DC Parking Ticket

September 1, 2004 6:41 PM

I've a hunch a similar question has been asked here before, but Googling doesn't turn up anything specific. I'd like assistance understanding the commonsense guidelines for paying an out-of-state parking ticket, since cash is a scarce commodity and we misread the meter. In a nutshell, I'd pay without question if i could spare the hundred, but want to understand the consequences if I can't. Will it affect my credit, in-state DMV standing, or anything else? The ticket was issued in Washington DC, if that is of any import.
posted by vers to Travel & Transportation around Washington, DC (4 answers total)

IAMAL, but I'm 99% certain DC does not have collection reciprocity for parking tickets with other states. I know it doesn't have one with next-door Maryland.

Back in my youth, for years I never, I mean never, paid DC parking tickets. I simply changed my Maryland plates every time I got a ticket - back then it just cost $2 - and stayed one step ahead of their scofflaw records. Then I got sloppy and booted. Computers never forget. There were cars on my record I'd forgotten I'd owned.

So if you're going to park in DC again there is a chance you too could get booted. With but one ticket I'd say it's a vanishingly small chance, but it exists. If you're not coming back, wad the ticket up and throw it away. Or frame it as a keepsake.
posted by mojohand at 7:04 PM on September 1, 2004

I got a parking ticket in 2001 in Ft. Worth, TX while driving a rental car with Colorado plates (I live in Georgia). I never paid the ticket and haven't heard about it since. The rental people never contacted me and I don't have anything on my credit rating about it either. I've renewed my license with no problems since then as well as purchased a new vehicle.

My husband also got a speeding ticket in the Dallas area in November 2002 and never paid it - Georgia doesn't seem to care as he's also been able to renew his driver's license since then.
posted by lynda at 8:49 AM on September 2, 2004

It is my understanding that a ticket in one state simply stays in that state. As long as you never go back to that state you have nothing to worry about. Of course, if they want to be jerks, if you go back they could have a warrant out for your arrest.
posted by pwb503 at 11:00 AM on September 2, 2004

Response by poster: I do thank you all for your responses and understanding - very much appreciated. Not sure what we'll do in this instance, but your feedback is very useful.
posted by vers at 6:14 PM on September 2, 2004