Sample

 Script:  GC  Services  Story  

Montage  of  collections  letters  with  GC   NARR:  Many  of  us  have  had  the  
Services  headings   unpleasant  experience  of  dealing  with  a  
traffic  ticket.    Between  the  steep  fines,  
long  lines,  and  strict  deadlines,  it’s  not  
one  we  want  to  repeat.      But  at  least  we  
know  we  can  trust  our  justice  system  –  
as  they  say  in  America,  justice  is  blind.  
 
But  what  do  you  do  when  justice  is  
lying?    Moreover,  when  those  lies  come  
from  someone  authorized  to  speak  on  
behalf  of  the  court?  
 
Meet  Franky  Torres.    He’s  a  construction  
worker  who  has  been  out  of  work  for  
nearly  two  years.      But  he’s  not  a  victim  
of  the  economic  meltdown  –  he’s  a  victim  
of  the  Los  Angeles  Traffic  courts.    He’s  
been  fighting  for  two  years  to  have  his  
suspended  license  reinstated.    His  crime?    
Not  drunk  driving,  not  speeding,  not  
running  a  red  light.    Franky  Torres  was  
unable  to  make  a  court  date  due  to  
hospitalization.      
 
Francisco  “Franky”  Torres   I  got  a  ticket  for  driving  without  
registration  almost  two  years  ago.    It  was  
a  fix-­‐it  ticket.    I  missed  the  court  date  
because  I  was  in  the  hospital  –  I  had  the  
papers  to  prove  it.      I  tried  to  go  to  the  
court,  to  talk  to  the  ladies  at  the  clerk’s  
counter  about  it…  I  went  three  times.    
And  each  time  they  kept  saying,  “Your  
account  is  in  collections,  we  can’t  help  
you.    You  need  to  talk  to  GC  Services.”  
   
NARR:   GC  Services  is  a  privately  held  company.    
Its  main  business  is  providing  call  
centers  and  collection  services  to  
companies  that  don’t  want  to  (or  don’t  
have  the  resources  to)  do  it  in-­‐house.    In  
their  marketing  pitch  to  potential  clients,  
 GC  Services  likes  to  say:  “Customer  
relationships  can’t  always  be  about  TLC.      
 
Since  the  mid  nineties,  Los  Angeles  
County  has  been  utilizing  the  services  of  
GC  Services  for  their  collections.    In  
2000,  when  the  courts  consolidated,  the  
Los  Angeles  Traffic  Court  inherited  GC  
Services  as  a  contractor.    Interestingly,  
the  LA  Traffic  Court  has  no  direct  
oversight  over  their  contractor  –  that  is  
still  done  at  the  county  level.    GC  Services  
operates  on  a  three-­‐year  contract  that  
has  been  renewed  several  times.    They  
receive  11.3%  of  the  amount  collected.      
 
Attorney  [Chris  Dort]   GC  Services  will  routinely  give  out  
incorrect  information  to  debtors  in  order  
to  collect.    We’re  not  just  talking  about  
strong-­‐arm  collections  tactics  here  –  
these  are  clear-­‐cut  cases  of  lying.  
 
One  thing  I  consistently  hear  is  that  GC  
Services  tells  debtors  they  either  cannot  
have  a  court  date  period  once  their  
account  is  in  collections,  or  that  the  only  
way  to  get  a  court  date  is  to  first  pay  the  
amount  owed  in  full.    Keep  in  mind  that  
these  amounts  can  often  be  staggering  to  
lower  and  lower  middle  class  people  
who  get  caught  in  this.    A  $25  fix-­‐it  ticket  
can  easily  turn  into  a  fine  north  of  $1000  
if  you  miss  the  court  date.      
 
Play  tape  of  conversation  with  GC   Debtor:    Can  I  still  have  a  court  date?  
Services  if  available.    
GC  Services  representative:    No,  you  
can’t  have  a  court  date  until  you  pay  the  
fine  amount  in  full.  
 
