Law firm collects $2.3 million in unpaid traffic tickets and warrant fees

The law firm working to collect more than $52 million in unpaid traffic fines and warrants for the City of El Paso has collected more than $2.3 million.

The Delgado, Acosta, Spencer, Linebarger, & Perez Law Firm took over collections for the city from GC Services in January 2016.

Back in May, thousands of El Pasoans received notices in the mail regarding old traffic tickets, some dating back as far as the 1990s.

According to the city’s numbers, more than 300,000 of the unpaid traffic citations are more than a decade old. Some ABC-7 viewers who received notices reached out to us, saying they had already paid those fines.

A man ABC-7 spoke with back in May was sent a notice with numerous tickets that were 16 years old, totaling nearly $800. Other viewers told us they received warrant fees of $65 dollars from tickets they had already paid in the past.

Charlie Angerstein, a Northeast El Paso resident, said he received a notice from the law firm about a ticket issued to his father, who is no longer alive. “I received this, and at first, I thought it was a scam,” Angerstein said.

In May 2016 alone, more than 5,000 of the citations were paid, according to the city’s numbers, totaling more than $461,000 dollars.

The law firm has received more than half a million dollars in payment from the City of El Paso as part of its 30 percent cut as a collection fee.

“I was very surprised on getting this. It’s a $26 ticket and they said if I don’t pay it they will come and boot the car,” Angerstein said, “I have no idea where the car is at the time … I don’t believe I’m going to pay it.”