Last Updated on December 31, 2015 by Lawrence Berezin
Preparing your defense letter to fight a NYC parking ticket
K.I.S.S. *
I received a request from Holly Smith, a nice lady from Massachusetts, to review the letter she wrote to fight her NYC parking ticket (Earlier in the week, I suggested how she could beat her parking ticket). I recommended a number of changes to her letter.
Attached please find Holly’s letter. What changes would you advise Holly to make? Tomorrow, I’ll publish a new blog post sharing my suggestions to Holly. Maestro, drum-roll please:
NYC Dept of Finance Hearing by Mail Unit
P.O. Box 29021
Brooklyn, NY 11202-‐9021
RE: NYC parking ticket # 132112943-‐9.
Plea:
I, Holly Smith , plead Not Guilty to summons, NYC parking ticket# 132112943-‐9.
Reason for plea:
I plead not guilty due to the fact that the ticket is defective. A required element of the summons, under the law, is missing. The notice of violation fails to state the date of expiration.
My vehicle that has Massachusetts plate # 636CE6, has the year of expiration decal on the rear plate in the upper right-‐hand corner, as required by MA law. Please see inclosed picture of vehicle with expiration date clearly visible.
Existing NY State Law:
Pursuant to New York Annotated Vehicle and Traffic Laws, Title II, Dept of Motor Vehicles; Commissioner, Article 2-‐B, Adjudication of Parking Infractions, Section 238, subsection 2, states:
That the notice of violation must contain the “expiration date”.
Section 238, Subsection 2-‐B, of the above mentioned New York Motor Vehicle Laws states:
“If any information which is required to be inserted on a notice of violation is omitted from the notice of violation, misdescribed, or illegible, the violation shall be dismissed upon application of the person charged with the violation”.
Please see inclosed copy of New York Motor Vehicle Law 238, subsection 2-‐B.
According to New York State Motor Vehicle Law, there are five identifying elements that MUST be correctly stated on the notice of violation. If any one or more of these identifying elements are incorrectly stated on the notice of violation, than the notice of violation, also known as the parking ticket, MUST be dismissed.
The expiration date is one of those five identifying elements that must be correct. Since the expiration date of the vehicle that recieved NYC parking ticket #132112943-‐9 is not correctly stated on the ticket, this parking must be dismissed.
Please accept this letter as my application and dismiss NYC parking ticket #132112943-‐9, due to missing information on the parking ticket.
Thank you,
Holly Smith Inclosed:
NYC parking ticket #234567890
Copy of NY State Motor Vehicle Laws, section 238, subsection 2-‐B. Copy of Vehicle Registration
Picture of vehicle plate with expiration date shown
[* Keep it simple stupid]
hi larry great website and thanks for the heads up on how to write a Not gui;ty on my ticket appeal
GS
Hi GS,
Very kind of you to say!
Thank you.
Regards,
Larry
Hi, Larry. How can I dispute my ticket if the date the wrote on the ticket is wrong?
Hi Raysel,
Good afternoon.
The date of offense is a required element. If it’s misdescribed, and you can prove it, you win. I would apply for dismissal.
Nicely done.
Regards,
Larry
Hi Larry, I received a ticket for registration sticker expiration. Thing is , I had the new registration in the glove box. I just forgot to put it up due to unforeseen Circumstances. Do I have a creditable defense?
Hi, Kenny,
You have a defense to expired registration but, I’m sorry to say, not the charge of failure to DISPLAY a current registration.
Both violations are included within the violation code you were probably charged with.
Regards,
Larry
Hi Larry,
I have the same situation as Kenny- vehicle wis registered, sticker was not displayed; however, the ticket was issued only for one violation – unregistered vehicle, NOT failure to display. How would I word my not guilty letter in this case?
Hi, Andrea,
Good morning,
What section of 4-08(j) were you charged with violating?
1 or 3?
Regards,
Larry
Received a summons for a Fire hydrant, the address is incorrect, it states opposite 137. All Hydrants on the block, are on the odd # side of the street! How do I go about fighting this summons?
Hi, Howard,
Great catch!
I would fight it online.
My exhibits would consist of:
-Photo of the place of occurrence showing the street address
-Photo of sidewalk area in both directions showing there aren’t any fire hydrants within 15 feet
-Photo of odd number side of the street with the fire hydrants
My defense would be:
Misdescribed place of occurrence
There wasn’t a fire hydrant located within 15 feet of both sides of the place of occurrence (Fire hydrants are located on the odd number side of the street).
Good luck.
Regards,
Larry
Larry, I received a ticket in Manhattan for having a clear license plate cover on my license plate. It says in the ticket, equipment violations can only be dismissed if I show “equipment changes within one business day”. I brought my car to Firestone and had it fixed. I am from CT and unaware of the Ny state statute that prohibits this. Should I just send in the documentation I had it removed?
Hi Kevin,
Good morning. Great question.
I take it that you were charged with a violation of 4-08(j)(8). If so, I don’t think you are eligible for the defense of repair in one day and get the ticket dismissed. But, I’m not completely sure.
If not, please let me know the violation you were charged with and where on the ticket did it advise you that you can repair the defect in one day to win a dismissal.
On the other hand, if this was a traffic ticket I’m afraid I only handle parking tickets. I don’t know the process to raise a repair defense.
Looking forward to your reply.
Regards,
Larry
I was in NYC and didn’t know my license plate couldn’t have a cover. I am from Philadelphia and I never have problems there. Could I fight this ticket?
Hi Shay,
Good afternoon.
I’m afraid the Evil Empire has been ridiculously strict about enforcing the plate cover rule. Cars with the frames attached by dealers are even ticketed.
Sadly, I’ve fought them, lost them, appealed them, and lost my appeals. Stupid rule.
Regards,
Larry