City sticker question (Chicago: lease, home, neighborhoods)

[Myturn19]

Hello, I just recently moved in with my girlfriend, but my name is not on the bills or a lease, but I have my car here and park in the same general area (however I have been thinking of picking up a private parking space).

What do I have to do in terms of a city sticker or not getting the $200 city ticket for no sticker? My car is registered at my home address as well as that is where I "live". That home address is not in the city of Chicago, but is in Illinois.

I do understand I won't be able to get permit parking, but if I get a private space, do I need a sticker?

I went to the currency exchange and she was trying to make me pay a late fee of $60 just to register my car, and she wasn't certain if I even was allowed to have one under my circumstances.

Think you for anyone's help!

[ChicagoMeO]

You live here in the city of chicago. You should pay the sticker whether or not your name is on the lease. You may technically get away with it because you found what you think might be a loophole, but in case the city catches on to your little idea, you may be fined.

I think you are in an ethical/moral issue and your conscience will make the decision based on whether you are being honest or not.

[Drover]

Any car that is kept in the city more than 30 days in a year technically requires a city sticker. It doesn't matter if it's kept on public or private property. It seems the denser lakefront neighborhoods is where revenue agents are more likely notice cars registered outside of the city but keep showing up on their beat anyway, and they will start ticketing those cars after a while. Parking it off-street won't necessarily shield you from this scrutiny if it's parked in a place where the revenue agents can easily access it, or in a parking garage that is subject to city inspections.

Otherwise, it's a fairly low chance that you'll get ticketed for no sticker by a roaming revenue agent if you keep it registered elsewhere. However, if you get pulled over by a Chicago cop and your DL has a Chicago address and your car is registered to you without a city sticker, you will get a ticket for it.

What were they trying to charge you a late fee for? The city sticker, or the license plate renewal?

[pidgeon92]

Maybe you'll get away with it, maybe you won't.

In terms of your living situation, the right thing to do is to get yourself added to the lease. Once you have that, you won't have any problems getting a city sticker, and if the lease is dated for your "recent" move date (within 30 days), you should not have to pay a late fee for your city sticker.

[Madchester]

If your car is registered somewhere else, you probably won't get a ticket. If you do, you can easily contest it by mail and have it thrown out.

[ToriaT]

No it does not matter if your car is registered somewhere else. That happened to my son. If your car is parked repeatedly on the city streets unless its moved around, it will be ticketed. If it has another sticker on it from another city it might not. Problem is our suburb does not have stickers so it was blank and it was parked in the same area repeatedly so it got a ticket. To be safe get a city sticker. They have made it pretty painless and at least for renewals you can get them on line and through the mail.

[Madchester]

Well, that stinks. I just moved from Logan Square, where I lived for two years - my truck was registered to a suburb without a sticker and, knowing that my F-150 would be ticketed on a residential street, parked it on a highly visible intersection every day. I received a couple tickets for rush hour parking over the course of the two years, but never for not having a sticker.