You know them: those white envelopes with a thick purple border.
Or better yet: hopefully you don't.
They are letters from the CJIB in any event.
That's even striking for us. Most fines (around 10 to 20 per week) are not sent to us by post. We receive an email from the CJIB stating that new fines are ready on the server. We can download these and submit an objection to the Public Prosecution Service.
If the objection is upheld, the tenant will be sent the penalty at home.
In the white with purple envelope.
This time the white one with the purple envelope was for us.
In no uncertain terms, it stated that the police had seized one of our cars.
Unfortunately, that does happen sometimes. Then they ring us, and we can pick the car up the next day.
In this case, we couldn't pick up the car the next day.
The car was to be transported to Soesterberg. After one month, we were able to collect the car in Soesterberg after paying a hefty fine. If we did not do so, the car would be confiscated and sold to pay the outstanding fines of the tenant.
If I wanted the car back sooner (than in 1 month), that was possible. Then I would have had to pay all the outstanding fines from the tenant (over €1200), plus a fine and transport costs to Soesterberg of €680.
What?
I thought: Ho ho, that's not going to happen! Sell our car just like that? Are they completely mad at the justice department?
But that just happened.
It appears there is a legal article that states the following: if the police stop someone with many outstanding fines, the car in which that person is currently driving may be confiscated, regardless of whether the driver is the owner of that car at the time.
I have no idea which 'farking' civil servant came up with this article of law, but they weren't quite right in the head. And the political parties that voted for this bill weren't fully awake either.
Now, imagine this. You lend your car to your neighbour. The chap has a couple of outstanding fines, but you don't know that. The neighbour gets pulled over. And poof, your car is gone. For at least a month. And you can only get it back if you cough up €680.
So the next time your neighbour asks, ‘Can I borrow your car for a bit?' feel free to send them over to Adje Rem. We've done this before.
