It all began years ago when O'Bryan started with an older family friend in declining health. She drove Roger Landry to the grocery store, his Veterans Affairs hospital appointments, and helped whenever he needed her. When Landry died, he left his Ford truck to her in the will.
O'Bryan diligently transferred all the documents to her name, including the toll tags. She also paid the bills, with no issues. However, last December, HCTRA took over the toll collecting for TxTag in the Houston region, and that's when the problems began.
"I'm at my wit's end. I don't know how to fix this," the clearly frustrated O'Bryan said.
She showed ABC13 bills from HCTRA that showed she owed in excess of $750. She also showed us bank statements that indicated she paid the tolls to TxTag.
"I don't like being told I could be ticketed, arrested, or the car could be repossessed for unpaid tolls, since it's a large amount now," she said. "I don't owe that. I can prove to you I don't owe that."
O'Bryan said repeated attempts to get HCTRA to see this paperwork snafu have led her in circles, so she called Action 13.
"I always thought, 'Gosh, it's so neat that I watch TV and you fix something for people, and it's nice that there's somebody out there that has your back,'" she said. "I've never done this before."
Sitting in her living room, Action 13 called HCTRA representatives, who began looking into her problem.
The toll road authority went through her account, telling ABC13 that they can see that she's paid her bills to TxTag, but is uncertain why the two accounts did not merge correctly. O'Bryan says it's a relief that someone is finally paying attention to the issue, and she hopes next month's bill will no longer be more than $700.
"I'm a retired Texas teacher for 30 years. I follow the rules because I taught the rules to the high school kids," she said.
Action 13 also contacted the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), which operates TxTag. It's clear at this point that even though HCTRA took over the toll collections of some TxTag accounts, the information did not transfer correctly. In addition, it seems that getting the two systems to talk to each other is difficult.
Action 13 talked to both TxDOT and HCTRA officials on Thursday. They can see the issue, that O'Bryan has made payments, and say that they're working to resolve it. But getting all the records to line up will take a few more days.
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