Freedom Fighter
2005-08-18 21:46:31 UTC
HOW I BEAT PHILADELPHIA'S PARKING TICKET SCAM
Parking spaces reserved for the handicapped are desirable, but
from the number of them in Philadelphia PA one would think half
its population is in wheelchairs. These spaces do not exist
through kindness though, but as an unscrupulously administered
means of raising revenue through exhorbitant fines. And this
"city of brotherly love" is not above issuing completely
UNJUSTIFIED $300 FINE TICKETS on out-of-state residents' cars
as a means of extortion!
I live in NYC and occasionally visit Philadelphia. I do not get
parking tickets because I always carefully read and obey the
signs. I was amazed one Sunday in January 2004 to find my car
ticketed for parking in a space reserved for the handicapped at
some times, but not on Sunday, when the facility I was parked
in front of (801 Arch Street) was closed. A bright orange "TOW"
sticker was glued to my rear window, but fortunately I got
there before they came to steal my car. And to this day I have
not been able to completely remove these vandals' glue from my
window.
I have PHOTOS that PROVE I WAS LEGALLY PARKED and falsely
ticketed - a fact they finally had to acknowledge.
I responded promptly with a certified letter stating my
innocence. I received a reply "- suspending any further action
pending the outcome of this investigation," and stating,
"PLEASE DISREGARD ANY FURTHER NOTICES YOU MAY RECEIVE
BEFORE A FINAL DETERMINATION IS MADE CONCERNING THIS."
That was DELIBERATE LIE NUMBER TWO, the first lie being the
ticket itself.
Further action was NOT suspended as I was told;
HARASSMENT AND THREATS then began. First a NOTICE OF DEFAULT,
adding a $38 penalty to the $300 fine. Then an OFFICIAL
NOTIFICATION AND FINAL ORDER. I continued to do as instructed -
disregard further notices pending a final determination. Next
came a CIVIL DEFAULT ORDER threatening to sieze my car, and
then a COLLECTION AGENCY warning containing more threats. Next
came a CREDIT RATING WARNING, followed soon afterwards by "YOUR
ACCOUNT HAS BEEN REPORTED TO A CREDIT BUREAU," which if true
would constitute LIBEL, as no official determination had yet
been made.
At this point I replied with a strong letter insisting that the
harassment stop and that a final determination be rendered.
That came quickly - finding me LIABLE for the alleged
violation! I was told I had the right to appeal, and if I did
so I would be informed of the hearing date. Guilty until proven
innocent!
I submitted a notarized sworn statement testifying to my
innocence, and indicating that merely examining the signs at
the given location would exonerate me. I received a reply
setting a hearing date and stating that I may attend, but if I
did not the review would proceed in my absence and I would be
notified of the final determination. Two weeks before the
hearing date however I received another letter CONTRADICTING
THIS, stating, "IF YOU FAIL TO APPEAR, YOU WILL BE FOUND LIABLE
FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF ALL APPLICABLE FINES AND PENALTIES."
Philadelphia is over 90 MILES from my New York City home. They
demand that I take a day off and travel there and back to prove
my innocence, though they are incapable of proving me guilty -
and should I fail to appear, that alone proves my guilt! This
confirmed the suspicion that my out-of-state license plates
were why I was chosen for a false violation ticket - easy prey.
Or so these extortionists thought!
I found a means of having the signs photographed to prove my
innocence, postponed the hearing, and sent in the photos. This
brought my total expenses caused by Philadelphia's deceitful
extortion attempt to roughly $70 - plus about a thousand
dollars worth of inconvenience and aggravation.
The hearing was rescheduled for mid-April 2005. Two weeks prior
to this I get another letter, again stating "IF YOU FAIL TO
APPEAR, YOU WILL BE FOUND LIABLE FOR THE FULL AMOUNT
OF ALL APPLICABLE FINES AND PENALTIES." A few days before the
hearing however I get yet another letter saying if I do not attend the
review will proceed in my absence and I will be notified in
writing of the final determination.
I did not attend the hearing. I received no notification of the
outcome, but one month after the hearing date I received
another threatening letter demanding payment of the $338, and
only two days later another such letter. I responded with a
certified mail request for the hearing outcome notification due
me, and that the harassment for payment cease.
My request was received but ignored. One month later I get
another threatening letter on a letterhead from the "CITY OF
PHILADELPHIA LAW DEPARTMENT" - but the envelope it came in was
from the Parking Violations Branch, as were all the other
letters I received. It now became apparent that the "Bureau of
Administrative Adjudication" I had been dealing with does not
adjudicate at all, but IS MERELY AN UNSCRUPULOUS
COLLECTION AGENCY!
