If you commute between New York and New Jersey, your toll problem probably is not a New York toll problem. The George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels are Port Authority crossings, and the Turnpike and Parkway run on the New Jersey E-ZPass system. When those tolls go unpaid, the violation notices come from a different set of agencies than the ones New Yorkers usually expect — and the balances can snowball just as fast. I represent New York filers in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and out-of-state toll debt from New Jersey shows up in my cases all the time. Here is how it works, and what bankruptcy can and cannot do about it.
How NJ E-ZPass and Port Authority Violations Work
When you go through a New Jersey or Port Authority toll without a valid payment — a depleted E-ZPass account, an expired credit card, a plate misread — the tolling agency mails a violation notice to the registered owner. On top of the unpaid toll, the agency adds an administrative fee for each violation, and those fees usually dwarf the toll itself. A commuter who crosses the George Washington Bridge every workday can generate dozens of separate violations from a single billing problem before the first notice even arrives. Each one carries its own fee, which is how a few hundred dollars in actual tolls turns into a five-figure balance.
The agencies behind these notices are governmental bodies: the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates the Hudson River crossings, and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and South Jersey Transportation Authority run the New Jersey E-ZPass system. That governmental status matters enormously in bankruptcy, as you will see below.
First Step: Respond to the Notice
Before anyone thinks about bankruptcy, respond to the violation notice. If the violation was an error — you had a valid E-ZPass account, the plate was misread, the vehicle was sold — the agencies have a dispute process, and contesting promptly is the cheapest fix there is. Even when the tolls are legitimately owed, the agencies will sometimes reduce or waive administrative fees if you pay the underlying tolls, especially on a first offense. Ignoring the notices is the one guaranteed way to make things worse: the balance grows, the account goes to collections, and registration problems can follow you across the river.
When the Balance Is Past Fixing: The Two-Debt Rule
Here is the key insight, and it applies to New Jersey and Port Authority toll debt exactly as it does to MTA tolls and New York E-ZPass debt: what looks like one debt is really two.
The first part is the tolls themselves — the actual price of the crossings. Those are ordinary unsecured debt, compensation for a service you used, and they are generally dischargeable in bankruptcy like a credit card balance.
The second part is the violation fees and penalties. Because the Port Authority and the New Jersey toll authorities are governmental units, those fees are treated as government fines and penalties, and the Bankruptcy Code excepts fines and penalties owed to governmental units from the Chapter 7 discharge. In most runaway toll cases, the fees are the bulk of the balance — the tolls are nominal while the penalties are astronomical — which is why Chapter 7 alone often cannot solve a toll problem even though it wipes out the underlying tolls along with credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans.
Chapter 13: The Complete Solution
Chapter 13 bankruptcy changes the math. Its discharge is broader than Chapter 7’s and covers most civil governmental fines and penalties — including toll violation fees. In a Chapter 13 case, the toll debt is treated like other general unsecured debt in a three-to-five-year repayment plan, and whatever portion is not paid through the plan is discharged when the plan completes. There is no requirement that the tolls or fees be paid back in full, and a plan can succeed even if only a small percentage of the toll debt is ever paid.
Does It Matter That the Debt Is From New Jersey?
No. Bankruptcy is federal law. If you live in New York and file in the Southern or Eastern District of New York, your case covers your debts wherever they were incurred — New Jersey tolls, Port Authority fees, and out-of-state collections accounts included. The New Jersey agencies get listed as creditors and are bound by the discharge and the automatic stay just like any New York creditor. What you should not do is assume the debt will stay quietly on the other side of the Hudson: toll authorities pursue collections and registration enforcement across state lines, and interstate agreements make it easier every year for one state’s violations to follow your registration home.
The Bottom Line
If a billing glitch or a rough financial stretch has turned your George Washington Bridge commute into a mountain of violation notices, deal with it in two stages. First, contest what can be contested and ask about fee reductions. Second, if the balance has grown past any realistic payoff — and especially if it is sitting alongside credit card debt, medical bills, or other financial pressure — talk to a bankruptcy attorney about whether Chapter 13 can wipe the whole thing out, penalties included. The worst option is waiting while each unpaid crossing adds another fee to the pile.
To speak with me about your situation, request a free consultation and we will figure out the right path together.
Law Office of William Waldner — 469 Seventh Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Call 212-244-2882 to schedule your free, confidential 20-minute consultation. We handle bankruptcy cases exclusively, in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
