City of Detroit Parking Violations Bureau

Blarf · November-16-10, 01:13 AM

I'm sure it's the same in any and every major city.

This is a organization of weasels that selectively tickets, yet rigorously enforces laws at random.

Any mistake made on their part is automatically your fault, no doubt about that.

If you have a problem with that, than you should obey the parking laws.

**Lowell** · November-16-10, 07:34 AM

If every department in the CofD was as timely and efficient as their parking enforcement, Detroit would be the best run city in the country. They're not only on time, they're often ahead of time.

Blarf · November-16-10, 12:46 PM

I had to call them up last week and complain to them, which was a waste of time.

I sent a ticket into them a good few days before it was due, and they waited until after the 30 days to cash my check, then they send me a $20.00 late fee. I got my bank statement mailed to me before my notice of having to give them more money.

All they told me was to go complain to my post office. Screw them.

**1KielsonDrive** · November-16-10, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Blarf

I'm sure it's the same in any and every major city.

This is a organization of weasels that selectively tickets, yet rigorously enforces laws at random.

Any mistake made on their part is automatically your fault, no doubt about that.

If you have a problem with that, than you should obey the parking laws.

You hit the nail right on the head. So did Lowell. The parking enforcement department, guilty of many, many scams, is one reason I avoid downtown, or use alternative transportation/parking plans. They are beyond regulations and laws. I don't obey the laws, I avoid going there.

**Searay215** · November-16-10, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by Blarf

I had to call them up last week and complain to them, which was a waste of time.

I sent a ticket into them a good few days before it was due, and they waited until after the 30 days to cash my check, then they send me a $20.00 late fee. I got my bank statement mailed to me before my notice of having to give them more money.

All they told me was to go complain to my post office. Screw them.

I guess the lesson here is to send it delivery confirmation with or with out signature. Whenever I have to deal with a government office in any kind of legal way, I always send it priority is only $4.80 w/Delivery confirmation. Never had a problem yet.....

**kacz1** · November-16-10, 01:38 PM

Look who you are dealing with in Detroit , need to say more

**Funaho** · November-16-10, 01:38 PM

Or, just do what I did last time I had to pay a parking ticket, which is use their online system.

**R8RBOB** · November-16-10, 01:47 PM

Back in the day when I did computer support work for Parking, I recall that the "meter maids" had to produce a certain number of tickets [[quota) each day otherwise they would hear about it. I can't imagine things have changed.

**Detroitnerd** · November-16-10, 02:13 PM

I wish we had Detroit meter maids policing Wall Street's finances. XD

**daddeeo** · November-16-10, 03:57 PM

Amen to all of that.

**DorianWrites** · November-16-10, 04:55 PM

Parking enforcement is definitely a racket in the D. Of course, I don't begrudge the P.E.O.'s the opportunity to make a living like the rest of us, and I try to obey the ordinances and signs. If there's No Parking from 4pm to 6pm, you can bet you'll get ticketed at 4:02pm! They appear out of thin air, it seems. You've got to watch "Parking Wars" on A&E Tuesday nights--they're highlighting Detroit and Philadelphia. It's a hoot!

**RYANGUARD** · November-16-10, 05:45 PM

While working at Receiving Hospital,I have seen the PEO's ticket people and also watched many times while the boot truck came by and booted cars along St.Antoine.They are certainly diligent in their duties.Think about the amount of money being made by this department alone.And "Parking Wars" is a hoot!I have to agree!!

**RYANGUARD** · November-16-10, 05:57 PM

I have received notices in the mail informing me of a parking ticket received that I never had.The 1st time was for a ticket in front of Zeidmans on Gratiot.I had let a friend out in front of the store,did a u-turn and sat on the other side of Gratiot.When I saw the PEO I pulled out to find another spot.Apparently,they got my plate number and wrote the ticket but didn't give it to me.I beat it by going to Lafayette and 10th.They had my car as a 4 door and blue in color.It is red and a 2 door.What a scam!The 2nd time I was on Van Dyke.I saw the PEO pulling up behind a car BEHIND me,so I drove off.Again I received a notice telling me I owed $50.I tried to explain that one to the referee,she wouldn't hear it, but she was nice enough to only charge me $20.Gee... Thanks....

**manualshift** · November-16-10, 06:09 PM

The credit card machines spots are a complete scam. They do not work properly.

**313rd** · November-16-10, 06:20 PM

If you are ILlegaly parked, you need to pay your ticket. It is a law and you broke it. I also like paying the city the money, in lieu of a private owned surface lot [[typically I support Mom and Pop, Independent Shops and Restaurants, but sorry not for parking!)

That is like everyone saying that stop signs/red lights and speed limits are optional in Detroit. I wish there were more traffic enforcement cops on duty as well.

