If you have been notified that the Texas Department of Transportation (or a collection agent hired by the toll road operators) is coming after you for an unjust and/or ridiculous amount of money for toll road payment problems or alleged toll road violations in the central Texas area, please read his entire web page and then contact my office at 512-630-3745 to see if I can help you. My fees for assisting with TxTag and toll road payment problems start at $1250 for central Texas toll road payment problems. I am able to handle most of these toll road payment cases for a flat fee.
I handle toll road payment problems in Central Texas. If you have a Houston area toll road payment problem, I recommend you call Cory Roth, Attorney at Law, at 713-864-3400.
If you have a Dallas-Fort Worth area toll road payment problem, I recommend you call Jack Byno, Attorney at Law, at 817-685-0912 OR Jeffrey Beltz, Attorney at Law, at 214-321-4157.
If you have a toll road payment problem, I strongly recommend that you read this entire web page because you will probably learn how to avoid future toll road payment problems and how to better deal with the payment problem that you have now.
If you want to retain Ken Crain as your attorney for a toll road payment problem, download the pdf file for "Client Information Form for Toll Road Cases." There is a link for that file just after this paragraph. Fill out the form and follow the instructions to return the completed form to Ken Crain. Once I receive the completed form, I will draft an attorney-client contract and a letter of authorization which will authorize the toll road people to deal with me regarding your problem. My fee needs to be paid in full at the time we sign a contract for legal services.
TxTag Payment and Billing Problems and Toll Road Violations. Section 228.054 of the Texas Transportation Code makes it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $250 to fail or refuse to pay a toll at a toll collection facility on a toll road in Texas. After they make an attempt to collect the fees owed by the vehicle owners, the toll road operators in Central Texas will eventually file class C misdemeanor criminal charges in Justice of the Peace Courts in Williamson and Travis Counties (or some other Central Texas county where a toll road that you allegedly used is located) for toll road payment violations.
It is usually much better (and much cheaper) to settle these toll road payment cases before they get filed as class C misdemeanor cases with a local Justice of the Peace court.
Some people who have received TxTag demand letters or a notice that criminal charges have been filed are guilty of some type of bad judgment, but they are not really guilty of an attempt to use the toll roads without paying to use the toll roads. One lady who called me had been out of the country for several months. She thought she had taken care of everything that would come up in her absence, but she did not foresee getting bills from TxTag during her absence from the country. Unfortunately, she did not have someone monitoring her incoming U.S. mail while she was out of the country. By the time she returned to Texas and realized she had a TxTag payment problem, they were demanding an arm and a leg to rectify the problem because of their outrageous penalties and late fees.
Another man I have spoken to says that he received many letters from TxTag, but he thought they were just monthly TxTag statements for toll road usage that was being paid by credit card so he did not take the time to open them and review them. That may be poor judgment but it does not justify TxTag demanding a really unreasonable sum of money to straighten out the mess.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU OPEN AND READ ALL MAIL FROM TXTAG BECAUSE IT MAY JUST SAVE YOU FROM BIG HEADACHES DOWN THE ROAD. LOTS OF PROBLEMS ARE CAUSED BY PEOPLE NOT OPENING AND READING ALL THEIR MAIL FROM TXTAG.
The best way to avoid TxTag problems is to make sure you have a valid TxTag on your vehicle, arrange for the TxTag bill to be paid with a valid credit card (that is NOT expired or maxed out) or link it to a bank account that always has some money in it, read all of your incoming TxTag mail and emails, and make sure to update your TxTag records when your mailing address changes, your credit card information changes, your bank account information changes, your vehicle license plate number changes and/or your vehicle itself changes. Make sure you notify TXDOT of an address change every time you move so that they can contact you if TXDOT needs to get in touch with you regarding unpaid parking fines, unpaid toll road violations, and the like.
Make sure to notify TxTag when you sell your vehicle so that you are not responsible for any tolls that should be paid by the new owners of the vehicle.
It is now best to remove your license plates from the vehicle in Texas when you sell your vehicle to make sure that the buyer promptly processes the sale with the local tax assessor collector. (A car buyer who does not have any license plates on the vehicle is not going to drive a car for very long without getting new license plates for the car. Who wants to get regularly pulled over by the police for driving around without license plates? The only legal way to get license plates is to visit the local tax assessor collector to process the sale of the vehicle and get new license plates.) Removing the plates from the car at the time of sale will ensure that the new owner (AND NOT YOU) will be charged for any toll road usage after the date and time of sale of the vehicle.
