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

[Anonymous]

OP here with an update

I appealed and they reduced the fine to $50. I’m definitely willing to pay that - I was in the wrong. Just never imagined the exorbitant fee!

Thank you to all the posters who shared empathy and advice. I appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

I love that another DCUMer dropped their kid off at the same program and said the instructions were clear.

OP, did you not read the instructions or just decided waiting in line wasn’t for you? Consider the behavior your modeling for your kid as you prepare to send them off into the real world.

[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.


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.

No and no. GU is allowed to enforce parking on GU campus and write tickets. They also have a police force. They have a legal agreement with DC Government to police their campus. They ticket and if you do not response the ticket becomes legal debt. “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. “. When you see language like this it is part of legal process that has been put together by a team lawyers to easy collection of ticket fines. Data Ticket is a nation wide company that specializes in collecting ticket fines for universities, cities and countries.

You sound like a horrible lawyer. Do you really think GU and a company like DataTicket founded in 1989 specializing in collections of parking fines just making things up and have no legal standing? How long do you think they would stay in business ? Do you have any experience in debt collection?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love that another DCUMer dropped their kid off at the same program and said the instructions were clear.

OP, did you not read the instructions or just decided waiting in line wasn’t for you? Consider the behavior your modeling for your kid as you prepare to send them off into the real world.

If you read my earlier post, you’ll see I read the instructions, but at the time that I dropped my daughter off, signs to parking were not posted and there were no staff giving directions. As had been specified in the instructions. Perhaps the earlier poster had a different experience and / or arrived at a time when staff were on hand.

In a situation that seemed chaotic and overwhelming, I modeled for my daughter making a decision and solving the problem as best I could, when the resources promised turned out not to be there.