Parking Ticket - Need Help!

[longduck]

I need your help, oh wise ones at Terb!

About a year and a half ago I received a parking ticket at York University. Everyone I spoke to said that I didn't have to pay it since I wasn't a student there and the most they can do is withhold transcripts. Too make a long story short, I now owe them $140. Every month they mail me an invoice along with an extra $5 administrative fee which I would promptly chuck in the garbage.

I finally called York University yesterday and they said that they were willing to reduce the fine to $80.

Is this legal? Btw, I really don't want to pay them. My question to you guys what should I do?

Much help needed. Thanks Guys.

 

[duMaurierguy]

Pay them....

Although York University is private property, they are within their legal rights to collect. Yes, they would fair much better in collecting if you were a student. Revoking library privileges and/or withholding transcripts. Remember, if you still choose not to pay this fine, they can get remedy by getting a judgement (via Small Claims Court) which may be reflected on your credit file. This will pose problems for yourself in the furture when applying for credit. The question you need to ask yourself, is it worth the time and effort not to pay.

 

[train]

I would send them a cheque for the original amount of the fine with the statement " Payment in full " on it . If they cash it you are off the hook .If they don't and they take you to court ( unlikely but possible ) you will be in a better position .

When I was a student in Mtl I used to average at least one a week with the City due to a lack of funds for parking lots and some bizarre rules about which side of the street you could park on each day . I did everything from putting the ticket on other cars to sending them $2 on a $10 ticket (they had no means of processing a short payment so they took the money and cancelled the ticket ). I even erased the box ticked ( the offender got the carbon copy ) and ticked off a lesser amount and paid that .Necessity was the mother of invention .

 

[BigGuy26]

Pay it

As dumaurierguy put it, it will effect your credit file/rating if you don't pay it. Even though its "only" $80 bucks, you can imagine how many of these York has outstanding, and they will want to collect.

Just like the 407 uses a collection agency for $10 bucks, don't let an $80 dollar ticket come back to haunt you!

 

[longduck]

I've received a couple of parking tickets in the past at the "Green P" and I ignored those. Since they are a private firm the most they can do is take you to small claims court. I've never had any problems with them.

However with York University, they keep adding that &%#$@%$ $5 admin fee every month. A $25 ticket can grow forever! Is that reasonable? I hate getting a new ticket every month.

So far 4 people have told me to pay it!

Are there no crooks or swindlers out there?!

 

[slademan]

I should change my Terb handle to The Parking Ticket King, or the Ticket King. I have never received a ticket i havn't beaten. Don't listen to these people and don't pay the ticket. I would fight it in court, wait a minute, i don't think you had that option on the ticket. Your guilty and unlike in the charter of rights, where you are innocent until proven guilty. Just because they gave you a ticket and take it upon themseleves to increase the fine as they wish, does not make it legal. There is no validity to their ticket, they send it to you with hopes that you will pay. So now lets take a look at the consequences if the ticket goes unpaid. Small claims court as was previously suggested, not a chance in hell. I don't know if you have had any experiences with small claims court or not but small claims court is Mickey Mouse court. To file a claim is more expensive than the original ticket, papers to fill out, trips to the court to file the papers,it is just too time consuming. If it ever went to court, there are ways to stretch it out, and for the school to collect the money is another story. so this is how the scenario will be played out if you don't pay the ticket. they will put you in a collection agency, the agency will mail you 3 letters and then because the amount is to small for them to proceed, they will close the file. It will have no effect on your credit rating at all, and I know first hand because I deal with credit checks every day.

 

[Paul Waters]

I need your help, oh wise ones at Terb!

Is this legal? Btw, I really don't want to pay them. My question to you guys what should I do?

Is it legal? Ask them.

Specifically, demand that they advise you under what legal authority they issue tickets. If they hem and haw, consider filing a harassment complaint with the police.

My guess is they have no authority, and just use their pull over the students to enforce collection. The fines are simply additional revenue.

If they did have any authority, I suspect it would have appeared on your last licence renewal.

 

[2sexxxy]

A couple years ago I got about 10 tickets at that parking lot. I never paid and nothing has ever happened. I say dont pay.

 

[BigGuy26]

Bullshit the collection agency will stop after 3 letters. The bottom line is you f****d up, now pay the price. If you can't handle that, stop parking in illegal places.

No wonder parking fees are so high, because of all you crooks who posted here. You are the same people who probably steal from stores and complain about the increases in price.

 

[longduck]

haha BigGuy = FunnyGuy

But BigGuy raises an important point. I don't believe that a collection agency will simply rollover and die after mailing me 3 letters.

Slademan or should I say 'Parking Ticket King', I need your help!

At what point will York send my account to a collection agency? Keep in mind that the fine is now at $140 in another year it will be $200 or in 11 years it will be $800? haha

A part of me wants to pay the ticket to stop the letters but a part of me wants to tell them to go *&%#( themselves!

