Ask The Parking Ticket Geek
Dear Geek,
Apparently I have over $4,000 in parking tickets.
Arnold Scott Harris (the collection agency) has been contacting me like crazy.
The problem is I have no money. I have been unemployed since September of 2010.
Do you have any idea what my options are? I wanted to see if they would offer me a settlement where I can pay half, but they claim they don’t do that. Do you know if that is true?
The lady said my only option is a payment plan. Is that true?
Thanks,
Jake
Unfortunately, the payment plan is your only option Jake.
The city doesn’t offer settlements–at least not under the Daley administration.
Work something out. The fact you are unemployed may qualify you for a hardship payment plan.
But try to do it with the city and NOT Arnold Scott Harris or any other collections firm.
You can probably work a better deal with the city and by doing so you may be able to screw Arnold Scott out of their fees.
Sorry to hear about your ticket troubles and the challenging employment and financial situation you’re facing now. That’s a lot of cash. But I’ve been there myself.
Thanks
The Geek
Parking Ticket Geek!
I got a ticket sent to me that is nearly 9 months old! or 3 days away from being 9 months old.
The ticket states I was too close to a fire hydrant on South Michigan.
Is there a time limit for this? Shouldn’t I have heard about this sooner? Is there a way to get them on these grounds? I attempted to look at a photo of this online, and there isn’t a photo of it. I get the feeling they were looking to patch up the end of the year budget, and this came up or something. What is going on here?
My car has New York plates, and is registered in New York state, but I use it in Chicago for most of the year.
Is my best bet to contest by mail? Or in person?
JL
The funny thing about parking tickets JL, is there is no statute of limitations.
Murder and parking tickets. No statute of limitations for each.
It’s probably due to your out of state plates that it took so long for the Violation Notice to get issued.
The fact it took so long to get you weakens their case a bit, but it doesn’t automatically make it dismissible.
Whatever you do, DON’T contest it by mail.
Fight it at an In-Person Hearing as a bad ticket for the following reasons:
1-You never received the original ticket.
2-And when you got the Violation Notice it took 9 months to get to you.
3-You don’t have a recollection of being there. ( See if you can produce any credit card statements showing you were somewhere else on that date)
4-Even if you were there, you have no memory of the event as you never received the original ticket and it happened 9 freakin’ months ago!!!! How
would you be expected to remember something this far back?
5-Explain that you know you cannot park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant and would never do that.
Essentially, you’re trying to build up some doubt in the mind of the Administrative Law Officer presiding at your hearing. It will come down to whether or not you are believable or not.
Contest it and see if this works. Either way, it’s a coin flip on whether you prevail or not. I’ve seen these situations go either way.
The Geek
Dear Mr. Geek,
I am a Michigan resident.
I was visiting Chicago last February and received two parking tickets (didn’t know I needed to feed a meter). I have not paid them. I received a letter threatening to have my car booted.
Again, I live in Michigan.
Will they bother to come up here an have my car booted?
Signed,
Bootless So Far
The vision of a Chicago boot truck on a bounty hunter road trip mission to track your car down in Michigan makes me laugh Ms. Bootless So Far.
I can see the boot crew right now, with a cooler full of Mountain Dew and/or Red Bulls, a fistful of beef jerky and a big ass styrofoam cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee merging onto the Skyway out of town.
But the reality is Chicago can only boot on the public way (streets, alleys, etc.) within the borders of Chicago only.
Not in a suburb. Not in another state. Not even on private property.
So, don’t sweat it. You’re safe hiding out in Michigan.
Thanks,
The Geek
Geek,
I have a six foot wide port in front of my garage and its blocked on one side by a building.
Recently, I have been receiving $150 dollar tickets (3) from the city for parking in the alley. Standing in the alley by the adjacent building you cant even see my car. I have sent pictures and letters but keep getting determination letters.
This is wrong!
Sincerely,
Cedric
Without seeing your situation, I can only go by your description Cedric.
If you are parked on private property, there is no issue.
An alley is considered the public way. Private property, but it’s definition cannot be the public way.
It sounds like you have this small indentation off the alley that is private property and should be legal to park.
But you need to verify this by looking at CDOT’s online plat map of your property that shows your property lines. I would encourage you to go downtown to CDOT’s offices at 30 N. LaSalle to get them to print you an official City of Chicago map of the area in question. If the map backs your contention that you’re on private property, there’s no way you can lose with evidence from the city itself.
