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Philadelphia's Malicious PARKING TICKET SCAM
PHILADELPHIA'S MALICIOUS 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 having its cops write 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! 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 April 19th. 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 receive 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 clear that the "Bureau of Administrative Adjudication" I had been dealing with does not adjudicate at all - IT 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! Let the *******s come to New York and try to make me pay. I'll deal with them like the lowlife criminals that they are! "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson |
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"Freedom Fighter" > wrote in message ... > PHILADELPHIA'S MALICIOUS 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 having its cops write > 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. > Had something similar happen in Worcester, MA several years ago. I parked between two signs that had arrows pointing at each other. They were marked "No Parking after 5PM". So you could park between the signs, but NOT after 5PM. I parked there around noon, and returned about 2PM to find a parking ticket on my windshield. Now, I had to travel to the local traffic ticket office (forget the name of it) to dispute my ticket IN WRITING. I never learned the outcome of my dispute. I renewed registration on that same vehicle in MA a couple of times after that, so I *assume* the matter was resolved in my favor. Otherwise, MA would have held my car registration for ransom, like they do for unpaid tickets. I also view this as a parking ticket scam. The person who wrote the ticket KNEW that I was not in violation of any parking ordinance. So it was a transparent attempt to extort money from me. In the state of Massachusetts, you pay parking fines or your car registration is suspended. That's why I call it EXTORTION. You give us money you don't owe, or we make it illegal for you to drive to work. Yup, extortion. -Dave |
#3
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In article . net>,
Dave > wrote: > > >I also view this as a parking ticket scam. The person who wrote the ticket >KNEW that I was not in violation of any parking ordinance. So it was a >transparent attempt to extort money from me. In the state of Massachusetts, >you pay parking fines or your car registration is suspended. That's why I >call it EXTORTION. You give us money you don't owe, or we make it illegal >for you to drive to work. Yup, extortion. -Dave It's not extortion. It's the backing up of the smallest law with overwhelming force. Don't follow the small one and don't pay the fine, they'll force you to violate a bigger one to continue living. Don't follow that one, they'll escalate some more until they have an excuse to shoot you or jail you. -- There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can result in a fully-depreciated one. |
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> > It's not extortion. It's the backing up of the smallest law with > overwhelming force. Don't follow the small one and don't pay the fine, > they'll force you to violate a bigger one to continue living. Don't > follow that one, they'll escalate some more until they have an excuse > to shoot you or jail you. > No, it's extortion. In my case, there was no violation of the law, so there was no law to be backed up with overwhelming force. If I'd have been guilty of a parking violation, THEN it would have been a case of "backing up of the smallest law with overwhelming force". But to write a ticket to someone who has done nothing wrong, and put them in danger of losing their right to drive to work unless they pay money that isn't owed? That's extortion. IMHO -Dave |
#5
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In article ws.net>,
Ted B. > wrote: > >> >> It's not extortion. It's the backing up of the smallest law with >> overwhelming force. Don't follow the small one and don't pay the fine, >> they'll force you to violate a bigger one to continue living. Don't >> follow that one, they'll escalate some more until they have an excuse >> to shoot you or jail you. >> > >No, it's extortion. In my case, there was no violation of the law, so there >was no law to be backed up with overwhelming force. The OP was wrong; parking in a handicapped metered spot is still illegal without a placard outside the operating hours for the meter. -- There's no such thing as a free lunch, but certain accounting practices can result in a fully-depreciated one. |
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"Matthew Russotto" > wrote in message
... > In article ws.net>, > Ted B. > wrote: > > > >> > >> It's not extortion. It's the backing up of the smallest law with > >> overwhelming force. Don't follow the small one and don't pay the fine, > >> they'll force you to violate a bigger one to continue living. Don't > >> follow that one, they'll escalate some more until they have an excuse > >> to shoot you or jail you. > >> > > > >No, it's extortion. In my case, there was no violation of the law, so there > >was no law to be backed up with overwhelming force. > > The OP was wrong; parking in a handicapped metered spot is still > illegal without a placard outside the operating hours for the meter. If the sign says it's legal then that should over-ride the blanket law. At least in this case and all others before the sign is replaced with one which clearly decribes teh operation of the handicapped/metered parking spots. |
