A FURIOUS veteran mistakenly had his license suspended by the DMV, despite never living in the state in question.
Michael Hall has been waiting more than six months to get his license renewed after authorities made a mistake they won’t fix.
Veteran Michael Hall had his license wrongly suspended[/caption]
Michael lives on Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri[/caption]
The veteran says he has been given the run-around by authorities for six months[/caption]
Michael Hall, who lives in Missouri, discovered that the DMV in Florida had mistaken him with someone else who shares his name.
That Michael Hall was arrested for a felony after driving without a license and having an outstanding bench warrant.
When Michael went to renew his license in Missouri in March, he was stunned by the response.
“They told me that I have a suspended license,” he told local NBC affiliate KSHB. “I did not have a suspended license.”
He explained that he thinks Florida placed a suspension on the wrong Michael Hall.
“I’ve never lived in Florida, I’ve never had a felony,” he said. “It was quite a crazy mix-up.”
After realizing the mistake, Michael called round all the state agencies to try and fix the issue.
But despite separate attempts to contact the Florida DMV, the state fraud department, the Miami Dade Sheriff’s Department, the Miami County Clerk’s office, the Miami Police Department, and the Missouri DMV, Michael says he keeps getting “the run-around.”
The father-of-three currently lives with his family at Whiteman Air Force Base, around 60 miles southeast of Kansas City.
He says having an expired license for the past six months has been a living nightmare.
“It’s a big risk if I have the kids in the car if I get pulled over,” he said.
Not having a valid license also means he can’t operate government vehicles, and could even affect his ability to be deployed.
Michael believes he isn’t the only person to suffer from a Florida DMV mix-up.
He revealed how a driver in Illinois also had her license wrongly suspended after the Florida DMV confused her with someone else who shared her name.
Catherine Edelman was left without a license, despite not living in Florida.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Florida DMV for comment.
How to prepare for the DMV
Here are some ways to streamline your DMV experience:
- Check the DMV website for your state to see if the task can be done completely online. Many processes can now be done online, like renewing a vehicle’s registration or changing an address. Otherwise, several processes can be started online and finished at an in-person location, like renewing a driver’s license.
- Schedule an appointment. While walk-ins are available at all locations, having an appointment time can help reduce frustrating wait times.
- Check the DMV’s website to ensure you have all the necessary forms for the task.
- Get there early. Since many people prefer to try and tackle simple tasks on their lunch breaks or days off, showing up early can mean you’re only one of a few.
- Eat before you go or bring a snack. Since wait times can exceed expectations, bring some form of sustenance.
- Be positive. The process is temporary.
Issues at the DMV plague many drivers.
Last month, a young driver was denied her license despite passing her test.
Taking to Reddit, her father revealed she was told her examiner at the DMV believed she had been relying too much on the car’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, and hadn’t been using the brake pedal enough.
While another driver revealed her DMV is booked up solid for the next 90 days, leaving her unable to renew her license.
