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I got a 60 dollar parking ticket a few weeks ago, and I was just looking at the ticket and noticed they put the wrong state on it. Although I live here now, I'm from Georgia so I have Georgia plates. But for some reason they wrote down Ohio on the ticket. They got my plate number right and the make of my car, but no VIN. There is a "violation supported by a photograph" but the picture is super blurry, you can barely make out the numbers in the photo. Online, it still shows that the ticket was issued to Ohio plates, so after all this time no one has caught the mistake.
I would just contest the ticket and hope it would get thrown out, but I realized I've already passed the deadline to contest. I really don't want to pay it as I'm extremely strapped for cash this month due to illness and I really can't afford this.
Also, I feel it was unfair anyway because I parked in a spot that had no signs anywhere saying I couldn't park there, left it for a couple days since I was crashing at a friend's house, and the next day they apparently had put up a street sweeping sign. I'm new to this city, I never could have known it was even possible that they could just put up a sign on a tree the next day saying you can't park there. Now I know better, but I thought without a permanent sign saying I couldn't park there, I thought I was good to go! But I didn't knowingly illegally park. I feel tricked!
Do you think I should just go ahead and contest it anyway even though its been a little over a month? I would send in a copy of my registration to show the ticket is void cuz it's not the right info, but maybe since its been more than 21 days they will just use that to get the correct info and charge me? If I don't do anything is there any way they would be able to find me without the proper state on the ticket and no VIN number?
First things first: Welcome to Chicago where they hate your car and they'll make you pay for owning one.
Second, be advised that the city is only required to provide 24 hour's notice of a temporary parking ban (such as street sweeping) as it's presumed that one does not simply park one's car on a public street with an "out of sight out of mind" attitude. S*#t happens here in The Big City™ and they need to be able to clear off a street on short notice; consequently, you're expected to keep daily tabs on the parking situation whenever you're parked on a public street. Where street sweeping is concerned, they do publish the street-by-street schedule on the city's website; but to be fair, it's not exactly easy to find and it's even harder to decipher. Nonetheless, take this as your first lesson in Big City™ parking... stay hyper-vigilant about the changing parking restrictions on the block where you leave your car.
Third, if the ticket status is anything other than "Notice of Final Determination," you can still contest it. See this page for more details. Given the time frame your post implies between the ticket issuance and today, it sounds like you still have time to contest it. You have the option to contest it either by mail or in person. I would highly recommend the latter unless you have a slam-dunk case with irrefutable documentation; face-to-face appeals have a higher success rate than mailed appeals.
Fourth, if you do contest it, I would suggest you focus on defense #5 from the link above, namely the portion of #5 that reads, "[t]he facts alleged in the parking or compliance violation notice are inconsistent . . ." I would argue that there is an inconsistency between the alleged facts and the truth (alleged fact: violator plate is from OH; actual fact: violator plate is not from OH) and stress that the adjudicator cannot trust any of the other alleged facts if the complainant cannot accurately document such a fundamental fact of the offending vehicle, etc...) Be warned however that the "photographic evidence" may be sufficient to overcome your argument.
Finally... I'd like to know how you became aware of this violation. Did you get a ticket on your vehicle, or did you get a notice in the mail? I can't imagine you received a mail notice if your registered address is in GA and they tried to mail it to OH. If you got your notice in the mail, that would suggest they figured out your car was registered in GA after all. If so, that would lend credence to the "inconsistency" defense per above. Otherwise... if the city still thinks they're ticketing some poor slob in Ohio, then they're pretty much shooting blanks and you're off the hook. Please elaborate on how you became aware of the violation notice.
Thanks for the response! I guess it didn't feel like a "public" street since it was a quiet street full of apartments, but I've learned my lesson now to always check everyday! Good to know I can check online too.
I got the ticket on my windshield and have not received anything in the mail yet. So as of yet, they don't seem to know of the error. The online website for the ticket also still says that it's for an Ohio plate. The photographic evidence is also super shoddy. I don't think you could actually tell from the fuzziness of the photo what type of plate it is. You can't actually read that it says Georgia on it at all, but maybe someone could figure it out anyway, not sure.
I guess I'm worried that if I contest it, then they will know what state the plate should be from and will have the correct info to find me....but if I don't contest it, they might figure it out on their own one day and fine me more money! Gosh and a 60 dollar ticket just seems so harsh to me, I've never had a parking ticket anywhere near that expensive in my life!
Thanks for the response! I guess it didn't feel like a "public" street since it was a quiet street full of apartments, but I've learned my lesson now to always check everyday! Good to know I can check online too.
I got the ticket on my windshield and have not received anything in the mail yet. So as of yet, they don't seem to know of the error. The online website for the ticket also still says that it's for an Ohio plate. The photographic evidence is also super shoddy. I don't think you could actually tell from the fuzziness of the photo what type of plate it is. You can't actually read that it says Georgia on it at all, but maybe someone could figure it out anyway, not sure.
I guess I'm worried that if I contest it, then they will know what state the plate should be from and will have the correct info to find me....but if I don't contest it, they might figure it out on their own one day and fine me more money! Gosh and a 60 dollar ticket just seems so harsh to me, I've never had a parking ticket anywhere near that expensive in my life!
