMV to place a hold on your license which will most likely result in your license being suspended. If you do not have a California license but have a license from another state, and you failed to appear on a ticket in Los Angeles County, the Court will most likely contact the DMV of your state and place a hold on your license and prevent you from renewing your license. If you move out of state and try and apply for a license in a different state, you will most likely not be able to get a license until you clear up any failure to appear, VC 40509.5 (Case Status DMV Driver License hold), which you still have in California.
3. The Court will transfer control of your ticket to one of two collection agencies:  LGBS or Harris and Harris. The collection agency will now have control of your ticket and will normally require you to agree to pay the full fine amount in order for you to get your license back.  Please note, the Los Angeles Superior court no longer uses GS Services for collection; all traffic tickets that were with GC Services for collection have now been transferred to Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP (LGBS) or Harris and Harris Ltd.

Warrant or In Collections FTA or Case Status – DMV Driver License Hold

If your traffic ticket status says warrant, bench warrant, arrest warrant, In Collections FTA, or Case Status – DMV Driver License Hold, then call us for a free legal consultation at 310-285-1516.  We can advise you how to clear these matters up and fight the fines and charges you are facing.

We can help you clear up your license or warrant and help you fight the big fines and DMV points you might be facing.

Status: Arrest Warrant or Bench Warrant

If the status of your ticket is arrest warrant or bench warrant, this usually means you were charged with a misdemeanor such as driving on a suspended license and you failed to appear in court or missed a court date. Many times people are given a ticket for a misdemeanor violation such as driving on a suspended license (VC 14601.1) or a ticket for driving without a license, driving on an out of state license or driving on an expired license (VC 12500) and they do not appear in court for these types of tickets.  When you fail to appear in court for a ticket with a misdemeanor charge, the Court usually issues a warrant for your arrest or bench warrant.  Please call us immediately so we can discuss how we can help clear up the warrant for your arrest or bench warrant.

Status: Failure to Pay

If your traffic ticket status says “failure to pay“, that means you failed to pay the original fine by the due date. Your only option now is to pay the heavy fine.  We cannot help you in this situation. The only advice we can give you is to go to the court listed on your ticket in person and pay the fine completely to remove the hold on your license.