Another important thing you need to do is quit contesting these tickets by mail.
This is much too complex of a situation to fight via mail.
My opinion is you will continue to lose if you do it by mail. Fight it in person so you can show all your evidence and interact with the hearing officer. This should increase your chances of prevailing dramatically.
I would also contact Dept. of Revenue Street Operations to complain about what seems, from your description to be bordering on harassment. Here’s the number. 312-744-4500
Also, contact your local alderman’s office to step in on your behalf. This is what they’re there for.
Hope this helps.
The Geek
Ask The Parking Ticket Geek is a semi-regular parking ticket advice column. If you have a question for The Parking Ticket Geek, please e-mail the Geek with your query at:askthegeek@theexpiredmeter.com
Rawr,
This is somewhat hard to say.
If you were in the car with the engine on, you are technically “standing.”
However, drivers are allowed to pull over to the side of a street in order to drop off or pickup a passenger.
I would fight it this way. Request an in person hearing.
1-Explain you never received the original ticket. The law states the issuing officer must legally give you the ticket or place it on the vehicle. While this doesn’t completely give the hearing officer the basis to dismiss the ticket, it at least sows the seed of doubt in their mind.
2-Contend you pulled over for a very brief amount of time to pick up a passenger.
3-Have your friend write a letter that backs up your story from their point of view. Have them reiterate you had pulled over to pick them up and that it only took a brief amount of time. Have them notarize the letter at a local Currency Exchange so the letter becomes sworn testimony.
4-Present the letter as testimony in your defense.
This should work and you should win. I give it 75% odds.
Dev,
You don’t live in Chicago anymore, correct? It sounds like you live out of state.
What are you worried about?
There’s nothing they can do to you over 1 ticket.
The next time Arnold Scott Harris calls you, tell them to send a boot truck down to South Carolina to try and boot you.
Geek, I received my first parking ticket in the lovely city of Detroit, Mi. I am fighting the ticket but they scheduled a day in court when I will be out of town and it is litterally impossible to get someone on the phone to change the date. I am thinking about just not paying the ticket. What are your thoughts. Again, this is the first and only parking ticket I have recieved. Thanks, Phil
Hey Phil!
Thanks for the note. Here’s the thing, I’m pretty well versed with Chicago parking ticket laws, but ignorant of laws in other cities.
That being said, hearings for parking tickets tend to be pretty flexible no matter where you are. I would guess if you miss the court date, you can go back and reschedule. Based on your lack of success on the phone you may be able to do it in person. See if you can get down there before the hearing date and reschedule it in advance.
It think your chances are pretty good to change the date–even if you miss this date.
Think of it this way. Stuff happens. People get sick, jobs take us out of town, things come up. This even happens in more serious court cases at the county, state and federal level and more often than not, a judge will make allowances for circumstances.
See what you can do. Keep us posted!
The Geek
P.S. Are you kidding me about your 1 and only parking ticket?!? How is that humanly possible? Did you just buy your first car? What the hell?!?
I received a parkimg ticket in a private lot where i pay for monthly parking in chicago. Canni contest thia? Is the city allowed to come into lots and ticket?
Delilah,
The city has the right to ticket for city sticker and expired license plate stickers in private lots. There may be a few other things they can write tickets for too, but it’s late and I’m tired and can’t think of them right now.
What was your ticket for?
Geek…
For public lots, parking garages, target parking lots…The city currently only has the legal right to ticket for City Stickers: expired , none or improper display. Any other type of ticket from the city is by Request of Lot Owner/Mgnmt company Only, and then only CPD.
In Chicago Park District parking lots the city of Chicago has the legal right to ticket for everything…expired plates, no front plate, etc…by authorization from the Park District.
In all LAZ or CPM operated pay to park lots, the city of Chicago has legal right to ticket for everything that might be wrong with any vehie in the lot. And that is because CPM and LAZ are city concessionaires managing city owned lots.
Hey geek
I use to live in NYC with my car registered and insured there I collected up to 2000 dollars in parking tickets that I haven’t paid I switched my license, registration, and insurance to Florida adm a few month late switched everything to Connecticut I still go to NYC on a regular basis an still owe parking tickets In that state I have the same car but Connecticut license plates now. Is th city still looking for my car? And if so are they looking for the VIN number or the license plate the tickets were originally issued to? I went to get on a payment plan but they told me since I don’t have a ny license no more I have to pay in full. Am I safe to park in NY if I have CT plates?