Fight The Power! lol

 

[Teddybear]

i don't get...

the argument about the cost of going to small claims court being a deterrent to anyone trying to collect on an unpaid debt...whatever minor cost there is is usually passed on to the person owing the debt as well as the original "fine" or whatever is being collected...and most large businesses employ people in the accounts receivable departments to follow up on these issues, so it really isn't costing the company (or university) any extra money to pursue these claims...

my advice...pay it...but be aggravating...send them the agreed upon 80 bucks in 10 post dated cheques for 8 dollars each...

 

[luckyjackson]

I happen to find myself in the same situation just last week.

I parked on a private lot. I park there regularly and always pay, but that one time I had no coins, and there is no place to make change nearby, so I dashed up to take care of business, and when I came back had a $55.00 ticket. Now, if I'd parked on the street, the ticket would've been $20.00. And if I'd parked in a public lot, the ticket would've been $5.00, so I was pretty pissed off. Phoned the 1-800 # on the ticket, the office is in Vancouver. Company is Imperial parking. They rudely told me the cost of the fine was not negotiable, and said that if I did not pay in 2 weeks the fine would climb to $70.00, and if I still had not paid after an additional 2 weeks, it would go to a collection agency and my credit rating would be affected. That REALLY pissed me off.

I called the Ontrio Ministry of Consumer and Commercial relations. I know the money is not a huge sum, but like I said, I was pissed off. A fellow named Mr. Pitkin (sp?) told me they that neither of Canada's 2 credit bureau's will accept such info for a credit rating. He also asked me to let him know if Imperial expressly threatened my rating. He mentioned they have lots of complaints against this company.

I called Imperial back, and very politely told them I'd spoken to OMCCR and understood they could do NOTHING to my credit rating if I refused to pay. I told them I'd be willing to pay a reasonable fine, since I had parked for free. This time the same girl's tone was much more polite. She asked me what I thought was reasonable. I said $20.00. She said impossible, I'd have to pay at least $37.50. I told them to think about it, and if they wanted the $20.00 they should call me back. Next day they left me a message asking me to send a cheque for $20.00 right away. Once in a while, it pays to fight back.

 

[BigGuy26]

luckyjackson, are you sure you wan't to trust the Government and take its word that by not paying this ticket it will not effect your credit rating?

Fight as much as you can but pay the price to settle it.

 

[luckyjackson]

Are you kidding? I wouldn't trust the government with YOUR credit rating?

However, checking the rating is easy enough, and I told them I wanted a receipt for my $20.00, showing that the fine was cleared. The Ministry of CCR assured me they cannot threaten your credit rating in the correspondence they send. He even asked me to fax him a copy of the ticket to ensure it was worded correctly. As long as I have a dated receipt showing payment, I feel protected.

 

[DonBusch]

I finally called York University yesterday and they said that they were willing to reduce the fine to $80.

I would say: Bargain it down. They aren't exactly in a strong position since you're not a student and don't forget the people in the Parking Office are not hardened business owners and are most likely to be students or mid-level university employees. You can dispute whether you were in violation of any rules to strengthen your case and then relent slighty and try to be their 'friend', also hint that you're in dire financial straits (in short, scare them a little first and then be a nice guy to tap into their insecurity).

But if you happen to suck at role-playing (hehe, someone's probably gonna try to place this out of context ) then just pay the fine and have a good night's sleep.

 

[slademan]

Imperial parking, one of my favourites, I parked in one of their lots once, and I had no change, so I put my credit card in the machine and the machine was broken and wouldn't take my card, so I parked anyways. I received aqticket and numerous letters from imperial, They then sent my account to a collection agency, i received the standard 3 letters and never heard from them again and that was 3 years ago.

 

[slademan]

Long Duck if you want to pay the ticket, offer them the original amount of the ticket, tell them to take it or nothing, Chances are they will take it, Somthing is always better than nothing. If you don't want to pay ignore the letters they will go away, Collection agency's work on a percentage of the outstanding amount. The collectors have monthly quotas they have to meet. a collector is not going to waste his time on $100 when he has bigger accounts to collect, and thats a fact. The agency will not pursue it.
As for the increase of the ticket, it's not legal what they are doing. There are laws with regards to how much intrest or penalties one can charge, and they exceed the amount. And small claims court is a long process and too time consuming for them to take that route.
As for Big Guy, Pay that invoice for the goods you bought from me, Your Mother may have carried you for 9 months, but I'm not about to.

 

[BigGuy26]

What?

Whatever Slademan, or "Parking Ticket King" (shows you can't even park a vehicle correctly).

 

[keeferz]

How would the university get your address if you aren't a student there?

 

[longduck]

Thanks!

Thanks for everyone's input!

keeferz - they did at search on my license plate at MTO which they charged me an extra $15.

Does anyone know at what point will York send my account to a collection agency? ie. over $200 over 2 years?