Ticket for expired city sticker but I don't live in Chicago! (Springfield: showing, work)

[reneeh63]

I really need some help here!

I was visiting a friend in Chicago and got a $120 ticket for an expired/improperly displayed city sticker while parked at a paid up meter in front of a restaurant on Devon Ave.

The kicker is that I live in BLOOMINGTON, Illinois and the car I was driving is registered in my name.

The thing I'm unsure about is that I bought the car in Chicago and there are two OLD city stickers still on the windshield.

Can I get out of this ticket by showing I don't live in Chicago or am I still stuck because you're supposed to REMOVE old stickers?

I love Chicago but I can't seem to stop getting tickets for one thing or another!

[mendelman]

Mail in the ticket to the City with a copy of corroborating information showing you are not a resident of the City of Chicago and then remove the old stickers from your windshield before to come to Chicago again.

[reneeh63]

Thanks, Mendelman - I just removed any reference to "old stickers" from my letter to them since the ticket itself doesn't specify. I figure I shouldn't "give myself away"...

[sbd78]

This happened to me once. (I used to live in city and had an old city sticker in the window, and got a ticket after I no longer lived there but was there visiting.) As long as your car is registered to your Bloomington address, you should be able to get the tickets taken off.

[gardener34]

A couple of times, when we lived in cook county, I got erroneous tickets. Once my car was supposedly illegally parked somewhere in a very "nice" neighborhood on the south side. (I was never there) And once I was illegally parked somewhere else, on the north side... while I was at work.

First I heard of this was a collection agency. Turns out that the policeman's handwriting was illegible. AND I no longer had the car the tickets were supposedly issued to. So I had to write state of IL (Springfield) to get a copy of the registration of the old car. AND get the city of chicago to pull a copy of the ticket. Both these tickets took me a total of about 4 years to get rectified.

Almost made me wonder if this was some kind of scam? How many people just pay these tickets to get the city and the collection agencies off their backs.

Anyway... be prepared to wait and wait and wait... when dealing with the city.

[aragx6]

I think in this case it makes sense that the OP got a ticket though, as it probably looked as thoguh this was someone who living in Chicago but had not bothered to renew their sticker. You'll probably have to hassle with it for a while, but I'm sure it will get taken care of.

[gardener34]

Yeah, just be prepared for the process to move slowly.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I think in this case it makes sense that the OP got a ticket though, as it probably looked as thoguh this was someone who living in Chicago but had not bothered to renew their sticker. You'll probably have to hassle with it for a while, but I'm sure it will get taken care of.

No, it doesn't make sense. The ticketing officer is supposed to check the current plate registration, not assume it's a Chicago-registered vehicle just because there is an older sticker in the window. But the officer was too lazy to do that, so (s)he has now wasted both the OP's and the city's time and resources. Plus it's another data point to add to the pile that people point to when they explain why they hate this city's corrupt and/or arbitrary government. I fail to see how this makes "sense."

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by mendelman

Mail in the ticket to the City with a copy of corroborating information showing you are not a resident of the City of Chicago and then remove the old stickers from your windshield before to come to Chicago again.

This is the most simple,correct,and best answer you will get.

[aragx6]

All I meant was that it makes more sense than getting a ticket from being parked somewhere you never were.