Thanks for all the advice on contesting it!
Uhm... the notion that one's "feelings" about the ownership status of a street should determine whether it's public or private is so fatuous that I honestly struggle to respond to such asininity without sounding like a complete bellend. A quiet residential street full of apartments is still a public street whether you feel like it or not, and it's still subject to municipal parking ordinances. And such ordinances will be enforced with the same if not more impunity on a "quiet street full of apartments" as a noisy busy street with no apartments at all.
And another thing, have you paid for your window sticker yet? Because if some revenue agent who regularly patrols your neighborhood catches on that you're using an out-of-state plate to dodge the window-sticker tax, they'll write you a $200 ticket and then they'll keep coming back every day with another $200 ticket until you have a tax sticker properly displayed in your window.
With all that out of the way and back to the immediate issue at hand... if nobody at your GA address is receiving notices in the mail, you're probably off the hook for this ticket -- it sounds like they're shooting blanks at the wrong target. But going forward, stay vigilant about parking restrictions and regulations and what-not because they're likely to get you sooner or later if you don't know how to play their many, many rules.
A good resource to start learning about parking rules, parking tickets, the stupidity of parking rules and tickets, how to fight stupid parking tickets, and other parking-related issues is The Expired Meter.
Cheers, welcome to Chicago, good luck, and remember that a "quiet" public street is still a public street and it's still patrolled by ticket agents.
it wasn't that i thought the street wasn't public.. but more that the street actually had signs saying that you could park in the same spot for 7 days or less, and since the residences of this area don't have their own permits for spots and no garages, everyone who lives there needs to park in the street. So, I knew it was public, but considering everyone who lives there must park their cars on the street, I thought leaving a car there for a few days would be normal. I've lived in 4 states before and I've never seen this kind of thing before. But live and learn!
Even weirder, it happened last week at a different friend's place (with no signs ever posted) that my car was just "relocated" somewhere else. No ticket, they just moved it to another street without notice! I thought my car was stolen or towed at first until I called some places and they told me it had been moved. Chicago is an interesting place haha.
And I honestly, until your post I have NEVER heard of a window sticker! I just googled it to find out what it was because I had no idea what you were talking about. So great, I might have gotten lucky with this parking ticket thing, but now I have to pay for a window sticker! Oh how like life! I'm moving into an apartment where I will have a parking garage, I'm assuming I still need the sticker just to drive around the city? UGH.
You weren't lying when you said Chicago hates my car and will make me pay for owning one!
Uhm... the notion that one's "feelings" about the ownership status of a street should determine whether it's public or private is so fatuous that I honestly struggle to respond to such asininity without sounding like a complete bellend. A quiet residential street full of apartments is still a public street whether you feel like it or not, and it's still subject to municipal parking ordinances. And such ordinances will be enforced with the same if not more impunity on a "quiet street full of apartments" as a noisy busy street with no apartments at all.
And another thing, have you paid for your window sticker yet? Because if some revenue agent who regularly patrols your neighborhood catches on that you're using an out-of-state plate to dodge the window-sticker tax, they'll write you a $200 ticket and then they'll keep coming back every day with another $200 ticket until you have a tax sticker properly displayed in your window.
With all that out of the way and back to the immediate issue at hand... if nobody at your GA address is receiving notices in the mail, you're probably off the hook for this ticket -- it sounds like they're shooting blanks at the wrong target. But going forward, stay vigilant about parking restrictions and regulations and what-not because they're likely to get you sooner or later if you don't know how to play their many, many rules.
A good resource to start learning about parking rules, parking tickets, the stupidity of parking rules and tickets, how to fight stupid parking tickets, and other parking-related issues is The Expired Meter.
Cheers, welcome to Chicago, good luck, and remember that a "quiet" public street is still a public street and it's still patrolled by ticket agents.
Tell it brother D!
Now for the OP -- since your car's VIN has not been associated with this ticket and they have the incorrect state for the only other means of establishing ownership (assuming you did not do anything so stupid as register to view your ticket online by entering your current address or other identifying info...) this ticket will never be associated with you. Although I do not condone unethical behavior you can decide how to proceed.
I agree with everything Drover laid out and strongly recommend that going forward you get your car properly registered and pay all required taxes to the city.
Now for the OP -- since your car's VIN has not been associated with this ticket and they have the incorrect state for the only other means of establishing ownership (assuming you did not do anything so stupid as register to view your ticket online by entering your current address or other identifying info...) this ticket will never be associated with you. Although I do not condone unethical behavior you can decide how to proceed.
I agree with everything Drover laid out and strongly recommend that going forward you get your car properly registered and pay all required taxes to the city.
What exactly do you think is unethical about not pointing out the city of Chicago's careless mistake? The city takes advantage of people's careless mistakes every day. They messed up and have to deal with the consequences, just like all the people they issue tickets to. The officer should have been paying attention but he wasn't. If anything, it's poetic justice.
If the OP parked illegally they have an ethical duty to suffer the consequences ...
No they don't.
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A masterpiece!