NARR   But  if  you  miss  your  court  date,  aren’t  
you  giving  up  your  chance  to  have  your  
day  in  court?  
 
Attorney  [Chris  Dort]   No.    Absolutely  not.    It  is  your  
 constitutional  right  to  have  a  trial.    If  you  
miss  your  court  date  because  you’re  in  
the  hospital,  or  deployed  in  Iraq,  or  
because  you’re  watching  an  episode  of  
Seinfeld  on  TV  and  you  forget  to  show  
up…  in  none  of  those  cases  do  you  forfeit  
your  right  to  a  trial  and  admit  guilt  
automatically.      
 
If  a  person  misses  a  court  date,  the  court  
can  elect  to  treat  that  failure  to  appear  as  
trial  by  declaration.    If  defendant  loses  
the  trial  by  declaration,  the  court  can  
send  amount  out  to  collections.    
However,  there  are  notice  requirements  
involved  with  doing  that.    The  court  is  
required  to  send  you  a  notice  that  they  
are  going  to  treat  it  as  a  trial  by  
declaration.    But  what  I’ve  found  
happening  consistently  is  that  courts  
don’t  notify  defendants  who  miss  court  
dates.    They  immediately  charge  the  
person  the  full  amount  of  the  fine  and  
send  it  to  collections.    
 
And  when  your  ticket  gets  to  collections,  
unless  you  are  very  savvy  or  know  the  
system  really  well,  you’re  going  to  call  
GC  Services  and  they  are  going  to  tell  you  
that  you’ve  lost  your  right  to  a  court  
date.  
 
  “Franky”  Torres:    I  went  to  talk  to  the  
Footage  of  long  lines  at  the  GC  Services   lady  at  the  collections  window.    I  wanted  
cubicles  at  the  courthouse   to  go  see  the  judge,  because  it  was  a  fix-­‐it  
  ticket  –  I  had  fixed  my  violation.    But  she  
said  that  it  was  too  late,  it  was  already  in  
collections.    She  told  me  that  by  not  
showing  up,  I  was  admitting  guilt.        
 
  NARR:    When  we  spoke  with  Mary  
Hearn,  spokeswoman  for  the  LA  County  
Court,  she  confirmed  that  the  party  can  
request  a  court  date  if  the  matter  has  not  
yet  been  adjudicated,  and  that  GC  
 Services  is  not  allowed  to  demand  
payment  in  full  before  a  person  can  
receive  a  court  date.  
 
She  mentioned  that  she  was  aware  of  the  
general  complaints  against  GC  Services,  
but  this  was  not  something  that  was  
raising  alarms.  
 
Mary  Hearn,  spokesperson  for  the  LA   We’re  very  happy  with  their  
County  Courts   performance.    We  have  a  good  working  
relationship.    The  AOC  (Administrative  
Office  of  the  Courts)  published  some  
figures  in  the  last  month  or  two  –  the  
rate  of  collection  for  LA  County  was  the  
second  highest  in  the  state.    
 
GC  Services  has  130-­‐150  people,  
dedicated  to  work  the  accounts.    That  is  
more  than  we  would  be  able  to  provide.  
Unlike  Court  employees,  they  are  
available  seven  days  a  week  –  and  online  
access  is  available  24/7.  
 
Attorney  Chris  Dort   I  think  we  have  two  problems  here:  the  
first  is  that  the  courts  are  getting  really  
sloppy.    I  see  them  doing  four  things  that  
make  me  uncomfortable:    
 
1)  They  fail  to  make  the  required  
“election”  (choice)  to  deem  the  Failure  to  
Appear  a  “Request  for  Trial  By  
Declaration”  
 
2)  They  do  not  provide  a  10  day  warning  
of  the  election;  and/or  
 
3)  They  do  not  provide  the  required  
notice  of  a  decision  on  the  trial,  and  
 
4)  They  fail  to  respect  the  defendant’s  
right  to  demand  a  Trial  De  Novo  after  
losing  a  trial  by  declaration.  
 
