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bogus parking ticket

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loricavanaugh

Guest
What is the name of your state? Illinois
i was sent notification of a $50.00 parking ticket from the city of chicago in May of 2000. They had my license plate number, but neither I nor my car were in the city on that date. In fact, I have not driven into the city in over 20 years. I have called the city and have written letters trying to have this cleared up, but to no avail. Now I have received a letter from a law firm threatening wage and bank garnishments, filing a lien against my home and discrediting my good credit status. All for a $50.00 ticket that does not belong to me. What surprises me is that there have been no late fees applied to this situation. It is still at the original $50.00 fee. What more should I do about this?
 


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loricavanaugh

Guest
No. On the original ticket it said if you wish to contest it, a letter should be written and sent to a specific address. I sent a letter and they replied by mail that it was turned down and that I still must pay the fine. I then called the city clerk's office and got a major run-around. Since then, I have received quite a few reminders in the mail from the city of Chicago that I must pay this ticket and I have just thrown them in the garbage. Now the law firm is threatening me. I have spoken with quite a few people who this has happened to and they have said to ignore all the threats. It just makes me nervous. Wouldn't it cost the law firm much more than $50.00 to persue all the threats they have made? It wouldn't be feasible for them to take those actions, would it?
 
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Mr.WiseNice Guy

Guest
hmmm
Just curious to know if the vehicle make and color were mentioned on the ticket.
 
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loricavanaugh

Guest
Bogus parking ticket

No, just the license plate number.
 
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Mr.WiseNice Guy

Guest
I would carefully fight this ticket all the way through.
Someone made a mistake writing down the wrong numbers; either the officer or the data entry person. Ask to see the original ticket! The color and make would have confirmed the right car. Anyone, including the officer and the data entry person, could have copied down the wrong numbers, one wrong character points the ticket to the wrong car that is why tickets contain spaces for the officer to write down the color and make to erase any doubt that this is the car he/she is ticketing. I think it is important for you to see the original ticket!- the color and make will most likely be mentioned. and it may prove your case.
If you are innocent then pursuing this is worth the hassle.

also i should mention:
failing to pay a parking ticket usually results in not being allowed to register the car when renewal comes up.

this makes me believe this ticket is phony.
 
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Thomas234

Guest
Lori... you may not believe this, but I happened to be flipping channels last night, looking for stuff on the Chicago Auto Show, and stopped during the middle of an invesitgative report by Pam Zeckman from cbs 2 news. Her topic was about exactly what happened to you. It seems that what may have occured to you is by means a mistake.

Some Chicago police and meter maids in order to meet their quotas have been randomly issue "phantom" tickets. Most people simply pay them rather than go through all the trouble of fighting it. However they interviewed a few people, who like you, were not in the city at the date that the citation was issued.

Unfortunately, in order to "win" the one guy had to provide copies of his time card showing he was at work in a different county at the time, have his boss sign an affidavit that the guy's car was at his work too, and take half a day to go to court. But... he, and many others have won these bogus tickets.

The statistics Pam cited were about 50% of people who fought by mail won, and over 70% who fought in person won. She cautioned that to fight it, you better have witnesses, pictures, documents that support your claim, etc. It might be worth an effort to

I have the utmost respect for the police (most), but this type of thing is absolutely inexcusable.

Best of luck!
 

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