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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they said there would be staff directing us to a garage. There were no staff. It was a chaotic mess.

Welcome to GU!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

Pretty sure the old ladies in the neighborhood walk their dogs around to play meter maid, and call in plates. Free money.

[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.

+1

Please clarify - was this GU police or DC police?

There will be fines added OP, either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Looks like that’s not entirely true.
https://transportation.georgetown.edu/campus-traffic-rules/
This says they can enforce GU rules on GU property. If the car was on a public street, it appears they have no authority to issue a ticket. And that also implies that this “ticket” isn’t actually enforceable if you don’t have some regular interaction with GU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Looks like that’s not entirely true.
https://transportation.georgetown.edu/campus-traffic-rules/
This says they can enforce GU rules on GU property. If the car was on a public street, it appears they have no authority to issue a ticket. And that also implies that this “ticket” isn’t actually enforceable if you don’t have some regular interaction with GU.

I don't think this says anything about what they can or can't do on a public street, but you're right, it does look like they mostly enforce on GU property. (Which, since this apparently happened at drop-off near a campus building, is probably where the ticket was issued.) I don't think I agree with you that that page implies they can't enforce it if you don't have regular interaction with GU. It doesn't say anything about that, and it says they'll refer unpaid tickets to their definitely-not-GU-affiliated contracted debt collection agency.

Seems to me the easiest thing to do here would be to pay the ticket, rather than deal with a collection agency for an unknown amount of time and probably wind up paying it later.

[Anonymous]

Pay and appeal

People wishing to appeal a citation should submit a written explanation which includes their name, mailing address, copy of the citation, along with payment to OTM. Once reviewed, a written response will be sent along with a refund, if appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Lawyer here, not providing legal advice (and not condoning the behavior)...

I don't see how this is enforceable by Georgetown. It's not the DC government, and I see no DC law that specifically authorizes a private property owner to issue and enforce parking penalties. Georgetown could enforce this against members of the university community (by making university services contingent on payment or incorporating this into a contract), but that doesn't cover you. If Georgetown sent this to collections, you could dispute the debt, since you never entered into a contract with Georgetown agreeing to pay this type of penalty.

There *is* a DC law with a $250 penalty for parking on private property without the consent of the property owner. It's possible that Georgetown would refer you to MPD, which would then issue a citation. That would be enforceable. But you could wait and see if that happens.

If I were you, I'd just wait and see. And never drive that car on the Georgetown campus again.

[Anonymous]

Possibly helpful...

https://wjla.com/news/local/parking-ticket-issued-by-parking-garage-on-public-street-stirs-controversy-80116

https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/comments/4fegos/3_yr_old_parking_ticket_from_gtown_univ_nonstudent/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here, not providing legal advice (and not condoning the behavior)...

I don't see how this is enforceable by Georgetown. It's not the DC government, and I see no DC law that specifically authorizes a private property owner to issue and enforce parking penalties. Georgetown could enforce this against members of the university community (by making university services contingent on payment or incorporating this into a contract), but that doesn't cover you. If Georgetown sent this to collections, you could dispute the debt, since you never entered into a contract with Georgetown agreeing to pay this type of penalty.

There *is* a DC law with a $250 penalty for parking on private property without the consent of the property owner. It's possible that Georgetown would refer you to MPD, which would then issue a citation. That would be enforceable. But you could wait and see if that happens.

If I were you, I'd just wait and see. And never drive that car on the Georgetown campus again.

Bad advice. Do you really think the Georgetown is issuing tickets for fun with no way to collect? You think Georgetown does not employ or hire lawyers for this type of stuff?

Citations unpaid after 30 days from the date of issue will be forwarded to the University’s ticket control agent, Data Ticket Corporation, for processing. Citation information forwarded to Data Ticket is subject to additional late fees assessed by Data Ticket acting as the University’s agent in the collection of outstanding citations due the University. The right to appeal is waived after failure to pay or request an appeal within 10 days from the date of issuance and applies for outstanding citation information submitted to Data Ticket.[/quote]
https://transportation.georgetown.edu/campus-traffic-rules/

Data Ticket Corporation will try to collect the fine. In 3 years it will be sold as bad debt to debt collectors. So OP will have $250 plus other fees on her credit report as bad debt. In reality the impact of that is not that great but it will be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here, not providing legal advice (and not condoning the behavior)...

