D.C. hunting down $1b owed in overdue fines

The District is getting serious about collecting the estimated $1 billion owed from various tickets and violations from the past few decades, and officials are willing to reach into Maryland and Virginia to get it. A D.C. Council committee is working on debt collection legislation — the Delinquent Debt Recovery Act — that would give the District the authority to hire third-party debt collectors to track down those who owe the city and live in other jurisdictions and make them pay up.

“The company could put a lien on property, or garnish income,” Chairwoman Mary Cheh told The Washington Examiner. “I’m not dictating that they do that, but I want to give the District the authority to do that.”