(WSVN) - According to police and the state, he died in a fender bender. Since he called us, obviously he is alive, but problems are pouring in because he can’t get the state to list him as alive. So he asked Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to breathe new life into his efforts.
Moises does pretty well playing air hockey with his daughter.
Pretty well, that is, for a guy who is supposedly dead.
Moises Ramos: “Fatality in 2019.”
His so-called passing began when Moises backed out of his driveway and another driver bumped him.
Moises Ramos: “We called police department to make an accident record for insurance.”
No one was hurt. Everything was fine, until Moises applied to be an Uber driver and was rejected.
Moises Ramos: “And I was like, ‘Why am I getting denied?’ So I disputed it. They came back again, and they put because of an accident of a ‘fatality.'”
Moises was told to check the Miami-Dade Police report on the fender bender.
Moises Ramos: “And when they reviewed everything, they stated that the police officer had made an error.”
Under “injury severity,” the officer should have clicked 1 for none. Instead, he clicked 5, fatal.
Moises Ramos: “They realized that the fatality on the record was myself.”
Imagine being told you’re dead.
Moises Ramos: “And that kind of like shook me.”
Miami-Dade Police said they would correct the mistake and notify the Division of Motor Vehicles, who had been told Moises died in the accident.
But a month later, he was still a fatality in the state records, so he contacted the police again.
Moises Ramos: “‘We reported it to the state. There’s a phone number you can call.’ We call, they don’t answer.’ I don’t know what else to tell you.”
It’s not only irritating, it’s having consequences. Besides being unable to drive for Uber, Moises can’t get things like life insurance.
Moises Ramos: “I know I’ll get denied because they’re going to check everything, and if they comes up a fatality, it’s going to deny it.”
Even stranger, while the state lists Moises as a fatality, his license is still valid, and of course, the feds makes him pay taxes.
Moises Ramos: “Yeah, they’ll take the money, even if it comes from a dead man.”
Moises can joke about it, but being declared dead is not funny to him anymore.
Moises Ramos: “Very frustrating. So it’s like they made a mistake, and now it’s on me to fix it. So I just don’t know what to do.”
Well, Howard, what can you do?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “You can sue the state, but that’s too expensive. The simple solution: be the squeaky wheel. Keep calling till you get to the right person. If you can’t, call your state representative. They can make the bureaucracy fix the mistake.”
I was Moises’ squeaky wheel.
We contacted Miami-Dade Police, who confirmed they corrected the report, showed Moises was not a fatality and sent it to Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
On Friday, we asked them to correct their records. By Monday, they did that and more.
Moises Ramos: “It was not only resolved, but it was taken to another step further that they took the whole accident off of my driving record.”
Moises’ life is back to normal, after Help Me Howard was able to breathe new life into his situation.
Moises Ramos: “I’m ecstatic about it, and I don’t think this would have happened had had it not been for Help Me Howard.”
When they list you as dead, you get problems. And in the defense of government agencies, they have people who want to help, but in many cases, they are overwhelmed. Not enough staff, ’cause as we often see, the government doesn’t fund the government properly.
Feel your chances of solving a problem are dead? Perish the thought. Let us bury the headache so you can get up and go.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
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