Hire an Attorney to Fight Your MRCA Ticket
As I indicated in my previous post on this subject, I believe that the MRCA is violating both the spirit and letter of California law in issuing $175 photo enforced citations at stop signs in their parks and at other locations under their jurisdiction. I have personally spoken with many otherwise law abiding citizens who have been caught up in this revenue generating ticketing scheme. I have been struck by their frustration at the way they are being treated by this particular government agency and their feeling that our elected officials have betrayed us by failing to rectify this wanton disregard for the law and any sense of fair play. Unfortunately, their ability to fight back is impaired by the cost of hiring an attorney and the time and effort involved in educating themselves about their possible legal remedies.
I am happy to report that I may have information on a solution for anyone caught in this predicament. I have had a number of lengthy discussions with attorney R. Allen Baylis about what we might be able to do to help fight back and strike a blow for justice. As you may or may not be aware, Mr. Baylis recently won a very important case in Orange County regarding the admissibility of evidence in photo enforcement cases. The decision in that case has sent shockwaves throughout the state as it will now be much more difficult for law enforcement to prosecute photo red light violations based on evidence collected by third party camera companies such as those used by the MRCA.
During our recent discussion, I asked Mr. Baylis if he might be willing to help the scores of people ticketed by the MRCA. Specifically, I explained that since the ticket was $175 and didn’t add points to the driver’s record, it was not cost effective to hire an attorney to fight it. Mr. Baylis said that if enough defendants were interested in hiring him to fight their MRCA photo tickets, he would be willing to significantly reduce his fees to make it more practical to hire him.
Here’s how this might work. Mr. Baylis would need at least 10 people willing to work with him to fight their tickets. He is aware that the ticket is $175 so he’s willing to charge less than this fine amount, which is a considerable reduction from his regular fee for fighting a traffic ticket. If more than 10 people agree to band together, he will be able to reduce his fee even further. Of course, until he knows how many people are in the group, the exact amount can’t be determined, but the fee will be set before anyone commits to hiring him. In addition, each defendant should expect to pay a $25 filing fee to appeal their case to the Superior Court. Doing the right thing and fighting back against the abuses of government sometimes comes at a price. In this case, though, I’ve tried to find a solution that will cost each individual much less than it would otherwise.
This is just a preliminary inquiry to see who might be interested in joining up to fight back against the MRCA. A response does not commit you in any way, but please give this serious consideration before expressing your interest. There will be a cost, and there will be no guarantee that he will win your case, but if anyone has a chance of beating the MRCA, I think it’s Mr. Baylis.
If you might be interested in this, please send me the following information through my contact page. If enough people respond, I will forward this information to him: contact Allen Baylis directly at:
R. Allen Baylis
9042 Garfield Ave., Suite 306
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Phone: 714-962-0915
Mr. Baylis indicated that ideally defendants would not yet have attended their hearing, but even if they have already done that, he still should be able to help. Please note that if you have simply paid your ticket without contesting it, or if more than 20 days have elapsed since service of the final administrative order or decision and you did not file an appeal with the superior court, you will be unable to be included in this group. We are, however, still looking at the possibility of the class action suit and/or filing a case in small claims court. When I have further information about that, I will post it on this website.
I hope this offers those unjustly ticketed by the MRCA an alternative to simply rolling over and accepting the unfairness of their situation. I wish I could have found a way for everyone to fight their tickets for free, but I think this is the next best thing.
Please know that I am not soliciting clients for Mr. Baylis, nor am I being paid for passing along this information. My sole intention is to assist those who might not otherwise be able to fight their citations.
However this works out, thanks for your support of the Freedom Minute.
For the FAQ About MRCA Stop Sign Tickets, see this post.
UPDATE: Mr. Baylis has taken on a test case! The MRCA is expending a great deal of money, time, and manpower (even going so far as to fly their attorney down from San Francisco) to defend this. Imagine how quickly this scam would come to a halt if everyone started fighting their tickets in court. I will keep readers of this blog posted as to the outcome of this case.
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Comment by Jennifer | September 19th, 2010
Hi, I have received one of these BS tickets. If I just ignore it what are the consequences? Has anyone does this recently? The way the ticket is written gives the impression that they will report to the DMV and insurance company.
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freedomminute Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Jennifer,
Go to the home page of this blog and read the other posting about the MRCA called “FAQ About MRCA Stop Sign Tickets”. It will answer many of your questions.
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Dennis Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
yes i got a ticket last january 2010. since this is not a real tiket handled through the actual courts i ignored it. i got a few collection letters first from ohio and then didnt hear from them for over 6 months. just got another collection agency invoice this time from arizona. i have NO intention of paying this. im even tempted to go back up there and keep driving through all the stop signs just to taunt them.
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Chris Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Hi Dennis,
Glad to hear someone else is fighting this. I received one from Temescal in December 2010, ignored it after reading this site, ignored the warning and notice that the fine was now $240, and now received a letter from a collections agency on 6/23/11.
From your experience, do you know if this can affect credit if I continue to ignore?
Thanks for anyone’s input, and thank you for those who put up this site!
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Jill Reply:
August 11th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
I just got a second collection notice from a collections agency and when I called and stated this wasn’t legal the collection agent told me it was and to call MCRA. After three phone calls, basically got told to go to their website.
So I’d also like to know if this goes on someone’s credit record?
Has anyone spoke with Allen Baylis, the attorney and know what he is doing, if anything, about these tickets?
Thanks,
Jill
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freedomminute Reply:
August 14th, 2011 at 3:15 am
I don’t believe that anyone has yet reported that this went on their credit report. Allen Baylis recently won a case against them on the grounds that their ordinance was too vague in making the owner of the vehicle responsible for “allowing” their vehicle to be used to run a stop sign. I will try to get a copy of the ruling if there is one. It may just be that the judge found the person not guilty without writing a full legal opinion.
