Do I have to pay a $250 Georgetown University parking citation?

[Anonymous]

Did you park in a handicap space?

[Anonymous]

So what was the ticket for specifically?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's an outrageous fine, except if you were blocking the hospital emergency entrance or something. Which of course you weren't!

I am angry on your behalf. I would contact the organizer of the program, point to the language saying that staff was supposed to direct you to a garage, and request that they do whatever is needed to waive that fee. You can't be the only one in that situation, surely. It should be a lesson to them to have their act together next time.

Thank you so much! I definitely wasn't the only one parking illegally -- just the only one who got caught. (As far as I saw.) I also feel like a fool for finding a spot that was out of the way so I didn't block anything important, instead of just putting my blinkers on and leaving the car parked in the waiting line of cars, as other people did.

I mean, it's a dollar amount just SO out of whack with the usual range of fees in DC.

It’s probably to uphold town/gown relations. I got a $250 ticket at AU when I parked in the neighborhood. I paid it. Just to get over it, as I wasn’t happy either.

[Anonymous]

I would call and explain your situation to see if you can get out of it or have the fees reduced. If they say no, then pay it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I parked illegally and got a ticket. Do I need to pay it?

No snowflake, you're special, you get to ignore it.

JFC, yes you pay it.

It's not a real ticket. It's a piece of magical thinking issued by Georgetown university. Do not pay it.

Correct. They could have towed you, but they didn't. They don't have any real authority to collect on the ticket.

[Anonymous]

GU needs to make money. Their endowment is weak and their campus is in severe disrepair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I parked illegally and got a ticket. Do I need to pay it?

No snowflake, you're special, you get to ignore it.

JFC, yes you pay it.

It's not a real ticket. It's a piece of magical thinking issued by Georgetown university. Do not pay it.

Correct. They could have towed you, but they didn't. They don't have any real authority to collect on the ticket.

Exactly! What are they gonna do, put a hold on your records? Ignore.

[Anonymous]

How are they gonna come after you?

They're a private university and can't impose the law. Just don't pay and force them to spend years trying to come after you. Ally why can do is hoot and holler.

[Anonymous]

You're paying 80K per year for your daughter at Georgetown University. $250 is about .31% of 80K. Why are you complaining?

[Anonymous]

^ Your reading comprehension skills are really terrible. OP clearly stated that she was dropping off her high school-aged kid for a summer program.

[Anonymous]

You don't want Georgetown turning things over to a collection agency and jeopardizing your credit score over something fairly small and dumb. I'd appeal and pay if you lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GU needs to make money. Their endowment is weak and their campus is in severe disrepair.

To make yourself feel better, you can look at it as a donation to Georgetown. Some good might come out of it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't want Georgetown turning things over to a collection agency and jeopardizing your credit score over something fairly small and dumb. I'd appeal and pay if you lose.

Is there actually a legal debt here though? What authority does a private university have to issue parking tickets? I can’t just go out on the street and ticket illegally parked cars and make the owners pay me money.

[Anonymous]

I work at Georgetown and can sympathize -- the parking situation is very challenging.

But I don't understand why you think you don't need to pay a ticket given your choice to deal with the parking situation by just pulling your car up anywhere and parking it? It's a university with a problematic lack of parking; there are surgeons who work at the hospital on campus who don't have a spot. It absolutely is going to be a very expensive ticket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't want Georgetown turning things over to a collection agency and jeopardizing your credit score over something fairly small and dumb. I'd appeal and pay if you lose.

Is there actually a legal debt here though? What authority does a private university have to issue parking tickets? I can’t just go out on the street and ticket illegally parked cars and make the owners pay me money.

No, you can't, that's true. That's mostly because the District hasn't delegated parking or police powers to you, but if it had, you probably could. If it was on campus, they own the street where the parking violation occurred; if it was off campus but nearby, they're authorized by the city to enforce parking.