Bankruptcy and Unpaid Traffic Tickets

Many municipalities are turning up the heat on residents who have unpaid traffic tickets.  Of course under certain circumstances a resident may lose his/her driver license because of unpaid traffic tickets and many cities are also turning smaller amounts of unpaid tickets over to collection agencies which is reported to the credit reporting agencies.

Collection activity on your credit report can be a black mark on your record, even if the collection is for a small amount of debt.  The best course of action is to settle these accounts as soon as possible; but that is not always possible, especially for debtors who are having other financial problems.  For those debtors, filing bankruptcy may be a viable option to discharge some or all of their delinquent traffic tickets.

Once a Debtor Files Bankruptcy

Once a debtor has filed Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy , collection agencies acting on behalf of the city must cease all collection activity. And once the traffic ticket debt is discharged the debtor will no longer owe the debt and should be able to retrieve his/her driver’s license.

One the other hand, if a debtor was driving without a license or insurance and was in an accident that injured another person, they may not be able to discharge some or all of that debt in bankruptcy.  Speak with a Dallas-Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney to find out how bankruptcy can help with your particular situation.