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Comment by Cedi | September 23rd, 2010
I have been blessed to not have any of these types of tickets, but I nonetheless appreciate you fighting the good fight and offering people viable resources. Thanks for that and keep up the excellent work.
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Comment by Harry | October 9th, 2010
My daughter just got 2 of these tickets on the same day (driving in my car)! She didn’t realize it of course until I received two $175 tickets! This is a total scam and I’m willing to pay an attorney to fight them.
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Harry Reply:
March 12th, 2011 at 7:31 am
UPDATE: I ignored these and never heard back (yet) from MRCA or a collection agency. I don’t plan on paying this either, and advise everyone else to ignore them, too.
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Harry Reply:
July 7th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Well, I did end up getting a collection letter and sent the collection company a letter within their 30 day time limit telling them to basically shove it and that I wasn’t paying their ransom and I didn’t owe them any money.
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joelle Reply:
November 8th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Could you update us on what happen?
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Comment by Todd | December 26th, 2010
Just received the MRCA ticket $175. I read the ordinance. It puts the burden of proof on the defendant. This seems unconstitutional to me. I want to fight this. Anything on the class action? Also, it doesn’t seem to me that they have the jurisdictional authority to levy a traffic violation. You can’t even see the driver. This is a ridiculous ticket in which the punishment does not fit the crime. Who has time for this bs? But, I will fight this. Any ideas? Might be nice to have the paper cover this. todd
[Reply]
freedomminute Reply:
December 26th, 2010 at 4:20 am
Todd – read all the comments in all the posts about this. Many people are reporting that if they simply ignore the citation and make no response, nothing happens to them. I can’t advise you to do that, but read everything on this site and take all that into consideration before you decide to respond.
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Comment by Jeff | December 27th, 2010
I just got one of these tickets and can’t believe these guys have any authority to collect. Basically they are saying that the laws that govern vehicle use in the state of CA do not apply in their parks. I can’t believe they can override state law like that. If they can do that, why couldn’t, if they wanted to, make it legal, for example to smoke pot openly within the park. This would be against state (and for that matter federal law) but it is the same premise. Put me down for contributing to the legal fund to fight this madness.
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Comment by TOC | January 19th, 2011
Any news on the case?
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Comment by DJL | February 7th, 2011
love to hear an update. Did Mr. Baylis prevail?
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Comment by freedomminute | February 7th, 2011
Hearing is scheduled for later this month.
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Allen Baylis Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 10:51 am
The attrorney representing the MRCA agreed to have them refund the $175 to my client if he would dismissed the case against them. My client agreed to the terms and is awaiting the check from the MRCA. (Note, when you file an administrative appeal in these cases, the plaintiff is the vehicle owner and the defendant is the MRCA)
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MurphysLaw Reply:
March 11th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Nice to hear this!
Unfortunatly, being outsourced after 23 Years and unemployed, I have neither the funds to PAY the ticket, nor to take legal action. They rely on people rolling over…I can’t even do THAT!!!
Teme$cally $crewed.
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Sue Reply:
March 21st, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Dear Mr. Baylis,
I will contact your office but in case you are still on this site – will you only represent plaintiffs at the administrative hearing? I was never granted one since they only sent the default notice – not the original Citation – and no photo evidence was sent until I requested it in writing after they sent this to collections. Can you tell us how you were able to get your client the refund? Was it a clear case of they did fully stop? I cannot determine from the photo evidence which they only just provided 7 months after the fact. I have not seen a video and neither the video nor the administrative process is available to me. I would appreciate your reply on this posting. Thank you.
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freedomminute Reply:
March 21st, 2011 at 8:35 pm
The way it was explained to me, once he started making motions and asking for discovery, they folded. It was not dismissed because of the facts, the MRCA just decided it wasn’t worth pursuing.
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Comment by JM | February 17th, 2011
I have not paid my ticket yet. It is due 1st week of March, what should others like I do in a case like this. I was hoping to see a class action to go through but now that your client has agreed to the terms it is all over. Do we have to contest cases ticket by ticket?
[Reply]
freedomminute Reply:
February 18th, 2011 at 6:34 am
Unfortunately, until the courts put a definitive stop to this practice by the MRCA, the answer is yes, you have to contest cases ticket by ticket (unless the same person got more than 1 and then they might put them all together in one case). I can guarantee that it will be many months or even a year or more before there is a ruling in a high enough court to end this once and for all. In the mean time, you can fight each ticket or take the advice of others who have refused to acknowledge or pay the citation. Read all the posts and comments about this and you will find a great deal of good information so you can make and informed decision.
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Comment by abbey124 | April 7th, 2011
I got one of these tickets and planning to fight it. I’ll contact R. Allen Baylis as indicated on this website. For all of you who have similar tickets. Please contact R. Allen Baylis. Having many contist MRCA actions and tickets will make our case stronger.
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Comment by Scott | May 13th, 2011
Whats the update on just not paying? Does it show up on credit report?
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Harry Reply:
July 7th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I ignored and wrote the collection agency a letter on 4/30 saying that I didn’t owe them any money and so far my credit report is clean.
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Comment by Abbey124 | May 13th, 2011
Scott, please see MRCA FAQ at http://www.freedomminute.com/blog/state-government/faq-about-mrca-stop-sign-tickets/ . I did not and not planning to pay mine.
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Comment by Todd | July 7th, 2011
My Superior Court hearing is Monday. Any thoughts on motions or requests that I should make. I don’t know how this works. Todd
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