City to collect on unpaid tickets

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - If you have one of those unpaid red light camera tickets and thought you were in the clear think again.

KRQE News 13 has learned the city intends to make you pay up or deal with a collection agency that can make your life miserable.

The city plans to go after the worst of the worst first, red light runners like Amber Gray , she holds a special title here in Albuquerque

“Oh ya she’s known as the red light queen,” said Gray’s mother.

She worked hard for that title. Gray has racked up 93 red light camera and speeding tickets and over the years she’s blown off the tickets she now owes $9,300.

“We want to go after the biggest debtors first,” said Assistant City Attorney Greg Wheeler.

Earlier this week the city signed another contract with Redflex , the Arizona based company that operated the red light cameras, to do just that.

There are more than 127,000 unpaid tickets worth $13 million.

The plan is to take people to court that refuse to pay up.

“These judgments if they’re unpaid could eventually turn into garnishments of people’s wages they could additionally turn into liens on people’s houses, we haven’t gotten there yet,” Wheeler said.

The city said it is required by law to go after the outstanding money.

It decided to work with Redflex after the company threatened a lawsuit against the city if it did not pay $4.5 million, Redflex’s share of all the outstanding tickets.

“We decided the best way to resolve that liability with Redflex is to partner with them and say if you want your part of the money then you go collect the fines, we’ll take our part, the state will take their part and everybody's happy,” said Wheeler.

So Redflex will target Gray and the other big fish first.

Wednesday they gave KRQE News 13 a list of the top seven offenders, they owe more than $30,000 combined.

We tried to track them down but were not having much luck until we tried Gray’s home.

Gray was not home, but her mom was and she agreed to talk to us.

She said her daughter thought the tickets were a joke, when KRQE News 13 told her Redflex was planning to collect this was her response.

“I don’t see the tickets getting paid I don’t, I mean what are they going to do put a lien against what? She doesn’t have anything,” Gray’s mom said.

Two of the people on the top offenders list do not even live in Albuquerque, they live in Rio Rancho.

Any money collected will be split up between Redflex, the city and the state.

The red light cameras have been removed from the 14 intersections they used to be at.