Last Updated on July 24, 2021 by Lawrence Berezin
What to do after getting a phantom parking ticket in NYC?
Parking ticket story. Joe walked to his mailbox in rural Pennsylvania, reached inside, and pulled out many envelopes. Joe thought to himself, “the usual suspects, my Verizon bill, non-paperless bank statement, and what’s this? A letter from the NYC Department of Finance. “
Meanwhile, Joe ruminated, “why would the New York City Department of Finance be writing me?” Unfortunately for Joe, he was about to become another victim of the overreaching, fundraising arm of the Evil Empire.
That is to say, the NYC Department of Finance sent Joe a letter advising that he ignored a ticket (he never received it) for parking in a safety zone on the North Side of Randall Avenue, 75 feet from Zerega Avenue, the Bronx, NY, on March 24, 2014. The sad truth of the matter is Joe and his trusted chariot have never been to NY.
In short, Joe went nuts! “NYC is trying to reach into my wallet and steal $115. I’m going to fix this immediately.”
Joe’s first mistake
Joe’s ticket tale is true and recently happened to a customer of ours (the name has been changed to protect the innocent and Joe’s privacy).
Joe reacted emotionally and immediately looked up the telephone number for the Evil Empire. Subsequently, he called and spoke to a very nice lady, who told Joe to write a letter explaining the mistake simply and will dismiss the ticket. Joe followed her advice and two months later paid the price.
Joe received a notice from one of the Evil Empire’s judges that he was guilty as charged. Pay up.
What steps should Joe have taken after receiving the parking ticket?
- Knowledge is power. Joe should have done his homework and learned how to fight a NYC parking ticket.
- Before blindly following the bad advice from one of the Darth Vaders
- Carefully reviewed the front of the parking ticket for omitted, misdescribed, or illegible required elements. Joe would have discovered that there wasn’t even a safety zone on the North Side of Randall Avenue, Bronx, NY. His parking ticket would have been dismissed for a misdescribed required element (place of occurrence) upon presenting the proper proof properly
- Kept checking for defects on the parking ticket. Joe would have found that Pennsylvania required all vehicles to display the month and year its registration expired on the plate. The parking ticket warrior had arthritic knees and failed to bend down to check the plate. Instead, the warrior inserted “N/S” for the registration expiration date on the parking ticket. Joe’s parking ticket power meter got a lot stronger. This is an omitted required element (the more the merrier).
- Researched how to present the proper proof, properly
- Submitted his defense certification and exhibits by certified mail, return receipt requested to the NYC Parking Violations Bureau at the address on the back of the parking ticket
The outcome
Since Joe lost his original hearing, he was forced to appeal the adverse decision. It is much more difficult to win an appeal. The standard of proof is different (you must persuade an appeals panel the original judge made a mistake of law or fact). And, technically you are not permitted to submit new evidence. Your appeal is based upon the evidence submitted to the original judge.
About 13% of all appeals are successful.
Commentary
Joe sought our help with his appeal. I did my homework and decided to submit the following appeal:
What do you think the outcome will be? Guilty or not guilty? I love to hear your insights on this real-life case.
(Larry’s comment: We won the appeal! Ticket dismissed)
I just recieved a letter from Massapequa Park Village Court stating I owe $50 on a parking ticket. I had to google to see where Massapequa was and it is a 5 hour drive away! I was working that day and the next, so there is no way I could have made that drive round trip unless I left straight from work, arrived in Massapequa, got the parking ticket, immediately drove back, and then worked a full day without sleep.
The sad part is that even though I have never been to that town of even been to the NYC area with that car I think I will be forced to pay the ticket since the letter I recieved says I must appear in court to contest. It would cost me more in gas money.
Its outrageous that this could happen in the first place
Rick,
This stuff drives me nuts!
I hear you loud and clear.
It’s one thing to issue an unjust parking ticket to a car that was never parked in the town or city…It’s reprehensible to issue a parking ticket to an illusion, without providing a way to contest the parking ticket without a personal appearance.
Sorry about your pain, Rick.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Best,
Larry
Thanks for the reply Larry. I called the court clerk and looks like I am off the hook. I called the court clerk and explained the situation. She was really nice and understanding. After looking into it, she found that the letter was accidentally sent out to me based on the license plate number being entered in the system incorrectly (It was off by one letter).
What had me worried over the weekend is that the letter had my model of car and color listed, so I thought I would be dead in the water trying to prove that it was not my car when the officer had noted the color, make, and model of car along with the license plate number (I did not receive a copy of the actual ticket, only a letter in reference to it). At this point I am assuming that the color, make and model is simply pulled from the NY state DMV data base via the license plate number.
Dear Rick,
Great news!
Please be sure to get documentation or other proof that your parking ticket was dismissed. I hate loose ends that may bite you later.
Best,
Larry
Hi Lawrence,
I’m so glad I found this blog post. I’ve been searching online for a similar circumstance, and this is the first I’ve found. I’m not sure if you can help me, and given that the ticket is only $125 (because they kindly added $10 for “lateness”), I do not want to spend a lot on fighting it. I have almost the same circumstance as above. I live in NJ about 1.5 hours from the city, and while I have been in NYC in the past, the last time I was there was January 2019, and I received a violation notice in the mail, stating I got a parking ticket there on April 17th – which simply did not occur. I tried to fight – submitting letters from four colleagues that I and my car were at work in NJ at that day and time, as well as my EZ-Pass statements, indicating that there were no tolls paid to have entered or exited NY. Response? Guilty. I’m wondering if you can help me with this, or make any recommendations. Thank you! Esther
Hi, Esther,
Good morning.
I hate when the Evil Empire issues these phantom parking tickets.
It sounds like you presented a winning defense to this unjust ticket.
If you’d like, I’m happy to take a look at your defense AND the judge’s stupid opinion and
report back to you with my recommendations. MY email is larry@newyorkparkingticketcom
Regards,
Larry
Hi I am happy that I came across this blog. I received a ticket missed payment letter for a ticket I never received! I wasn’t even parked anywhere near the location that this ticket claims I was. How do I fight this when I never received a paper ticket on my window?
Hi Ana,
I despise these “phantom” parking tickets. Especially since there is no cookie-cutter defense that beats the ticket. However, here are some tips:
-You have to prove that your car wasn’t parked at the place of location. It doesn’t matter that you were at work when the ticket was issued. It matters where the car was.
-Was your car misdescribed? For example, did the warrior or cop enter green instead of white? Or, was the registration expiration date entered incorrectly>
-Can you prove where your car was parked on the day and time the phantom ticket was issued?
-Can you prove that you were the only authorized person to drive the car?
Sadly, these phantom tickets are tough challenges. But, they can be beaten by offering detailed, confirmable proof.
Good luck.
Regards,
Larry