What is the name of your state? California
Today my vehicle was impounded for having six unpaid tickets. The thing is, three of tickets were paid three days ago at the DMV office while obtaining my registration sticker. The remaining three were given for having expired plates, and I was in the process of appealing these.
However, the woman at the San Diego Parking Authority office would not "clear" my account unless I paid for all six tickets on the spot since I did not have proof that I had already paid the prior three. The receipt from the DMV is in the glovebox of my impounded vehicle along with my other registration papers - but the people at the tow yard say I'm not allowed to touch my car until it has been "cleared" by the city parking office and they won't go into the glovebox to get the paperwork for me either.
I was appealing the remaining three tickets because I DID pay in full for my new registration back in October 2006 before the old sticker expired, but by the time the DMV processed my paperwork, the insurance card had expired by a few days (I did not have a new insurance card at the time I sent it in because the new policy wasn't to take effect for several weeks). They mailed me back all the forms (on Dec. 1, 2006), requested I send back a new current insurance card, plus payment for an additional parking ticket which had surfaced in the interim. I mailed them all the requested paperwork and payment promptly, kept Xerox copies for myself, and waited for my new sticker to arrive. I tried calling the DMV inquire about the delay, and after getting nowhere on the phone and my check not clearing for six weeks, I finally arranged to go to the DMV in person earlier this week. I got my new sticker then, dated for expiration 10/2007.
The DMV clerk told me I should have no problem appealing the remaining tickets because their records do show I paid for the registration in full back in October. But the Parking Authority clerk told me today it was my responsibility to fax or drive the receipt for ticket payment directly over to them to avoid being impounded in the future (the paperwork on another customer's receipt she showed me suggested one 'send' a copy of the receipt to the Parking Authority to avoid such an episode, but nowhere does it imply urgency, and had I promptly mailed them copy of my reciept it would not have been processed by them before today anyway). Further, she tells me now that my vehicle has been impounded, I have lost all rights to appeal any of my tickets. (This, despite her telling me initially my vehicle should not have been impounded in the first place if there were fewer than five unpaid tickets). She also told me if I paid in full for ALL SIX tickets today (thereby double-paying for three that I have already paid for), I would have NO recourse to appeal or apply for a refund for the three double-paid tickets, even should I acquire proof of double-payment at a later date.
So, even if I AM somehow able to come up with a receipt for the the originally-paid three tickets and can get my car out of the tow yard tomorrow, I have several questions:
(1) Do I really lose the right to appeal these remaining three tickets for expired registration, even though the tow was unjustified? DMV clerk told me they have in their computer system documentation that I had paid in full before the tickets were issued. Can the fact that the prior three were paid in full before the impoundment took place (thereby making the impoundment unjustified) change this regulation that I lose all appeal rights once a vehicle has been impounded?
(2) Can I challenge the impoundment itself, thereby allowing me to appeal the remaining tickets, and also hopefully allowing me to get compensation for the $314 impoundment fees I will pay the tow yard tomorrow. The clerk at the ticket agency told me herself that I shouldn't have gotten towed in the first place. What are my chances of proving the impoundment was unjustified and holding the city financially responsible for the costs of the impoundment?
(3) If a ticket issued is still within the 30-day pay-or-appeal period, can they really use that in a tally of five unpaid tickets justifying a tow??? I know it's not techinically criminal law, so I don't have any real "innocent-until-proven-guilty" rights. But it doesn't seem fair to me that if I was in the process of appealing these tickets they can still count them against me, thereby rationalizing an unjustified tow and precluding me the option to pursue a legitimate appeal on the very tickets they used to justify their tow.
Today my vehicle was impounded for having six unpaid tickets. The thing is, three of tickets were paid three days ago at the DMV office while obtaining my registration sticker. The remaining three were given for having expired plates, and I was in the process of appealing these.
However, the woman at the San Diego Parking Authority office would not "clear" my account unless I paid for all six tickets on the spot since I did not have proof that I had already paid the prior three. The receipt from the DMV is in the glovebox of my impounded vehicle along with my other registration papers - but the people at the tow yard say I'm not allowed to touch my car until it has been "cleared" by the city parking office and they won't go into the glovebox to get the paperwork for me either.
I was appealing the remaining three tickets because I DID pay in full for my new registration back in October 2006 before the old sticker expired, but by the time the DMV processed my paperwork, the insurance card had expired by a few days (I did not have a new insurance card at the time I sent it in because the new policy wasn't to take effect for several weeks). They mailed me back all the forms (on Dec. 1, 2006), requested I send back a new current insurance card, plus payment for an additional parking ticket which had surfaced in the interim. I mailed them all the requested paperwork and payment promptly, kept Xerox copies for myself, and waited for my new sticker to arrive. I tried calling the DMV inquire about the delay, and after getting nowhere on the phone and my check not clearing for six weeks, I finally arranged to go to the DMV in person earlier this week. I got my new sticker then, dated for expiration 10/2007.
The DMV clerk told me I should have no problem appealing the remaining tickets because their records do show I paid for the registration in full back in October. But the Parking Authority clerk told me today it was my responsibility to fax or drive the receipt for ticket payment directly over to them to avoid being impounded in the future (the paperwork on another customer's receipt she showed me suggested one 'send' a copy of the receipt to the Parking Authority to avoid such an episode, but nowhere does it imply urgency, and had I promptly mailed them copy of my reciept it would not have been processed by them before today anyway). Further, she tells me now that my vehicle has been impounded, I have lost all rights to appeal any of my tickets. (This, despite her telling me initially my vehicle should not have been impounded in the first place if there were fewer than five unpaid tickets). She also told me if I paid in full for ALL SIX tickets today (thereby double-paying for three that I have already paid for), I would have NO recourse to appeal or apply for a refund for the three double-paid tickets, even should I acquire proof of double-payment at a later date.
So, even if I AM somehow able to come up with a receipt for the the originally-paid three tickets and can get my car out of the tow yard tomorrow, I have several questions:
(1) Do I really lose the right to appeal these remaining three tickets for expired registration, even though the tow was unjustified? DMV clerk told me they have in their computer system documentation that I had paid in full before the tickets were issued. Can the fact that the prior three were paid in full before the impoundment took place (thereby making the impoundment unjustified) change this regulation that I lose all appeal rights once a vehicle has been impounded?
(2) Can I challenge the impoundment itself, thereby allowing me to appeal the remaining tickets, and also hopefully allowing me to get compensation for the $314 impoundment fees I will pay the tow yard tomorrow. The clerk at the ticket agency told me herself that I shouldn't have gotten towed in the first place. What are my chances of proving the impoundment was unjustified and holding the city financially responsible for the costs of the impoundment?
(3) If a ticket issued is still within the 30-day pay-or-appeal period, can they really use that in a tally of five unpaid tickets justifying a tow??? I know it's not techinically criminal law, so I don't have any real "innocent-until-proven-guilty" rights. But it doesn't seem fair to me that if I was in the process of appealing these tickets they can still count them against me, thereby rationalizing an unjustified tow and precluding me the option to pursue a legitimate appeal on the very tickets they used to justify their tow.
