Complaint Review: Municipal Services Bureau MSB - City of Dallas - Dallas Texas

I moved out of Texas in 2003 and didn't realize I had unpaid tickets in Dallas. They were for minor traffic offenses. I never received any notifications, probably because I moved addresses.

15 years later I received a debt collection letter from MSB for $150. I called them up and after talking with them, they said I had multiple unpaid tickets that totaled $792.20! I asked how that was even possible and apparently Texas enacted a law or requirement that every year a certain percentage is tacked on to the amount owed, so the amount owed will keep increasing. I have plans to eventually move back to Texas to be close to my family, so I decided to pay the fees. I asked the woman on the phone if I had paid everything in full and she said yes.

So six months go by and I received another letter in the mail from MSB. This time it is a bill for $195. I called them and said this must be a mistake, then the woman I talked to informed me that there are other citations and that I owe something like $800!!! I tell her that I already paid these fees and have the bank statement to prove that MSB took the funds from my account. She said that she doesn't have any record of this. We went back and forth several times and finally I end up with another phone number to call. I called this number and the woman I talked to said that I had paid in full and that I do NOT owe anything. I ask why the people from the other phone number say I owe money and she said they are a different organization and they don't have any insight into them. I also asked if I could get a statement that the amount was paid in full and she informed me that they don't do that, which doesn't sound right to me. I called the first number back and the woman I talked to again said I owe them the money. I got frustrated and said I am getting a lawyer and the woman made a note that I am contesting payment.

The lawyer has scheduled a court date. Her approach is to hope that the judge will dismiss the tickets, so I don't owe any money. 

Today I decided to call MSB again, but this time I called the Austin office. I got a completely new story on what I owe.. Now apparently I owe $1494.25!!! The records she had said I did make partial payments on some of these tickets, but in years when I wasn't even aware I owed anything! And they are for really odd amounts, like $78 and $110. I said to her why would I pay these odd amounts? Why not round numbers like a normal person would pay? Plus the amounts that her system said I paid does not equal $792.20. Doesn't this seem fishy? She said that she couldn't do anything for me and to call Dallas.

This doesn't sound legal to me.I checked the BBB website and I couldn't find any complaints on MSB. What recourse do I have?

I have two different addresses for MSB:

Municipal Services Bureau

PO BOX 16755

Austin, TX 78761-6755

(800) 616-0166 or (512) 454-4757

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Dallas Court and Dentention Services

PO Box 840245

Dallas, TX 75284-0245