Pay parking ticket on car about to be junked?

[Carlyle]

What is the name of your state? CA

Hello,
Should I pay or ignore a municipal code parking citation on a car I am about to junk?

Thanks!

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by Carlyle

What is the name of your state? CA

Hello,
Should I pay or ignore a municipal code parking citation on a car I am about to junk?

Thanks!

It depends on the jurisdiction. Many jurisdictions turn these over to collections agencies (and that can add between $250 to $500 to the price of the parking cite). It's a gamble ... pay the ticket or risk a hit to your credit rating as well as a much bigger fine and penalties!

Your call.

- Carl

[Carlyle]

Thanks, Carl,

How would you find out whether a jurisdiction does this?

Thanks,
Carlyle

[CdwJava]

You can call and ask them ... but, you may not get the right answer. And you cannot use a defense later of, "I ignored it because I didn't think they would turn it over to collections."

Unless you like gambling, I would suggest you just pay the ticket. It can't be THAT much. And these things have a nasty way of becoming resurrected when the city decides it needs revenue. EVen if they don't have a collections policy now, that could change between May and July when cities start looking at the budget for the next fiscal year.

Paying it would be the best option. If you gamble you risk a lot more than you gain!

- Carl

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by Carlyle

What is the name of your state? CA

Hello,
Should I pay or ignore a municipal code parking citation on a car I am about to junk?

Thanks!

**A: if you are permanently moving to Mexico, do not pay.

[racer72]

Parking tickets are tied to the registered owner, not the vehicle.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by racer72

Parking tickets are tied to the registered owner, not the vehicle.

Sadly, this is not always the case in CA. Each jurisdiction handles them differently. Some jurisdictions do not even report excessive parking violations to the DMV.

More often than not, unpaid traffic tickets will go to a Collections service and they will go after the registered owner. But, I have seen many such cases go away when the car is destroyed or sold prior to a registration hold or lien being placed on it.

In my jurisdiction we did nothing with parking tickets at all until about 2 years ago. Payment was, in effect, voluntary.

- Carl