You got a parking ticket!
You have absolutely no idea why on earth you got it!
Then you flipped it over and realized it is because apparently you parked on the wrong side of the street during street-sweeping and forgot to read the incredibly small public notice sign on the street indicating that on certain days of the month at obscure times you are not permitted to park there.
Anger and rage ensued! Feelings of injustice, frustration, stupidity, and a sudden urge to 'get hyphy' as they say on the streets, overwhelmed you.
So you immediately jumped on Google to try to find a way out of this mess!! You have come to the RIGHT PLACE!
Sadly, I hate to break the news, that the MESS has JUST BEGUN!
Oakland parking tickets are some of the most difficult tickets to actually pay...even though they are undeserved and unjustly issued!
If you are, however, a newbie to the little green envelope on your windshield let me guide you through the process.
It takes somewhere between 15-20 days for your ticket to be entered into the online system with City of Oakland Parking Citation Assistance Center. Payments made before this time will not be properly registered in their system in my experience.
If your vehicle is properly registered to your mailing address then wait for the second notice to arrive in the mail, at which point you will have 15 days to pay your citation without penalty.
If your car is NOT registered to the place where you currently receive your mail see this http://oaklandparkingtickets.blogspot.com/2011/01/out-of-town.html for further assistance.
Once you have waited the 15-20 days for your ticket to be properly entered into the system you can pay it in several ways:
PAY ONLINE:
PAY BY PHONE OR MAIL: http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/fwawebsite/parking/parking_payments.htm
IN PERSON: Yelp will show the way if you desire to pay in person, and also share with you many other horror stories just like yours. It is good reading for therapy...like a support group for other street sweeping ticket victims. http://www.yelp.com/biz/city-of-oakland-parking-citation-assistance-center-oakland
If you have forgotten how much your ticket was or the code section for your ticket, you can find a list of them here: http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/fwawebsite/parking/Pdf/Parkingfineschedule.pdf
If you are from out of town and don't know what on earth 'Street Sweeping Tickets' are, just look here http://www.oaklandpw.com/Page108.aspx
If you are wondering how on earth the City of Oakland gets away with this unreasonable form of punishment for the offense, look here: http://www.youthradio.org/news/unfair-parking-tickets-in-oakland
POST COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS AND I WILL DO RESEARCH AND GET BACK TO YOU! If you have an aweful parking ticket story and just need to YELL or RANT or tell somebody...let it out in the comment box!
DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with any of the linked websites, the government, the City of Oakland, or any other organization or group. I am simply a concerned and OUTRAGED citizen. Outraged at the cost of a street sweeping ticket, and outraged at the obvious and apparent way they are issued and in what targeted neighborhoods. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. If you need a lawyer go get ONE! If it were me, I would pay your parking tickets on time or the fees just add up!
Hi, here is a question I cannot seem to find an answer to. The "meters" (which aren't meters anymore) start to run at 8 am. I have a 7 am appointment that ends at 8:30. If I buy a half-hour ticket at 7 am will it cover the time from 8 to 8:30?
ReplyDeleteLate answer: probably not since tickets are for a specific time period, good until xxxx time.
DeleteThe City of Los Angeles collects about $150 million per year FROM PARKING TICKETS! Most of it from STREET SWEEPING!
ReplyDelete