Seeing I could get no justice from these local-level thieves, I
then wrote to Pennsylvania Governor Rendell regarding the
matter. My letter contained all of the above information. I
received a buck-passing reply from the Department of Community
and Economic Development, from which I quote: " - resolving
disputes regarding parking ordinances are matters of local
jurisdiction and must be resolved at that level - you may wish
to consult an attorney to provide further advice on this
matter."
One hundred dollars or more for a lawyer? No thanks! I then
contacted the AAA, of which I am a menber, submitting the above
story for publication in their magazine "Car and Travel." I
received the following from Sy Oshinsky, the Managing Editor:
"Thank you for your comments, which we will consider for
publication in Car & Travel. I've also forwarded your e-mail to
the Club's Government Affairs department for review."
That was the last I heard from the AAA. Despite inquiries, they
have since ignored me. So much for the value of membership in
the AAA!
I then took every possible opportunity to publicize this
injustice, posting to Usenet newsgroups, etc. The responses
convinced me that we have largely become a nation of sheep,
masochistically accepting abuse by those in positions of
authority that we pay with our taxes to serve us.
I ignored the threatening, dunning letters that continued to
come from Philadelphia. Then finally, on August 15th - FOUR
MONTHS after the alleged hearing date, I receive: "Our
investigation has found your complaint to be accurate and valid
and, therefore, this ticket has been administratively
cancelled."
In closing, I must thank the officer whose name, scrawled on
the unjustified ticket, appears to be "Marony," dist. plat.
section 521A, badge no. 2511. Officer Moron: Either you are
simply a malicious creep, or the willing pawn of a corrupt
municipality. If you can sleep at night, you have no
conscience.
So learn this lesson, sheep - you gotta FIGHT for your rights,
or YOU GET FLEECED! And for your apathy some of you deserve to.
"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the
people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas
Jefferson
In 1776 Philadelphia was the birthplace of America's freedom
from Britain's tyranny and abuses. Now the tyranny and abuses,
ever increasing under a fearmongering, warmongering, fascistic
government, originate right here in America. Didn't someone
once say that 200 years is too long to go without a revolution?
It appears that nothing short of this will teach these arrogant
tyrants and criminals to respect the taxpayers they work for!
Parking spaces reserved for the handicapped are desirable, but
from the number of them in Philadelphia PA one would think half
its population is in wheelchairs. These spaces do not exist
through kindness though, but as an unscrupulously administered
means of raising revenue through exhorbitant fines. And this
"city of brotherly love" is not above issuing completely
UNJUSTIFIED $300 FINE TICKETS on out-of-state residents' cars
as a means of extortion!
I live in NYC and occasionally visit Philadelphia. I do not get
parking tickets because I always carefully read and obey the
signs. I was amazed one Sunday in January 2004 to find my car
ticketed for parking in a space reserved for the handicapped at
some times, but not on Sunday, when the facility I was parked
in front of (801 Arch Street) was closed. A bright orange "TOW"
sticker was glued to my rear window, but fortunately I got
there before they came to steal my car. And to this day I have
not been able to completely remove these vandals' glue from my
window.
I have PHOTOS that PROVE I WAS LEGALLY PARKED and falsely
ticketed - a fact they finally had to acknowledge.
I responded promptly with a certified letter stating my
innocence. I received a reply "- suspending any further action
pending the outcome of this investigation," and stating,
"PLEASE DISREGARD ANY FURTHER NOTICES YOU MAY RECEIVE
BEFORE A FINAL DETERMINATION IS MADE CONCERNING THIS."
That was DELIBERATE LIE NUMBER TWO, the first lie being the
ticket itself.
Further action was NOT suspended as I was told;
HARASSMENT AND THREATS then began. First a NOTICE OF DEFAULT,
adding a $38 penalty to the $300 fine. Then an OFFICIAL
NOTIFICATION AND FINAL ORDER. I continued to do as instructed -
disregard further notices pending a final determination. Next
came a CIVIL DEFAULT ORDER threatening to sieze my car, and
then a COLLECTION AGENCY warning containing more threats. Next
came a CREDIT RATING WARNING, followed soon afterwards by "YOUR
ACCOUNT HAS BEEN REPORTED TO A CREDIT BUREAU," which if true
would constitute LIBEL, as no official determination had yet
been made.
At this point I replied with a strong letter insisting that the
harassment stop and that a final determination be rendered.
