Here's the deal:
I had never sold a vehicle "private party" before until this past summer, so I didn't know that GA is a "keep your tag" state. On May 23, 2010, I sold my wife's Volkswagon Passat (registered in her name) to another individual and left the tags on it. Got a Bill of Sale and reported the change to my insurance company.
Several months later I got a notice (addressed to my wife) from the City of New York demanding payment for a parking ticket dated some time in August. Apparently the new owners hadn't registered the car in their name yet and had gotten a parking ticket in NYC. Since my wife was still the registered owner, the ticket came to us.
The form that I was to mail back had an option to dispute the ticket with the "No Longer My Vehicle" claim. So I checked that box and wrote in the space alloted the date of the sale. I mailed the thing back to them.
Some weeks later I got another notice that basically said, "You must provide evidence that you sold the vehicle prior to the issuance of the ticket". One of the ways the letter stated that I could provide sufficient evidence was to mail the letter back along with a copy of the Bill of Sale and insurance paperwork showing that I had removed the vehicle from my insurance at the time of the sale. So I did exactly that, and I even highlighted and circled the parts of the insurance document that showed where I had dropped the VW and replaced it with a Jeep Cherokee.
This Monday I got ANOTHER letter from NYC stating that the ticket is now "in judgement" and they have added a $60 fine (making the total $120.86). It goes on to state the following:
It also provided a phone number to call. So I called the number and told them that I submitted all the evidence to show that I had sold the car, so why are they still levying judgement against my wife for someone else's parking violation? I also informed them that if this judgement shows up on my wife's credit history, we will not hesitate to file suit against the City of New York.
After going around in circles with the...um....nice....lady on the other end, I requested to speak with her supervisor. She said that she had already spoken with her supervisor...yada yada yada. So I DEMANDED to speak with her supervisor.
Some minutes later Mrs. Thomas (supposed supervisor) picks up the phone. I explained to her that the...other lady...wasn't listening to what I was telling her and was insisting that we are liable to pay the debt, even though I could PROVE that NOT ONLY did we sell the car months prior to the violation, but we could also PROVE that we were in GA at the time of the violation - NOT NYC.
Mrs. Thomas assured me that her little coworker was correct. I asked her if she was familiar with due process of law and had she ever heard of "innocent until proven guilty" (since they could not prove that we were in NYC and could not prove that my wife had committed the violation in question). She responded "That does not pertain to the City of New York".
WHAT!!!!???!!! Wait a minute...Can I quote you as saying, "Innocent until proven guilty does not pertain to the City of New York?"
"Sir, I don't care what you quote me as saying, I'm telling you that you owe this amount, would you like to take care of that today?"
"No way in Hell. Tell you what, why don't you give me your supervisor's name and direct phone number. I'm sure he'll love to hear that one of his managers just told me that 'innocent until proven guilty does not pertain to NYC'."
*******************************
Sooooo.......my question is....is there anyone here who can help me out with some (real) legal advice? I refuse to accept that we have to pay somebody else's parking ticket because they were too lazy to register the vehicle (and because we didn't know that you're supposed to "keep the tag"). I also refuse to accept that my wife's credit will be impacted by this whole ordeal.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I had never sold a vehicle "private party" before until this past summer, so I didn't know that GA is a "keep your tag" state. On May 23, 2010, I sold my wife's Volkswagon Passat (registered in her name) to another individual and left the tags on it. Got a Bill of Sale and reported the change to my insurance company.
Several months later I got a notice (addressed to my wife) from the City of New York demanding payment for a parking ticket dated some time in August. Apparently the new owners hadn't registered the car in their name yet and had gotten a parking ticket in NYC. Since my wife was still the registered owner, the ticket came to us.
The form that I was to mail back had an option to dispute the ticket with the "No Longer My Vehicle" claim. So I checked that box and wrote in the space alloted the date of the sale. I mailed the thing back to them.
Some weeks later I got another notice that basically said, "You must provide evidence that you sold the vehicle prior to the issuance of the ticket". One of the ways the letter stated that I could provide sufficient evidence was to mail the letter back along with a copy of the Bill of Sale and insurance paperwork showing that I had removed the vehicle from my insurance at the time of the sale. So I did exactly that, and I even highlighted and circled the parts of the insurance document that showed where I had dropped the VW and replaced it with a Jeep Cherokee.
This Monday I got ANOTHER letter from NYC stating that the ticket is now "in judgement" and they have added a $60 fine (making the total $120.86). It goes on to state the following:
It also provided a phone number to call. So I called the number and told them that I submitted all the evidence to show that I had sold the car, so why are they still levying judgement against my wife for someone else's parking violation? I also informed them that if this judgement shows up on my wife's credit history, we will not hesitate to file suit against the City of New York.
After going around in circles with the...um....nice....lady on the other end, I requested to speak with her supervisor. She said that she had already spoken with her supervisor...yada yada yada. So I DEMANDED to speak with her supervisor.
Some minutes later Mrs. Thomas (supposed supervisor) picks up the phone. I explained to her that the...other lady...wasn't listening to what I was telling her and was insisting that we are liable to pay the debt, even though I could PROVE that NOT ONLY did we sell the car months prior to the violation, but we could also PROVE that we were in GA at the time of the violation - NOT NYC.
Mrs. Thomas assured me that her little coworker was correct. I asked her if she was familiar with due process of law and had she ever heard of "innocent until proven guilty" (since they could not prove that we were in NYC and could not prove that my wife had committed the violation in question). She responded "That does not pertain to the City of New York".
WHAT!!!!???!!! Wait a minute...Can I quote you as saying, "Innocent until proven guilty does not pertain to the City of New York?"
"Sir, I don't care what you quote me as saying, I'm telling you that you owe this amount, would you like to take care of that today?"
"No way in Hell. Tell you what, why don't you give me your supervisor's name and direct phone number. I'm sure he'll love to hear that one of his managers just told me that 'innocent until proven guilty does not pertain to NYC'."
*******************************
Sooooo.......my question is....is there anyone here who can help me out with some (real) legal advice? I refuse to accept that we have to pay somebody else's parking ticket because they were too lazy to register the vehicle (and because we didn't know that you're supposed to "keep the tag"). I also refuse to accept that my wife's credit will be impacted by this whole ordeal.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
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