License Revocations: Failure to Appear and Failure to Comply
The two most common occurrences that lead to a suspended or revoked license are the failure to appear and the failure to comply. A failure to appear means you or your traffic attorney simply did not show up to court on your court date. A failure to comply occurs when you, or your traffic attorney appeared in court and resolved your traffic ticket but did not pay the required court costs and fines.
What is a Failure to Appear? (FTA)
In North Carolina if you fail to appear for any traffic ticket then the failure is reported by the Clerk of Court to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You will know when this happens because, a little bit after 20 days, you will receive a letter from DMV stating that you have failed to appear and that your license will soon be revoked. The date of revocation is usually around 60 days after the missed court date. You will be also be assessed a $200.00 fine in addition to the already high court costs in North Carolina. Multiple failures to appear can quickly spiral out of control and result in the Clerk informing you that you owe literally thousands of dollars to regain your driver’s license. While this may seem like a hopeless situation, Cotten Law can help you to regain your privilege to drive and, many times, combine your outstanding tickets into one set of court costs and save you thousands of dollars. Helping clients to clear unresolved tickets and regain their driver’s licenses is Attorney Cotten’s single most favorite thing to do in his law practice. Check out the hundreds of reviews on Google he has received.
What is a Failure to Comply? (FTC)
A failure to comply is a less severely punished, but equally devastating to a driver’s license, penalty. A failure to comply simply means that, although your traffic ticket was resolved, you failed to pay the court costs and fines ordered as a result of your conviction. DMV will send the same threatening letter informing you that your license will be suspended if the costs are not paid. Generally, a traffic or criminal defense lawyer is not needed if you receive a notice of failure to comply; you must simply pay the required court costs and fines before the revocation date and life goes on.
Jeremy Cotten of Cotten Law, PLLC has extensive experience in resolving the unresolved. He has saved clients tens of thousands of dollars in excess court costs, fines, and failure to appear fines throughout his years of service. If you have a ticket in Wake, Johnston, Harnett, Orange, Chatham, Sampson, or Lee counties give him or Ashley a call at (919) 586-7072 at your convenience to discuss your options free of charge; you will either speak with Ashley or directly with Attorney Cotten. You can also visit our website to chat live with an assistant 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
