NJ state extortion: Insurance surcharge

I left NJ in 1997. All my traffic/speeding tickets were paid.
Today they're blocking my license renewal in California because they say I owe them money for insurance surcharges.
For what? I haven't held a NJ driver's license or auto insurance in that state in 13 years.
Called the surcharge office at DMV in NJ today, and they couldn't even tell me what I owe. They're computers were down all day.
They have an office set up just to handle surcharges. That makes me nervous.
I feel like I just found out I've owed money to a loan shark who has been tallying points daily for 13 years. I can't imagine what this is going to cost me.

 

Responding to my own post, I just saw an AP story indicating that NJ is having an amnesty program right now:
No interest or collection fees.
I still think this practice is wrong, but at least I'm not worrieds about owing thousands of dollars in interest.

 

Buck - to answer your questions about the surcharges, go here:
http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/Violations/Surcharges.htm

 

A friend of mine who moved from North Carolina to New Jersey recently was shocked to discover the Garden State has a hamster tax.

 

Thanks, E. That was a big help. I didn't find that site yesterday.
It included a link where I could just look up what I owe (just $300, thankfully) and pay online.
I still think on principle the surcharge system is wrong, but I'm not going to fight over $300.

 

Glad I could help.