An Eatonville man is suing the City of Fife and the state Department of Licensing, contending they hurt his credit by sending a red-light camera ticket to the wrong address.

Anthony J. Abuan seeks unspecified monetary damages in his lawsuit, which his attorney, Joseph Diaz, filed in Pierce County Superior Court last month.

The trouble began Jan. 1, 2009, according to the lawsuit, when a red-light camera captured a photo of a vehicle registered to Abuan making an illegal right turn at 54th Avenue and 20th Street in Fife. Fife court officials, relying on information provided by the Department of Licensing, mailed a $124 ticket to Abuan’s home address, the lawsuit states.

But Abuan doesn’t get mail at his home. He gets it at a post office box. The ticket was returned to sender, his lawsuit states.

The Licensing Department keeps both a person’s mailing address and the address of the vehicle owner’s primary residence on file, spokeswoman Christine Anthony said last week. The mailing address is supposed to be sent to jurisdictions issuing traffic infractions, she said.

Anthony declined to speak specifically about Abuan’s claims, saying the department does not comment on pending lawsuits.

Abuan contends he didn’t learn about the ticket until he tried to refinance his home in July 2010 and got dinged by the credit ratings bureaus for an unpaid ticket, the lawsuit states.

“The original $124 fine for the red light traffic infraction was also increased to $149 through the City of Fife’s imposition of an additional $25 penalty for the plaintiff’s failure to respond to the notice of infraction,” the lawsuit states. “The $149 judgment was then increased by the collection agency assigned to collect the debt.”

What’s worse, Abuan contends, is that he could not qualify for a favorable interest rate on his refinance and his credit was ruined.

“The reporting of the City of Fife traffic infraction judgment to the consumer reporting credit bureaus cause the plaintiff’s credit score to drop significantly, causing him substantial monetary damage,” the lawsuit states.

Abuan contends the city and the Licensing Department were reckless and negligent, violated his constitutional right to due process and caused him embarrassment.

It could not be determined late last week whether Abuan eventually paid the ticket or sought to challenge it.

Efforts to reach his attorney and Fife city officials were unsuccessful.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
Twitter: @TNTadam