That came quickly - finding me LIABLE for the alleged
violation! I was told I had the right to appeal, and if I did
so I would be informed of the hearing date. Guilty until proven
innocent!
I submitted a notarized sworn statement testifying to my
innocence, and indicating that merely examining the signs at
the given location would exonerate me. I received a reply
setting a hearing date and stating that I may attend, but if I
did not the review would proceed in my absence and I would be
notified of the final determination. Two weeks before the
hearing date however I received another letter CONTRADICTING
THIS, stating, "IF YOU FAIL TO APPEAR, YOU WILL BE FOUND LIABLE
FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF ALL APPLICABLE FINES AND PENALTIES."
Philadelphia is over 90 MILES from my New York City home. They
demand that I take a day off and travel there and back to prove
my innocence, though they are incapable of proving me guilty -
and should I fail to appear, that alone proves my guilt! This
confirmed the suspicion that my out-of-state license plates
were why I was chosen for a false violation ticket - easy prey.
Or so these extortionists thought!
I found a means of having the signs photographed to prove my
innocence, postponed the hearing, and sent in the photos. This
brought my total expenses caused by Philadelphia's deceitful
extortion attempt to roughly $70 - plus about a thousand
dollars worth of inconvenience and aggravation.
The hearing was rescheduled for mid-April 2005. Two weeks prior
to this I get another letter, again stating "IF YOU FAIL TO
APPEAR, YOU WILL BE FOUND LIABLE FOR THE FULL AMOUNT
OF ALL APPLICABLE FINES AND PENALTIES." A few days before the
hearing however I get yet another letter saying if I do not attend the
review will proceed in my absence and I will be notified in
writing of the final determination.
I did not attend the hearing. I received no notification of the
outcome, but one month after the hearing date I received
another threatening letter demanding payment of the $338, and
only two days later another such letter. I responded with a
certified mail request for the hearing outcome notification due
me, and that the harassment for payment cease.
My request was received but ignored. One month later I get
another threatening letter on a letterhead from the "CITY OF
PHILADELPHIA LAW DEPARTMENT" - but the envelope it came in was
from the Parking Violations Branch, as were all the other
letters I received. It now became apparent that the "Bureau of
Administrative Adjudication" I had been dealing with does not
adjudicate at all, but IS MERELY AN UNSCRUPULOUS
COLLECTION AGENCY!
Seeing I could get no justice from these local-level thieves, I
then wrote to Pennsylvania Governor Rendell regarding the
matter. My letter contained all of the above information. I
received a buck-passing reply from the Department of Community
and Economic Development, from which I quote: " - resolving
disputes regarding parking ordinances are matters of local
jurisdiction and must be resolved at that level - you may wish
to consult an attorney to provide further advice on this
matter."
One hundred dollars or more for a lawyer? No thanks! I then
contacted the AAA, of which I am a menber, submitting the above
story for publication in their magazine "Car and Travel." I
received the following from Sy Oshinsky, the Managing Editor:
"Thank you for your comments, which we will consider for
publication in Car & Travel. I've also forwarded your e-mail to
the Club's Government Affairs department for review."
That was the last I heard from the AAA. Despite inquiries, they
have since ignored me. So much for the value of membership in
the AAA!
I then took every possible opportunity to publicize this
injustice, posting to Usenet newsgroups, etc. The responses
convinced me that we have largely become a nation of sheep,
masochistically accepting abuse by those in positions of
authority that we pay with our taxes to serve us.
I ignored the threatening, dunning letters that continued to
come from Philadelphia. Then finally, on August 15th - FOUR
MONTHS after the alleged hearing date, I receive: "Our
investigation has found your complaint to be accurate and valid
and, therefore, this ticket has been administratively
cancelled."
In closing, I must thank the officer whose name, scrawled on
the unjustified ticket, appears to be "Marony," dist. plat.
section 521A, badge no. 2511. Officer Moron: Either you are
simply a malicious creep, or the willing pawn of a corrupt
municipality. If you can sleep at night, you have no
conscience.
So learn this lesson, sheep - you gotta FIGHT for your rights,
or YOU GET FLEECED! And for your apathy some of you deserve to.
"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the
people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas
Jefferson
In 1776 Philadelphia was the birthplace of America's freedom
from Britain's tyranny and abuses. Now the tyranny and abuses,
ever increasing under a fearmongering, warmongering, fascistic
government, originate right here in America. Didn't someone
once say that 200 years is too long to go without a revolution?
It appears that nothing short of this will teach these arrogant
tyrants and criminals to respect the taxpayers they work for!