I’ve  had  people  comment  regularly  on  
 my  blog  who  are  exactly  in  these  kinds  of  
predicaments.    I’ve  helped  them  by  
providing  the  appropriate  forms  to  take  
to  the  court  to  force  the  court  to  give  
them  a  trial  date.  
     
Franky  Torres   Finally  I  started  looking  online  to  try  to  
find  a  way  to  get  my  driver’s  license  
back.    I  found  Chris’s  blog.    I  took  the  
forms  he  had  on  there  –  to  enter  a  plea  of  
“not  guilty”  and  demand  a  trial,  and  took  
them  down  to  the  courts.    At  first,  the  
clerk  didn’t  want  to  take  my  papers.    I  
told  her  that  it  was  the  law,  that  she  had  
to.    Then  she  tried  to  ask  me  to  post  bail  
but  I  just  said,  “I  just  need  to  file  these  
papers,  I  don’t  need  to  post  bail.”    Finally,  
she  took  them.    I  had  a  second  ticket  that  
had  gone  to  collections  –  it  was  for  
driving  without  insurance,  also  a  fix-­‐it  
ticket.    For  that  ticket,  filing  the  forms  
worked.    A  few  weeks  later,  I  got  a  letter  
from  the  court  with  a  trial  date.    I  went  
to  trial,  showed  proof  of  correction  –  and  
my  fine  of  $1600  was  reduced  down  to  
$250,  which  I  paid.    Unfortunately,  even  
though  I  filed  the  correct  forms,  I  still  
haven’t  heard  from  the  courts  about  my  
other  ticket  –  the  one  where  I  was  in  the  
hospital.    So,  I’m  still  without  my  license.    
But  I’m  fighting  it.  
 
NARR   What  kind  of  oversight  do  you  have  over  
GC  Services?  
 
Mary  Hearn   They  provide  a  statement  of  work.    We  
evaluate  based  on  the  commitments  
made  in  the  statement  of  work.    Are  they  
meeting  expectations?    Exceeding?    
Meeting?    Are  they  meeting  obligations  
pursuant  to  statements  they  made?    One  
of  our  admins  goes  to  their  operations  
once  a  month  –  checks  on  how  calls  are  
handled,  that  sort  of  thing.      
 
 We  are  aware  of  complaints  against  
them.    They  are  required  to  report  to  us  
as  part  of  the  contract.    
 
 
NARR   But  you’re  still  happy  with  the  service  
they’re  providing?  
 
Mary  Hearn   Yes.  
 
Attorney  [Chris  Dort]   I  run  into  case  after  case  where  it  
becomes  clear  that  the  court  just  isn’t  
doing  anything  to  police  or  even  
supervise  GC  Services.    I  have  clients  tell  
me  that  GC  Services  told  them  they  
couldn’t  get  their  license  reinstated  until  
they  paid  their  fine  in  full,  that  they  can’t  
get  a  court  date  until  they  pay  in  full  –  or  
even  that  they  can’t  get  a  court  date  at  
all.    Keep  in  mind  that  these  fines  are  
high  –  sometimes  as  high  as  $2000  
dollars,  certainly  frequently  into  the  one  
thousand  range…  so  if  a  person  can’t  
afford  to  pay  that,  and  they’re  hearing  
that  this  is  their  only  way  out…  that’s  
just  unconscionable.            
 
“Franky”  Torres   I  haven’t  had  my  license  for  two  years.  I  
need  to  work  –  I’m  in  construction,  so  
we’re  working  at  a  new  site  every  day.    
Driving  is  a  requirement.    I  need  to  feed  
my  family.    Even  if  I  had  decided  to  pay  
the  tickets  in  full,  I  can’t,  because  I  can’t  
drive  to  go  to  work.    It’s  turned  into  a  
vicious  cycle.    I’m  very  angry  about  it.    I  
feel  like  I’ve  been  lied  to  and  violated.    
And  it’s  taken  up  two  years  of  my  life  
fighting  with  them.    I  still  don’t  have  my  
license  back.