Smooth,
My expertise is in Chicago parking tickets. I don’t know much about New York City.
My guess–and it’s only a guess–you are probably safe–at least for the short term. I would encourage you NOT to get any parking tickets on your new CT plates and if you do, pay them right away, so the city can’t link you to the new plates.
As far as a payment program, just start sending payments to the city. Pay by check and put your old license plate number on all correspondence and on the note section of the checks. They can’t stop you from paying.
Finally, I would encourage you to take your question to Larry Berezin over at NewYorkParkingTicket.com
http://www.newyorkparkingticket.com/Blog/bid/93466/Can-you-park-within-15-Feet-of-these-2-NYC-Fire-Hydrants
Larry is New York City’s reigning parking ticket expert and I would trust whatever he has to say over what I say when it comes to NYC.
Hello PT Geek,
I received a letter in the mail from a law firm representing the city of Chicago. It states that I owe 6 outstanding parking tickets to a sum of $430. All tickets are dated 1997 and 1998. I moved out of state at the end of 1998 and this is the first time I’m hearing of this. While I understand that there’s no statue of limitations on parking tickets do you think it’s worth trying to contact the city? At the very least to work out a payment plan as $430 is a bit of a hit for me.
Mark,
Don’t even both contacting the city. $430 is to low an amount to warrant a payment plan (at least by Chicago’s standards).
Work out your own payment plan. Just go to the city’s online parking ticket search site (check the right side of this web page in the blog roll links) and look up your tickets.
Pay a little each week or month until your debt is cleared. No one is going to have a problem if you are making payments toward your debt. There are no additional fees to do this.
However, if I lived out of state I would not pay the tickets. That’s probably good legal advice (as I am not a lawyer and somewhat of a crank), but that’s what I would do.
I’m in Mark’s position, out of state with a city hired collection agency. Only my total is $683. Would you give me the same advice? I’m planning on CMRRR them with a total disclaimer/records request and hoping they fall prey to the new consumer protection guidelines but what do you think?
PT Geek,
Just received a notice from the Dewey Cheatem and Howe law firm requesting payment for 6 CPD tickets from 1996 & 1997. I left Chicago in 97 and never once received a notice claiming I owed the city monies. I certainly used to get tickets (job at the time) but always paid them. I’ve got no proof whatsoever given 15+ years has past.
I live 2000 miles away and have no intentions of returning. What can they do? Does the law firm have to get a judgement to go to collections, or get on my credit report? Can it even get placed on my credit given its age?
Just a little shocked that A) Some law firm can track me down for a notice while the city never could, or never tried. B) I cannot prove anything otherwise.
Looking for any advice you may have….
Are You Kidding Me?,
My general advice for someone living out of state is to ignore these collection agencies.
However…it depends on how much you owe them. I would say, if it’s under $1000, the chances the city or their collection henchmen will file a lawsuit as it would probably cost more in legal fees than the total fines owed.
I agree with you, it’s really a bunch of crap that any government agency expects individuals to have payment records from over 3 years ago. The law has to be changed.
Mr.geek, I have an outstanding balance of $900.00 in parking tickets, I just register my car a week ago, I was told about a payment plan here in nyc which I made moves on it, but it happens that out of everything they ask me to qualify am only good with several things like, license, registration, and insurance, they ask me for pay stubs which I dont have because I work of the books, and also ask me for an bank statement which I dont have.. I am really interested in making the payments so that the city dont tow away my car, but I probably wont qualify becacuse of those two thing’s. . Mr geek is there any other way to walk around this, and avoid my car from being tow? Thanks geek for reading my comment….
If I have tickets on some old plates can I get the boot on my new plates
Doris,
The answer is, most likely yes.
Often, the new plates will escape detection until you get a parking ticket.
HOWEVER…it seems the city’s databases are getting better and communicating with the Illinois Secretary of State databases more frequently so it’s getting harder and harder to escape detection.
Juicyguns,
Being that I don’t know a lot about New York City parking tickets, I hesitate to give you advice.
