Woman Kept Being Sent Parking Tickets From City Of Chicago After Moving To North Carolina
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Jennifer Owen sold her car and moved to North Carolina and thought Chicago was part of her past, until parking tickets – a whole bunch of them – started showing up.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported Monday night, signs are everywhere telling you when it's legal to park and when it's not – whether because of tow zones, or days of the week when parking is not allowed. It can get confusing - and in Doug Owen's case, frustrating.
"Now they want $500 for these tickets," Doug Owen said.
Doug's daughter, Jennifer, racked up 13 tickets from the City of Chicago.
Also From CBS Chicago:
- Chicago's Ford Assembly Plant To Lay Off Workers
- South Suburban Man With COPD Hasn't Left Home In A Year, And Now He Can't Get A COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Doug Owen said. "She shouldn't even be getting tickets."
Doug Owen said the Pontiac Aztek should not have been ticketed because Jennifer sold the car in December 2019 - it was notarized - and Jennifer wasn't even living in Chicago. She moved back home to North Carolina.
"With the whole pandemic going on, I can't afford much right now because I'm not working," Jennifer Owen said.
After she sold the car, Jennifer left the North Carolina plates on. So every time the new owner got ticketed, the bill was sent to the Owens - not the person actually responsible.
They reported the car lost or stolen, but the parking violations from Chicago didn't stop.
"We want to figure out how Chicago can legally require someone to pay a ticket on a car and a tag that's been turned in as lost or stolen," Doug Owen said.
The Owens were able to get eight of the 13 tickets dismissed. Doug said he couldn't get through to Chicago's Finance Department, and he still owed $500 for the remaining five tickets.
"I made the decision to send a $250 check and said, 'Please, just accept this for the five tickets, and let's be done with this, because I want it over,'" he said. "I just wanted it to go away, and they sent back to her and said: 'Oh, good. You've paid two and a half of the tickets. You've got two and a half more to go,' and that's when I got pissed."
We reached out to the Finance Department. They took a look at the Owens case and decided to throw out the five remaining tickets and refund them for the $250.
