Hertz Rent2Buy - Part 6 - It's Finally Over!

So if you've been reading this blog, you know that I purchased my VW Grand Caravagon (Routan) and am liking it.  Well, here is the final installment in the saga.  When I last left you, I had inquired why I had not gotten plates yet in the mail.  They were looking into it.  Well, it turns out I'm a tax cheat!

I'm from the Government and I'm here to help you!

So I got a call from Hertz and their title company.  Turns out that my name was on the Delinquent Taxpayers list that the State of Connecticut maintains.  I sheepishly told them that I'd have to check on it with my local tax collector to see what the problem was.  I hung up and checked my bill pay.  Yup, I sent them a check, and it was in dollars AND cents, so I had at least tried to pay the exact bill.

I called the tax assessors office and asked if I was delinquent.  They confirmed that I was.  I asked them how much?

$3.91

Yes, I got put on the list, after paying town property taxes in the $6-7,000 range, for less than four bucks.  I went down that afternoon to find out the details.  Without going into great detail, between a credit for my dead minivan, and an interest charge for being 14 days late, I owed them almost $4. 

So then I asked why they sent my name in for 4 dollars.  I mean, we have people in my town that haven't paid any property taxes for years - one case in the paper recently was for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I couldn't register a car because of $4 that would obviously come out in the laundry in a matter of months?  I was told that the town had no choice - that the State law was written that no matter the amount, they had to send my name in. 

So I paid the four bucks and got a paper saying I was no longer a tax cheat.  I had to mail that to the title company, and they had to mail it to the State DMV, who had to look at my registration application a second time.  I have no doubt that between the time I spent at the local tax collector, and the time the DMV took processing my registration a second time, that the government spent far in excess of the $3.91 collected. 

Oh yeah... I looked up the law.  The clerk was correct - the State law IS written that way - the town has no leeway on setting the amount past due before putting your name on the delinquent list. 

Idiots!

The End Game

So after mailing my get out of jail free card off to the title company, I finally got my registration and a couple of new plates for my car!  I put them on the car last night.  So I'm no longer impersonating a New York driver.

At this point, I think I'm done.  The car is mine, I've made the first payment, and it's all registered and legal like. 

I still like the car very much.  The process sure could have been smoother.  Some of it was me, some of it was Hertz, and some of it was my government service providers.  But in the end, I'd do it again.  The price can't be beat, the car runs great, and if I went to sell it tomorrow, I'd likely get all I put into it in trade. 

So ends the saga.  Hope you enjoyed the ride!  (Pun intended)

TTFN