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"Freedom Fighter" > wrote in message
... > PHILADELPHIA'S MALICIOUS PARKING TICKET SCAM > > ... > > "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the > people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas > Jefferson It's liek that everywhere. I've been through similar things here in NJ. I call to chedule a court date, they tell me to call back later as they don't have the ticket yet and not to come to the date on the ticket. After comfirming that 3 time swith the woman I do not go to the court date on the ticket. I then receive two threatening letters claiming I owe them several hundred dollars and giving me a new court date. I call and tell them I cna not come to court on that date and it must be rescheduled to a time I can come to court. They reschedule for another week and tell me not to come to the one they sent me. After not appearing at that court date I get a letter saying there is a warrant out for my arrest. It happens to be Friday and the court office is not open Friday through Monday. I was unable to reach any police on the phone and my local PD is closed. So I set out driving to find a cop running radar or stopped anywhere so I can find out how to have this taken care of. When I find a cop and tell him about ym predicament he said I can't do anything about it until Tuesday when the office is open. My response to him was along the lines of 'So I can be arrested wrongfully on the weekend but I can't clear up _your_ mistake on the weekend?' He said yes, and to 'get lost and hope no one stops you'. He was very rude and unhelpful. Yeah, protect and serve... Rrrriiiiggghhhttt. That's not their job description at all. It's just a marketing slogan made up by the PR department of some department out in CA. They have the power to do whatever they like. No one in power wants to fix it, as it works to their advantage. It's disgusting what they do to people. |
#8
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You guys quit way too easily. There are ways of dealing with this so that
the ticket goes away and you don't have to pay a dime. "Cory Dunkle" > wrote in message ... > "Freedom Fighter" > wrote in message > ... >> PHILADELPHIA'S MALICIOUS PARKING TICKET SCAM >> >> ... >> >> "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the >> people fear the government, there is tyranny." - Thomas >> Jefferson > > It's liek that everywhere. I've been through similar things here in NJ. I > call to chedule a court date, they tell me to call back later as they > don't > have the ticket yet and not to come to the date on the ticket. After > comfirming that 3 time swith the woman I do not go to the court date on > the > ticket. I then receive two threatening letters claiming I owe them several > hundred dollars and giving me a new court date. I call and tell them I cna > not come to court on that date and it must be rescheduled to a time I can > come to court. They reschedule for another week and tell me not to come to > the one they sent me. > > After not appearing at that court date I get a letter saying there is a > warrant out for my arrest. It happens to be Friday and the court office is > not open Friday through Monday. I was unable to reach any police on the > phone and my local PD is closed. So I set out driving to find a cop > running > radar or stopped anywhere so I can find out how to have this taken care > of. > When I find a cop and tell him about ym predicament he said I can't do > anything about it until Tuesday when the office is open. My response to > him > was along the lines of 'So I can be arrested wrongfully on the weekend but > I > can't clear up _your_ mistake on the weekend?' He said yes, and to 'get > lost > and hope no one stops you'. He was very rude and unhelpful. Yeah, protect > and serve... Rrrriiiiggghhhttt. That's not their job description at all. > It's just a marketing slogan made up by the PR department of some > department > out in CA. > > They have the power to do whatever they like. No one in power wants to fix > it, as it works to their advantage. It's disgusting what they do to > people. > > |
#9
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"Skip Elliott Bowman" > wrote in message ink.net... > You guys quit way too easily. There are ways of dealing with this so that > the ticket goes away and you don't have to pay a dime. > Yeah, but first you have to convert that AR15 to full auto, and the parts can be a real bitch to acquire. -Dave |
#10
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Cory Dunkle wrote:
> It's liek that everywhere. I've been through similar things here in NJ. I > call to chedule a court date, they tell me to call back later as they don't > have the ticket yet and not to come to the date on the ticket. Your mistake is that you fail to get things confirmed in writing. Always send correspondence by certified signatured required mail. Do not take anyone's word for anything and just follow instructions as detailed in written correspondence. |
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