Girlfriend has received 8 parking tickets for a car we sold.

[meczam]

NYC

My girlfriend sold her car and we neglected to remove the registration sticker from the windshield.

The new owners have apparently not transferred the registration to their names and they've racked up 8 NYC traffic violations in the past 2 months, the first being the middle of December, and the most recent one a few weeks ago, so this isn't the end of it yet. The tickets are for expired inspection and parking in a no parking zone (or something like that)

We have pleaded "not guilty- hearing by mail" as per the instructions on the back of the ticket, and have enclosed the buyers name and address, bill of sale, and most importantly the DMV receipt for plate surrender which was dated prior to all of the tickets.

We've heard nothing back from NYC in regard to the status of these tickets.

We've also filled out the DMV form for "unauthorized use of motor vehicle registration".

We called the local precinct in NYC that covers the areas the tickets were issues. They said we can do nothing but the car will eventually be towed and sold at auction to pay for the tickets and charges for towing. It was even suggested by the officer that we may have to sue the new owner in small claims court for the cost of the tickets!

Is there anything else we can do? Is it likely that my girlfriend will be held liable for the tickets even though she has proof the car was sold? Of course the buyer isn't responding to our attempts to contact them.

She also left her EZ-Pass in the windshield and the buyers racked up over $100 in tolls before this was discovered and the EZ-Pass was cancelled. Do we have any recourse here?

Edited to add: The registration expires within 1 wk.

 

[FlyingRon]

Your problem is the car was still registered to you. You as the registered owner are responsible. You should have provided a title and bill of sale and RETAINED your plates and registration.

You can LIE to the police if you want, but it appears you "authorized" the use of the registration by allowing them to take possession of it.

Leaving the EZ PASS was also 100% foolish. An EZ PASS is like leaving them your ATM card with the pin written on it.

 

[LdiJ]

Your problem is the car was still registered to you. You as the registered owner are responsible. You should have provided a title and bill of sale and RETAINED your plates and registration.

You can LIE to the police if you want, but it appears you "authorized" the use of the registration by allowing them to take possession of it.

Leaving the EZ PASS was also 100% foolish. An EZ PASS is like leaving them your ATM card with the pin written on it.

Based on this:

and most importantly the DMV receipt for plate surrender which was dated prior to all of the tickets.

It sounds like the car is no longer registered to her since she surrendered the plates. It sounds like her mistake was not removing the registration sticker. (and obviously the EZ PASS as well). I don't see how that makes her the registered owner.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

I suggest you find a new girlfriend. She is not a keeper. Imagine her trying to run your home.

 

[meczam]

Your problem is the car was still registered to you. You as the registered owner are responsible. You should have provided a title and bill of sale and RETAINED your plates and registration.

You didn't read my post carefully. We did retain the plates, and there IS a bill of sale; however we neglected to remove the registration sticker from the windshield. The title was signed and handed to the buyer although I did not state that in the first post.

You can LIE to the police if you want, but it appears you "authorized" the use of the registration by allowing them to take possession of it.

Why would we lie to the police? The car was sold, the plates were surrendered, and we have a signed bill of sale. The only question is whether or not the traffic court judge will accept that as a valid defense.

Leaving the EZ PASS was also 100% foolish. An EZ PASS is like leaving them your ATM card with the pin written on it.

Ron thanks for taking your valuable time to reply to my post, however, in addition to not carefully reading my post, you state the obvious without providing any new information or advice. Of course it was foolish. Or at least, a careless oversight. Not really getting the analogy of the bank ATM card though. It's not nearly the same thing.

I suggest you find a new girlfriend. She is not a keeper. Imagine her trying to run your home.

Ironically, I just sold my home and moved in with her.

She cooks, cleans, does the laundary, takes care of the house, and the sex is amazing.

 

[Just Blue]

I suggest you find a new girlfriend. She is not a keeper. Imagine her trying to run your home.

Huh?? Sexist much???????!! OP can "run" his own home!

Goodness ORW!! If you don't stop dragging your hands on the ground you will get a very BAD infection!!

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

That was not sexist. There are men just as... shall we say naive. They are not keepers either. While you are at work bringing home the bacon, they are throwing it away on the premise vegetables are better.

