What’s the lowdown on DMV reinstatement fees and payment plans? Y.O.G.O: You Only Get One

Hi, my name is Heather Ford, and I am a traffic attorney in the city of New Orleans. Today, I want to focus on DMV fees. 

So, one of the issues with DMV fees is that usually, when we’re dealing with people who are trying to get their license reinstated, it’s a two-part process. For the first part, we’re usually addressing things in a court to deal with the tickets themselves. Once we resolve that or receive paperwork for it, then the second part is when you go to the DMV to work on a license reinstatement.

At the DMV is usually when people find out that they may owe more fees than they anticipated. Such fees come from instances where if you, for example, got a ticket but missed your court date, then the DMV charges you $100 for that. Or, as another example, maybe you started a payment plan but weren’t able to follow through, so you’re charged $100 for that. For in-state tickets, fees usually seem to run about $60 if you received a ticket from out of state. These are just a few examples of some fees you may encounter.

The most common fees that people see are those associated with insurance cancellations. These fees can be very, very expensive. They can often cost in the range of $525, and it’s not uncommon to see such a fee on people’s records in addition to their tickets themselves. The total cost can sometimes easily add up to thousands of dollars.

One thing to note is that a few years ago, the Louisiana OMV instituted a payment plan, where before, that wasn’t option. With the payment plan, basically, if you come down to the DMV with all the paperwork that you need and also bring some form of credit card, debit card, or bank information, the OMV will allow you to begin a payment plan. On the day you start the payment plan, you can actually get your license back!

There is a problem, however. Recently, the Louisiana OMV decided that they were going to be YOGO about these payment plans. So what does that mean? That means, “You only get one.”

So, you have to be very careful once you start that payment plan. Make sure you’re ready to handle it, because if anything happens, if the OMV goes to take payment, for instance, and it’s not available at that time, then at that point, they will decide that you have not fulfilled your agreement on the payment plan. When that happens, then the OMV will not allow you to start the payment plan again! In some instances, then, a payment plan can actually makes repayment even more expensive for people than it would have been if they had just paid in full at the beginning.

So, while the payment plan can be a great option for people who before owed so much in fees that they never would have been able to put it together all at once, it also means that you need to be very careful and sure that you’re ready to move forward. You have to be able to keep up with payments every single month. Otherwise, your license will be suspended again, and you won’t be able to get it back unless you can pay all fees at once.

If you ever have any questions about DMV fees, traffic tickets, or a suspended license, I’d be happy to talk to you. You can shoot me a text and I’m happy to lend you my thoughts with a free consultation and point you in the right direction.