Removing your license plates at the time of sale will ensure that the buyer does not run up TxTag fees and penalties and/or parking fines attributable to you through a license plate number that is still linked to you in the TXDOT computer. The State of Texas even has a form now that you can download and mail in or submit online to notify them as soon as you sell a vehicle so that you are no longer responsible for the vehicle. You can find the form at this link: https://vision21.txdmv.gov/Vehicle/MainTransferNotification.aspx
IT IS ALSO A GOOD IDEA TO TAKE A RAZOR BLADE AND SCRAPE OFF YOUR TXTAG STICKER FROM THE INSIDE OF THE WINDSHIELD OF YOUR VEHICLE WHEN YOU SELL YOUR VEHICLE OR WHEN YOU TRADE IT IN FOR A NEW VEHICLE.
Some people have been caught in the trap of never actually receiving a bill from the toll road operators (due to having an old license plate address on file with TXDOT) or not being able to pay the toll bill when it finally comes in the mail because TXTAG has tacked on exorbitant violation fees and processing fees and administrative fees and any other kind of fees that the bureaucrats who run these programs can dream up.....At some point it just becomes ridiculous when they want to charge you a fortune for not paying a few toll road charges that would have been about a dollar (more or less) each to begin with. This is a classic case of "two wrongs do not make a right."
If you have been notified that the Texas Department of Transportation (or a collection agent hired by the toll road operators) is coming after you for an unjust amount of money for TxTag problems or alleged toll road violations in central Texas, please contact my office immediately at 512-630-3745 to see if I can help you. My fees for assisting with TxTag and toll road payment problems start at $1250 for central Texas toll road payment problems. I am able to handle most of these toll road payment cases for a flat fee.
I charge more for cases that involve more than one driver and/or more than one motor vehicle and for cases when TxTag is seeking more than $10,000 in unpaid tolls, toll fees, and penalties. If you retain me to represent you, we should be able to negotiate a reasonable deal for you to settle all of your toll road payment problems in central Texas.
The bottom line is that the toll road operators want you to pay to use the toll roads if you are using them. If you are using the toll roads, you should pay for using the toll roads. The local JP courts do not have the time to try hundreds of toll road violation cases in jury trials because each jury trial of one of these cases takes up about four to five hours of the Court's time. If you hire an attorney to represent you, the toll road operators will usually eventually negotiate a reasonable settlement of these cases.
Another common problem is that sometimes motor vehicles get awarded to one spouse or the other as part of a divorce in Texas and the title for that vehicle does not get changed to reflect the change in ownership because the spouse who is acquiring the vehicle in the divorce does not have good credit and he/she cannot get a new vehicle loan in his/her own name. If you have a vehicle in your name and it gets awarded to your former spouse in a divorce, you could have a problem if he/she drives it on toll road while the title stays in your name.
Texas law states that the vehicle owner is responsible for all tolls incurred for that vehicle. For my divorce clients, I have started putting language in divorce decrees that requires the former spouse who has the exclusive right to possess the vehicle to refinance the vehicle within 30 days of the divorce and I also insert language in the decree to make it clear that the former spouse who uses the vehicle on a toll road has to pay for the tolls for that vehicle after the date they obtained exclusive use of that vehicle.
If you receive a demand for payment for past due toll road charges, do not ignore it. On the other hand, do not just roll over and pay whatever exorbitant fines and processing fees and administrative fees that they are demanding. Call my office in Georgetown at 512-630-3745 to see if I can help you reach a reasonable settlement with them. I want to hear from you so that I can get you some justice for TxTag problems and alleged toll road payment violations in the Austin and central Texas area.
Don't let toll road violations add up. The table shows how a single unpaid $0.65 toll charge can increase over time and lead to legal action if not resolved.
First Statement: Mail Fee + Toll ($1.15 + 0.65) $1.80
Second Statement: Additional Mail Fee + Toll ($1.15 + $1.15 + 0.65) $2.95
Transferred to Court: Court Fees, Fines + Toll (Up to $350.00 + 0.65) Up to $350.65
Helpful Information:
I no longer own this vehicle. What do I do? Please give TxTag a call at 1-888-468-9824 to verify that the vehicle has been sold. Even if you sold your vehicle, you will still be considered the owner until the title is transferred out of your name by the new buyer or until you submit a motor vehicle transfer notification. Contact the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles at www.txdmv.gov for the VTR - 346 form.