Huh?? Sexist much???????!! OP can "run" his own home!

Goodness ORW!! If you don't stop dragging your hands on the ground you will get a very BAD infection!!

 

[meczam]

Well I may not have received any useful information about the parking tickets but at least I know how to fry bacon.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

As a man who has worn many, many, hats in my life, I can assure everyone of 2 things.

1. Men run almost all of the world.
2. They only do it because the woman let them do it to humor them.

It has been proven that woman make better CEO's than men. Men simply have had the power to keep them from those positions more effectively.

 

[HighwayMan]

Did you try to call EZPass? The tag should have been reported lost and cancelled. I don't know what they will do with the charges but I suspect that your girlfriend will be held responsible since it was not reported prior to the charges.

She should have gone in person for the DoF hearing. This is way too important to deal with by mail and she'll be waiting months for a decision. In the mean time she'll be getting more and more parking tickets to deal with.

She should make sure she keep all receipts and documents regarding the vehicle transfer because she will likely be needing to defend herself in court for some time into the future.

Writers of NYC Notices of Parking Violation are trained to use the registration sticker for obtaining the vehicle information when writing a violation on a New York vehicle. Leaving the sticker on the windshield was a major error.

 

[davew128]

Leaving the sticker on the windshield was a major error.

I can't speak specifically to New York, but when I sold a car in Mass, I didn't remove the inspection sticker because it was the responsibility of the new owner to get it inspected prior to registration. Granted the registration information wasn't on there, but I don't know that it would be intuitive to expect someone to think to remove stickers from the windshield. The ordinary person would think plates only in states where plates go with owners rather than cars.

 

[FlyingRon]

How is it she is making unauthorized use of the registration if you retained it? The implication is you left the registration/plates with the vehicle. If you did and you told the police otherwise, that is a LIE.

The EZPASS is almost always set up with autoreplenish to your bank account (or some such). Hence it is EXACTLY like giving them a card with authentication that lets them take money from you. Is it legal for them to do so NO, is it pathetically stupid to leave it, yes. As pointed out, call the EZ PASS service center and cancel it.

 

[meczam]

Did you try to call EZPass? The tag should have been reported lost and cancelled. I don't know what they will do with the charges but I suspect that your girlfriend will be held responsible since it was not reported prior to the charges.

Yes she cancelled the EZPass after she saw the replenishment charges on her credit card and yes, it's clear on the EZPass site that the account holder is responsible for charges incurred prior to the date that the EZPass was reported lost or stolen.

She should have gone in person for the DoF hearing. This is way too important to deal with by mail and she'll be waiting months for a decision. In the mean time she'll be getting more and more parking tickets to deal with.

Well it's too late for her to go to a hearing on the tickets already pleaded, but she's surely going to get more. So maybe we'll look into doing that. From what we were told, the car will be impounded at some point.

She should make sure she keep all receipts and documents regarding the vehicle transfer because she will likely be needing to defend herself in court for some time into the future.

Yes of course.

Writers of NYC Notices of Parking Violation are trained to use the registration sticker for obtaining the vehicle information when writing a violation on a New York vehicle. Leaving the sticker on the windshield was a major error.

Well, it would make sense for them to..um.. look at the plates on the car to see if they match the sticker.

 

[meczam]

How is it she is making unauthorized use of the registration if you retained it? The implication is you left the registration/plates with the vehicle.

What part of my post that clearly stated that the plates were surrendered and we have the receipt of plate surrender from the DMV, is beyond your ability to comprehend?

As pointed out, call the EZ PASS service center and cancel it.

What part of my first post "the EZPass was cancelled" is beyond your ability to comprehend?

There are some people who are just not cut out to give advice to others. Ron is obviously one of them.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Take a step back. We are volunteers. Everyone has a bad day. Ron is one of the more knowledgeable posters here and I am insulted that you are attacking him.

What part of my post that clearly stated that the plates were surrendered and we have the receipt of plate surrender from the DMV, is beyond your ability to comprehend?



What part of my first post "the EZPass was cancelled" is beyond your ability to comprehend?

There are some people who are just not cut out to give advice to others. Ron is obviously one of them.