KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. We reported on this story because of a news tip we received. Share your story with Isabella.
It's not uncommon to wait a long time at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) while getting your license renewed. However, one Missouri man has been waiting more than six months because he says the state of Florida made a mistake and won't fix the problem.
Michael Hall has dealt with having a common name all his life.
"I always made the joke, 'Good luck finding me on Facebook' because there's a lot of Michael Hall's out there," Hall said. "But I never thought it would affect my day-to-day life."
Hall has bounced around the country serving in the U.S. military and currently lives with his family at Whiteman Air Force Base. When he went to renew his license in March, he encountered an unusual problem.
"They told me that I have a suspended license," Hall said. "I did not have a suspended license."
It turns out that a Michael Hall, Jr. lives in Florida with the exact same birthday as the Michael Hall in Missouri. The big difference is Michael Hall, Jr. was arrested for a felony—driving without a license and having an outstanding bench warrant.
"I've never lived in Florida, I've never had a felony," Hall said. "It was quite a crazy mix-up."
Hall explained he thinks Florida placed a suspension on the wrong Michael Hall.
He's been calling all the state agencies to get it fixed, but so far, nothing has changed. Emails show Hall has reached out to 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.
They just keep telling me that it's this department or this department or that department," Hall said. "They really have been giving me the run around for six months."
Michael Hall has had an expired license for half a year.
"I'm a father of three and all my kids are elementary school age, doing after-school activities, so we have to drive separately and it's a big risk if I have the kids in the car if I get pulled over," Hall said. "It affects my job, I can't operate government vehicles without a driver's license, so I can't drive any vehicles for work. If I were to deploy, it would affect my deployment ability.
With a quick search, Michael and his wife found a similar Florida license mix-up story with a woman from Illinois who also wasn't getting answers. The state of Florida mistakenly placed a suspension on Catherine Edelman's license, despite not living in Florida, because she shared the same name as someone who did have her license suspended.
Edelman turned to WPTV, KSHB 41's sister station in West Palm Beach, and once their news team got involved, Edelman's situation was resolved.
"As much as this has been an unlucky situation, that was the lucky break that we found out that this isn't the first time and there is a path forward that resolved it for her," Hall said.
So Michael Hall reached out to KSHB 41 News, and we've been reaching out to the Missouri and Florida DMV's for answers. The Florida DMV has not made themselves available to answer our questions.
But in the middle of our interview with Hall, the Missouri DMV called Michael wanting information on his situation. They told him they would be calling the Florida DMV on Friday morning.
"Hopefully Florida responds better to state-to-state calls than they do to personal calls," Hall said.
Hall is hopeful this is the end of an uncommon mix-up for a common name.
"I suppose it's a wait-and-see now," Hall said.
The Florida DMV has not gotten back to KSHB 41 News with answers to our questions regarding the suspended license.
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