I would refer you to a very knowledgeable gentleman who is New York City’s version of The Parking Ticket Geek, Larry Berezin.
Here’s his website:
http://www.newyorkparkingticket.com/Blog/
If she is working off the books..she is most likely an illegal and here paperwork is forged.
I’d say tickets dating back to the 90s are uncollectable at this point regardless of official statue of limitations. You could fight any such attempts by forcing the collector to go to court. They’d never win their lawsuit as they could not even come close to proving that you owe tickets from the 90s. Back then it was all paper records and there’s no way a sufficient chain of evidence was preserved. The junk debt buyer would not be able to make the case and they know it, which is why they wouldn’t even bother filing it. But they’d like for you to think they would sue you just so you pay them.
I have only 1 parking ticket (Red Light)in chicago from 2008. Can I be booted? Some one told me thats there is age on parking tickets that you can get booted is that true.
Vanessa,
You cannot be booted for one ticket.
The threshold is…2 unpaid tickets in Final Determination over 1 year old OR immediately if you three unpaid tickets in Final Determination.
I have over $3,000 in parking tickets that have been put in a payment plan. I have about 6 tickets outstanding in Final Determination status. I can’t afford right now to make a new payment plan for these tickets. I really can’t afford to pay for all this or else I can’t pay my rent. I need my car for work, but what I get paid is minimal. Please help. I need to know if I can go to the City in someway & ask if they can give me some more time in resolving this issue. Please inquire with suggestions that can make this situation better. Thank you!
Marsha,
It doesn’t hurt to try to talk to someone at the Dept. of Finance.
If you already have a plan, perhaps they can amend it. It may work, it’s worth trying.
My strategy would be to pay off the four least expensive tickets ASAP. Borrow some money to pay these tickets if you can.
Or, if some of those tickets are close to a year old, pay those or a combination. Get your unpaid ticket count down to 2 before you get a boot notice. See if the two most recent tickets remain unpaid.
You see, you can get booted for having 3 or more tickets in Final Determination right away. 2 tickets can still get you booted, but they have to be more than a year old.
If you can do this, you buy yourself some time on the other two.
They cannot boot you for two tickets unless they are more than a year old.
Then, you work on paying these off a few bucks every week, two weeks or monthly. You essentially are making your own payment plan.
It’s a lot of work and takes a lot of self discipline, but it works.
Dear Geek,
I moved to Chicago a while ago from the suburbs and until recently the city didn’t know I was living here, and I didn’t get a city sticker. I got a $200 non city sticker parking ticket in December and paid my dues. Last night (@ 255am) I got another one. The thing is I am moving to California in 3 weeks and my registration is up then as well. I am planning on registering my car in California and not living in Chicago again. Thoughts on how to get out of this ticket? I don’t want to pay for another $200 fine. Do you think I have any grounds for contention? I already paid for this fine…
Sincerely,
I hate Chicago parking
Courtney,
If your car is still registered in the suburbs, then you have a chance to fight the ticket. Just produce your registration. Some people, I am told, fib about their residency, to further help their cause.
Technically, if your car has been “staying” in Chicago over 30 days–you’re supposed to get a city sticker. But many people keep their car registered outside the city so they don’t have to purchase a city sticker. But the city is getting more aggressive in enforcing the law.
Here’s the thing. Fight it but if you lose, what can they do to you?
You’re moving out to California! They can’t boot you.
The “right” thing to do would be to pay the ticket. Many people in your situation, would not pay it. Just sayin’.
Dear Geek,
I received a Notice of Judgement from a Chicago law firm asking me to pay for tickets from the 1990′s. Total of four tickets totaling $305. I have lived in California for the past 13 years and have never been contacted about these tickets before this new program to collect on old tickets. Everything I have read on this website regarding these old tickets in my situation is that I should not pay. But I have a couple of questions about this: Would the city eventually send this to a collection agency? And if so, is there a way to know if this would end up as a mark on my credit? Lastly, is there a way to know how long it takes for this to end up with a collection agency?
I have a feeling that there are many people in my situation. From what I read on the web, the amounts I owe are for paying the tickets late, and not for not paying. This infuriates me, and I would like to avoid paying, but not at the cost of having my credit damaged.
Sincerely,
T
Hi!