I have a toll tag. Why do I have an outstanding balance?
Your tag was not detected, and your license plate does not match an existing account. If you are a North Texas Tollway Authority (TollTag) or Harris County Toll Road Authority (EZ TAG) customer and have received this statement, there may be a problem with your tag. In addition, you need to update your account with your current license plate number. Pay the enclosed statement, and contact your toll agency's customer service center. If you are already a TxTag customer, call them so that they can apply your tolls to your TxTag account and update your information.
Something is wrong with your account. It is possible that your account does not have money in it to pay your tolls. Please contact your toll agency's customer service center to determine if this is the case.
Texas Tollways (TxTag) 1-888-468-9824
North Texas Tollway Authority (TollTag) 1-972-818-6882
Harris County Toll Road Authority (EZ TAG) 1-281-875-3279
Avoid the mail fee of $1.15 by having your TxTag Statement sent to you by email. Go online to your account and select Account Profile from the left menu, and in the bottom portion called Account Settings, select the Edit button to update your Statement Delivery to email. You may call the TxTag Customer Service Center at 1-888-468-9824 to set up monthly email delivery.
Tougher penalties for non-payers. Subject to certain procedural requirements, the Texas Department of Transportation may issue a determination that a registered owner is a “habitual violator.” Following a final determination regarding the person’s habitual violator status, TxDOT, by order of the Texas Transportation Commission, may prohibit the operation of the motor vehicle used to incur the unpaid toll violations on all TxDOT toll projects.
If you are declared a "habitual violator," then operation of the vehicle on a toll project in violation of the order is a Class C misdemeanor. A subsequent violation may result in impoundment of the vehicle. TxDOT may also report the determination to a county-assessor collector or the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in order to cause denial of vehicle registration. Don’t let this happen to you. If TxDOT is threatening to declare you are a "habitual violator," then call Ken Crain at 512-630-3745 to resolve your outstanding violations.
Some people who have received TxTag demand letters or a notice that criminal charges have been filed are guilty of some type of bad judgment, but they are not really guilty of an attempt to use the toll roads without paying to use the toll roads. One lady who called me had been out of the country for several months. She thought she had taken care of everything that would come up in her absence, but she did not foresee getting bills from TxTag during her absence from the country. Unfortunately, she did not have someone monitoring her incoming U.S. mail while she was out of the country. By the time she returned to Texas and realized she had a TxTag payment problem, they were demanding an arm and a leg to rectify the problem because of their outrageous penalties and late fees.
The best way to avoid TxTag problems is to make sure you have a valid TxTag on your vehicle, arrange for the TxTag bill to be paid with a valid credit card (that is NOT expired or maxed out) or link it to a bank account that always has some money in it, read all of your incoming TxTag mail and emails, and make sure to update your TxTag records when your mailing address changes, your credit card information changes, your bank account information changes, your vehicle license plate number changes and/or your vehicle itself changes. Make sure you notify TXDOT of an address change every time you move so that they can contact you if TXDOT needs to get in touch with you regarding unpaid parking fines, unpaid toll road violations, and the like.
Removing your license plates at the time of sale will ensure that the buyer does not run up TxTag fees and penalties and/or parking fines attributable to you through a license plate number that is still linked to you in the TXDOT computer. The State of Texas even has a form now that you can download and mail in or submit online to notify them as soon as you sell a vehicle so that you are no longer responsible for the vehicle. You can find the form at this link: 
If you have been notified that the Texas Department of Transportation (or a collection agent hired by the toll road operators) is coming after you for an unjust amount of money for TxTag problems or alleged toll road violations in central Texas, please contact my office immediately at 512-630-3745 to see if I can help you. My fees for assisting with TxTag and toll road payment problems start at $1250 for central Texas toll road payment problems. I am able to handle most of these toll road payment cases for a flat fee. 
The bottom line is that the toll road operators want you to pay to use the toll roads if you are using them. If you are using the toll roads, you should pay for using the toll roads. The local JP courts do not have the time to try hundreds of toll road violation cases in jury trials because each jury trial of one of these cases takes up about four to five hours of the Court's time. If you hire an attorney to represent you, the toll road operators will usually eventually negotiate a reasonable settlement of these cases.
