...for a parking ticket that I supposedly received five years ago in San Francisco!

I thought this was very strange. While I definitely was in San Francisco at the time the ticket was supposedly issued, this is the first time I have heard about it! According the letter, the City of San Francisco claims to have contacted me about it. Nope, never.

If I truly did get a parking ticket, I am happy to pay it. Minus fees, of course.

I've already contacted the City of San Francisco for more details. The collection letter includes the license tag of the car, which I suspect was our rental car, if it's true. Once they respond, I plan to contact the rental car company that we used. I might even call Clark Howard...

What would you do in this situation? I don't want a ding on my otherwise perfect credit because of a five year old infraction that I never even knew about until now!!

 

You could easily have gotten one and not known it. If the writer didn't put it under the window properly, or as I have heard, kids taking them off the window and throwing them away.
Your rental company must know about the ticket, they would have been the ones to get it originally. They are the only ones who would know you rented the vehicle. Hopefully they can give you an answer.
Make sure you don't just let it slide. get it resoved one way or another. In MD if you have any unpaid tickets in the state or other states they participate with, they will not renew you license or registration until they are paid.

 

in mass unpaid stuff shows up when you get your car inspected...then the officals are notified so you really cant "get away" for too long...zap!

 

In Mass they also send you a letter saying you license has been suspended for non payment stating you owe the original fine a $30 processing fee, a $100 late fee and then $100 bucks to reinstate your license even though they cashed your check a month earlier and are impossible to get a hold of after you get the letter. The next day I get another letter with only the line "your license has been reinstated" on it.

 

if it was a rental, they would have never contacted you. As mentioned above they would go after the rental car agency, who would pay it and then come after you.

As a rule, parking tickets always go to the car owner (they can't prove who was driving)

Its possible they wrote the license plate # incorrectly on the original ticket.


This is a no win situation. You could always show up at traffic court in San Fran and argue your case and win. But do you want haul all the way to CA from GA?

As far as a credit rating, if it was to affect your credit score, they would have already done so. Late payments are as likely to show up as non-payments.

Sorry, Steve. You just got screwed by the system.

 

I'd check with a lawyer. You may be able to pay to make it go away. I'd check the statute of limitations on a parking ticket as well. You may be able to wait it out if you don't think you are at fault here. Just a couple of suggestions.

 

Steve - ask the collection agency in writing for a copy of the ticket and let it go at that... they won't have one. The city has already written off the ticket and has "sold" the fine to the collection agency who will now try every threatening tactic to get you to pay for it... and will probably even settle for a $5 payment to clear it up and close the account.

I had a very similar thing happen to me with Sprint - I had moved and discontinued Sprint some 7 years previous. All of a sudden I get notices from a collection agency stating I owed $87... then the offers for $40, $30, $20 etc to settle so it won't go on my credit report... it eventually did go on my credit report and I settled for $10 to get it off.... needless to say, the collection agency did nothing to take it off..... I suppose I could contact TRW, etc.. to get it off, but even while it was on my credit report, I've purchased a home, refinanced 2 times, bougth 2 new cars, have several high limit credit cards, etc, etc.....

I wouldn't worry about it.... it's mice nuts and you'll never hear a creditor questioning you about it in the future.....

 

I was in a similar situation that Mike was. I cancelled my Cingular cell phone service early, paid the termination fees ($140) and called it done. About a year later, I get a letter from a collection agency saying that my account with Cingular was still open, and I owed them eight months back charges. I called Cingular and they said I never paid the termination fee; I went to my bank and got a copy of the check they cashed for the termination fee and faxed it to Cingular. Collection agency still kept sending me notices about how I owed them money. I'm not paying for something I didn't have. Well, fast forward another 6 months or so, my credit score is still alright, I'm financing a truck, got a bunch of credit cards, etc. I don't think I'd worry about it. Ask for a copy of the ticket and see if they can produce it. And I'd figure there'd have to be some kind of statute of limitations for a frickin' parking ticket.

 

I would be inclined to pay the ticket.
I'm not from SF so the odds of it being bogus for the exact time I was actually there would be slim.
SF probably just contacted the Rental company and you didn't get included until the heat was turned up.

I would only pay the original amount, no penalties, interest, etc...

I'm fair.
I don't cheat but I won't get reamed either.