Failure to appear

[bcdudley]

When I was going through and listing my previous arrest, one of them from late 2006 was a "fta". I did not realize what that meant until after I had already gone through everything and mailed it all in. Is the Failure to appear from 4 1/2 years ago going to affect my approval?

The fta was for traffic tickets (speeding, expired inspection, expired registration, address change). I read on the forums here somewhere that these are now being reported as obstruction of justice.

Should I have awaited until next year to apply?

[Rebel]

Wouldn't a FTA lead to an issuing of an arrest warrant?

[Rebel]

I looked up some quick info and this is the best is some info I came up with. I'm going to assume that a FTA even over 5 years ago would cause you problems in getting a CHL, as it would show no conclusion to a charge, and still be an open warrant.

The charges for failing to appear are:

Class C misdemeanor if the original charge was a Class C. Punishable by a fine of up to $500.
Class A misdemeanor if the original charge was a Class A or B. Punishable by up to one year in a county jail.
Third-degree felony if the original charge was a felony. Punishable by 2 to 10 years in a state prison.
The judge also is likely to order a forfeiture of the bond. That means the bondsman would lose the $10,000 put up for your release from jail, and you would become indebted to him for that amount.

Have you ever been pulled over or had to renew your license since the FTA occurred?

You have to always make sure everything is in place when your dealing with the court system. I have seen a few cases through friends where they thought all their legal troubles(tickets and deferred adjudication) were done with, only to find out in some cases decades later, that someone somewhere didn't enter info, and have it cause problems for them.

[bcdudley]

I was arrested on this back around August of 2006. I plead Nolo Contendere and paid the fine along with fines from from the other charges. It cost me around $2500 for everything.The papers I signed said that I was not required to show up in court since I paid the fine at that point.

[Rebel]

I was arrested on this back around August of 2006. I plead Nolo Contendere and paid the fine along with fines from from the other charges. It cost me around $2500 for everything.The papers I signed said that I was not required to show up in court since I paid the fine at that point.

First off, I'm not an attorney, so take what I say for what it's worth, but if the record is showing a FTA, that could be an issue.

I would contact the court where this happened and find out what they have on file. Like I posted, I had a friend who thought his situation was all done and over with 20 years ago, but this past Summer it showed up as still active in the system. Some clerk somewhere hadn't updated the info and he has spent the last 6 months sending paperwork back and forth to get this taken care of.

[bcdudley]

I am certain it is all taken care of. I have checked on it before and I have been pulled over once since then (not ticketed). I am not worried about anything outstanding on this, I am just concerned that the original fta would keep me from getting my chl approved sicne it has been less than 5 years since I paid it,