How to negotiate parking fines

March 11, 2006 9:03 AM

My boyfriend got a notice in the mail that he owes $600 for two parking tickets from 2004. Though he doesn't think the city of Baltimore is just making up the original fines, this is the first he's heard of them or the penalties. The original fines add up to $84. Is there anything he can do to eliminate or reduce the penalties?

He had to renew his license in 2005, after the tickets were issued and presumably had accrued some penalties. At that time, he called City Hall to make sure he had no outstanding fines because if he did, the DMV would send him to pay them before it could renew his license. He did not have any fines. His car has also been impounded (for forgetting he parked in a rush-hour no-parking zone) at least twice since 2004, and no other fines showed up when he went to take care of those infractions.

Of course, he'll go to City Hall and tell them all of this and hope for the best, but he can't prove that he's never received a notice of the fines. The only proof he has of having been told his record was clear last year is that his license in successfully renewed. Any ideas?

posted by Airhen to law & government (5 answers total)

Pretty tough to get out of this one. He got tickets, didn't pay them and now they want their money. I thought everyone knew that late fees and fines were added for not paying on time.

Sounds like he needs to be a bit more aware of where he's left his car.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 2:03 PM on March 11, 2006

He didn't know he had the tickets. If he'd known, he would have paid them. He is not trying to weasle out of paying fines that he knew were accruing. Someone could have taken them off his car. They could have blown away. He had called to ask whether he had tickets, after these were supposedly issued. City Hall said he did not. He had to get his car back after it was towed and he had no outstanding tickets.

He is willing to believe that the tickets really were issued. He will pay for the tickets. I am asking whether he has any kind of recourse to reduce or eliminate the late fees since it seems the city was negligent in not notifying him of the original fine.

I am not asking whether my boyfriend is irresponsible about parking.
posted by Airhen at 2:17 PM on March 11, 2006

Well, I think a good first step would be to phone up the appropriate people, explain that he never received the original tickets, and offer to pay the original fine immediately. The worst possible outcome of this is they'll say no, so there's really nothing to lose.
posted by CrayDrygu at 3:27 PM on March 11, 2006

after i'd not paid a speeding ticket for some time and all of the fines and whatnot increased the original ticket from $180 to $450, i decided to go plea to the judge in traffic court. he asked why i was speeding in the first place, i said "for no reason" and after the person ahead of me made up an elaborate bullshit story he said "at least you were honest!" and dropped it down to $150. i think if he goes and talks to someone they should understand and come up with something more reasonable.

or maybe i just lucked out with a nice judge.
posted by kooop at 3:49 PM on March 11, 2006

I fear I might have unpaid parking tickets (or anything) somewhere for the same reason, as irrational of a fear as that is, because I have moved around so much, etc.

However, if it is true that your boyfriend called City Hall and was told he had no tickets, I would certainly file a complaint and explain the situation. Perhaps try to demonstrate that your boyfriend has consistently paid tickets he's gotten in the past, showing no pattern of avoiding payment. I would also be sure, before you fight the late fees, that your city does not have another method by which a car owner might check to see if he has outstanding tickets other than the traditional way of receiving a hard ticket on your car. If it does, the city might expect the owner to check on his own in the event a ticket disappears -- holding owners liable in cases such as this (which would have to be in a local law, I am assuming).

But for one thing, I would make sure the City won't report you to the crediting bureaus should your boyfriend not fork up the money soon. Then this parking ticket situation might blow up into an entirely different (and more lingering) problem. (This happened to me in a different context, and it has been a nightmare dealing with collection.) Just in case, your boyfriend might want to first pay the tickets to ensure no one is trying to collect debt and then take action to secure a refund.

I sympathize, and hopefully the city will resolve the situation fairly.
posted by orangeshoe at 6:53 PM on March 11, 2006