I don't see how this is enforceable by Georgetown. It's not the DC government, and I see no DC law that specifically authorizes a private property owner to issue and enforce parking penalties. Georgetown could enforce this against members of the university community (by making university services contingent on payment or incorporating this into a contract), but that doesn't cover you. If Georgetown sent this to collections, you could dispute the debt, since you never entered into a contract with Georgetown agreeing to pay this type of penalty.

There *is* a DC law with a $250 penalty for parking on private property without the consent of the property owner. It's possible that Georgetown would refer you to MPD, which would then issue a citation. That would be enforceable. But you could wait and see if that happens.

If I were you, I'd just wait and see. And never drive that car on the Georgetown campus again.

Bad advice. Do you really think the Georgetown is issuing tickets for fun with no way to collect? You think Georgetown does not employ or hire lawyers for this type of stuff?

Citations unpaid after 30 days from the date of issue will be forwarded to the University’s ticket control agent, Data Ticket Corporation, for processing. Citation information forwarded to Data Ticket is subject to additional late fees assessed by Data Ticket acting as the University’s agent in the collection of outstanding citations due the University. The right to appeal is waived after failure to pay or request an appeal within 10 days from the date of issuance and applies for outstanding citation information submitted to Data Ticket.[/quote]
https://transportation.georgetown.edu/campus-traffic-rules/

Data Ticket Corporation will try to collect the fine. In 3 years it will be sold as bad debt to debt collectors. So OP will have $250 plus other fees on her credit report as bad debt. In reality the impact of that is not that great but it will be there.

GU is not the government. They can make up all the rules and fines they want, but they have no way to collect if don’t have a relationship with them. If they try to put it on a credit report it will be easy to get it removed because they can’t validate it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here, not providing legal advice (and not condoning the behavior)...

I don't see how this is enforceable by Georgetown. It's not the DC government, and I see no DC law that specifically authorizes a private property owner to issue and enforce parking penalties. Georgetown could enforce this against members of the university community (by making university services contingent on payment or incorporating this into a contract), but that doesn't cover you. If Georgetown sent this to collections, you could dispute the debt, since you never entered into a contract with Georgetown agreeing to pay this type of penalty.

There *is* a DC law with a $250 penalty for parking on private property without the consent of the property owner. It's possible that Georgetown would refer you to MPD, which would then issue a citation. That would be enforceable. But you could wait and see if that happens.

If I were you, I'd just wait and see. And never drive that car on the Georgetown campus again.

How can MPD issue a citation after the fact with no evidence of a violation?

[Anonymous]

No legal obligation to pay a private parking ticket in MD:
https://www.wbaltv.com/amp/article/parking-ticket-private-company-baltimore-garage/44055667

[Anonymous]

Go to Google maps and find the spot where you parked. Scan around and look at the signs. $250 is really high but maybe by checking where you were parked you’ll see you were either blocking something or it might help you on an appeal, if you choose to appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here, not providing legal advice (and not condoning the behavior)...

I don't see how this is enforceable by Georgetown. It's not the DC government, and I see no DC law that specifically authorizes a private property owner to issue and enforce parking penalties. Georgetown could enforce this against members of the university community (by making university services contingent on payment or incorporating this into a contract), but that doesn't cover you. If Georgetown sent this to collections, you could dispute the debt, since you never entered into a contract with Georgetown agreeing to pay this type of penalty.

There *is* a DC law with a $250 penalty for parking on private property without the consent of the property owner. It's possible that Georgetown would refer you to MPD, which would then issue a citation. That would be enforceable. But you could wait and see if that happens.

If I were you, I'd just wait and see. And never drive that car on the Georgetown campus again.

It's possible the bolded portion is incorporated into whatever registration documents OP signed to register daughter for the program that required dropping off on campus, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer here, not providing legal advice (and not condoning the behavior)...

I don't see how this is enforceable by Georgetown. It's not the DC government, and I see no DC law that specifically authorizes a private property owner to issue and enforce parking penalties. Georgetown could enforce this against members of the university community (by making university services contingent on payment or incorporating this into a contract), but that doesn't cover you. If Georgetown sent this to collections, you could dispute the debt, since you never entered into a contract with Georgetown agreeing to pay this type of penalty.

There *is* a DC law with a $250 penalty for parking on private property without the consent of the property owner. It's possible that Georgetown would refer you to MPD, which would then issue a citation. That would be enforceable. But you could wait and see if that happens.

If I were you, I'd just wait and see. And never drive that car on the Georgetown campus again.

This si what the campus does, because they have a relationship with MPD. Just pay it, OP - then as this PP states, use another car next time. They do keep track of how many tickets you get, sadly. Not sure of the ramifications of the latter.