I just got a courtesy notice and a final notice of a parking ticket from 7 years ago when my daughter had our car in FL. We live in CT. I called about this today and Ft Laud told me there were 2 tickets issued but only one was paid. That made no sense to me but the clerk replied that both tickets could have been put in one envelope, and my daughter missed the 2nd one….He said one for for meter being expired (paid same month issues he said) & the other ticket was for exceeding the hours allowed in that parking space (this is the one that remains unpaid) My daughter knows of no 2nd ticket. The $25 fine is now $45 (but should actually be a lot more as 7 years later!) I don’t know why they waited so long to send the notices, but they say if I don’t pay in full that they will place a hold on my CT registration. I called CT DMV and they said that is nonsense. They don’t do that unless someone owes 6 parking tickets, and that would only be if the tickets were issued in CT. To make it even crazier, that car was since put in our daughter’s name (gifted to her) and same plates were kept. BUT she moved to NYC and didn’t need a car, so she gave it back to us. When I went to put it back into my name, I couldn’t use the same tags as her let her registration expire. So I had to get new tags. The bottom line is that the car no longer has the same plates and no one said anything about owing parking fine on it what I re-registered it a year ago. Can Ft. Laud still do something to me or should I just cough up the money even though we don’t think this ticket is for real. (my daughter would have paid both had she known there were 2 tickets….) Even the CT DMV thinks I should ignore it, but I’m still not so sure…(we’re talking about 1 ticket!)
Thomas,
Is the Notice of Judgment an actual court or legal document filed with the Cook County Clerk’s office?
Or is it a collection letter with the title of Notice of Judgment?
My guess it’s just a collection letter. The law firm IS a collection agency.
I wouldn’t pay it if its just a collection letter. If its a court document, then you need to be concerned.
As far as credit history, parking tickets normally have no impact on your credit score. The exception is, if a city gets a court issued judgment against you. The judgment goes on your credit record.
Make sense?
Lynn,
I would ignore it.
Ft. Lauderdale is not going to spend any real effort trying to collect on $45 from someone living out of state.
My husband owns a facility and has a loading zone in front that he pays for. He was parked in my car there and received a ticket for “Curb Loading Zone”
How do we contest this ticket?
Krystle,
You simply need to contest the ticket and testify you or your husband were in the act of loading or unloading the vehicle.
We always suggest contesting in person. If you do, then bring in a notarized letter from your husband which backs up your story. That way, two witnesses are saying the car was involved in the loading/unloading process. If you were using the loading zone to load/unload, there should be no way the ticket gets upheld.
Here’s the thing about loading zones…
If it is a passenger vehicle….you need a loading zone permit to be in a loading zone Period.
Loading zones are for Expeditious loading and unloading. If a city agent observes a vehicle in a loading zone and there is no activity ongoing, they can issue a Curb Loading Zone ticket as they see fit.
The loading zone permit is issued by the City of Chicago on an annual And Semi-annual basis (6 or 12 months) and is good for all Loading zones (not valid for Standing zones though) and enable the vehicle operator to use any Loading Zone for the max 30 minutes (regardless of what the sign states And doesn’t have to have blinking lights going.
dear geek,
last april 26 i received a notice from Gregg Van De Mark law office stating that on a specific date i parked at 219 n . water ave in chicago.i thought that they made a mistake because it was a wrong plate number.so i sent them an email to dispute the notice. a couple of weeks later i received another notice with a record of motor vehicle registration stating that it was my car’s previous plate number.i swear to God, i never park on that particular place and date.i dont know what to do its driving me ensane.please help!!!
Delia,
What you need to determine is if, on the date the alleged ticket was issued, you actually owned the vehicle in question.
If not, tell them to stick it!
VERY IMPORTANT!!!
Check to see if they are telling you the ticket was issued at 219 NORTH Water. Because there is no such address as 219 N. Water.
There’s East and West Water but the street does not run North-South.
If the ticket was issued at 219 N. Water St., tell them to SHOVE IT! And then tell them there’s no such address as 219 NORTH Water St. and that you don’t appreciate this company trying to scam you like this and you will report them to the Illinois Attorney General.
If u pay sumthing on my ticket will it still double….
laquisha
Here’s the situation.
Let’s say you get a $50 parking ticket but you only make a $25 payment toward the ticket before it’s supposed to double.
When it does double, ONLY the $25 balance will double–not the portion you already paid.