You have to start somewhere in getting order back in the city. Why not start with Parking Tickets and Traffic Enforcement?

DetroitDad · November-16-10, 10:27 PM

The tickets I've gotten so far, have been for nonworking meters or meters that randomly "cut out". The problem is that I have to find parking down here, and when you drive to four or five meters in a row, they accept your money, and nothing displays, you end up stuck [[my job, or pretending they worked) without money, or without time.

Most recently I was "standing" outside of the post office, and a meter maid walked up and stuck a ticket through my window... eventually getting into a very interesting argument with my wife. This was in a zone where standing was clearly allowed, and the ticket was marked as being for a ran out meter. The meter maid told us we fit the description of a car parked down the street, with a similar crack in our back window [[no... not true).

I have disputed all above tickets, but have not heard back from them as of yet. Generally, this car is about to go anyway, is not in our name, and thus I'm not sure that it really matters. They can take their tickets and....

DetroitDad · November-16-10, 10:29 PM

I've seen this one happen a lot.

Originally Posted by RYANGUARD

I have received notices in the mail informing me of a parking ticket received that I never had.The 1st time was for a ticket in front of Zeidmans on Gratiot.I had let a friend out in front of the store,did a u-turn and sat on the other side of Gratiot.When I saw the PEO I pulled out to find another spot.Apparently,they got my plate number and wrote the ticket but didn't give it to me.I beat it by going to Lafayette and 10th.They had my car as a 4 door and blue in color.It is red and a 2 door.What a scam!The 2nd time I was on Van Dyke.I saw the PEO pulling up behind a car BEHIND me,so I drove off.Again I received a notice telling me I owed $50.I tried to explain that one to the referee,she wouldn't hear it, but she was nice enough to only charge me $20.Gee... Thanks....

**Ray1936** · November-17-10, 11:43 AM

While Detroit and Las Vegas are at the bottom of everyone's shit list, at least Vegas has free [[and usually, covered) parking anywhere you go. I can't even remember the last time I parked on the street.

**Johnlodge** · November-17-10, 11:57 AM

I just saw some poor Detroit parking enforcement guy on Parking Wars yesterday. He was such a nice guy, and oh my, the hate screamed at this poor guy's face was amazing. I'm sure only the most intense bits are chosen for the show, of course. He carried a picture of his daughter on the dashboard so he could look at it and remember why he was doing the job when people were unleashing their waves of hate upon him over a $20 parking fine.

I've never gotten a parking ticket I haven't known I deserved. It's pretty cut and dry, kids.

**JBMcB** · November-17-10, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

I've never gotten a parking ticket I haven't known I deserved. It's pretty cut and dry, kids.

When my friend lived downtown, he got several clearly bogus tickets - one was for failing to put money in a meter when there were no meters on the street and street parking was clearly allowed [[this was before the CC machines.) Another time he was parked on private property that had no meters - the PEO lied on the ticket as to where he parked.

I've been burned a few times as well. Once for parking in a dirt lot with no signs indicating it was a pay lot, and no attendant. When I came back there was still no attendant or sign, but a ticket saying I had parked in a pay lot without paying. There used to be a residential street near WSU that had free street parking - PEO's used to hit that street quite often with bogus tickets.

Blarf · November-17-10, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by 313rd

You have to start somewhere in getting order back in the city. Why not start with Parking Tickets and Traffic Enforcement?

That's great and all, but the city can start by actually putting up proper signs and posted warnings where you can and can't park.

They could actually try informing you that you got a ticket. If you get back to your parked car, and there isn't a ticket on it, you're probably going to assume you didn't get a ticket for anything. You tend to get mad when 30 days later you get a letter saying you have to pay a ticket, and a $20 late fee for a ticket you didn't even know you had.

**Gistok** · November-17-10, 04:09 PM

Here's an odd thing I saw happening on the far east side in a residential neighborhood [[near Balduck Park). A car was parked facing the wrong way on a 2 way residential street [[Farmbrook, between Chester & I-94 Service Dr.). I drove by and saw one person handing the owner [[who just came out of the house) a ticket... while a second person had a video camera taping this. Never saw that before...

**Detroitnerd** · November-17-10, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Here's an odd thing I saw happening on the far east side in a residential neighborhood [[near Balduck Park). A car was parked facing the wrong way on a 2 way residential street [[Farmbrook, between Chester & I-94 Service Dr.). I drove by and saw one person handing the owner [[who just came out of the house) a ticket... while a second person had a video camera taping this. Never saw that before...

Yes, you can be ticketed for having your driver-side wheels against the curb on a two-way street. Another moneymaker for the city.

**2ndAve** · November-17-10, 08:33 PM

Once I got a ticket for parking in a handicapped space near Wayne State, except it wasn't a handicapped space--I was between a white line on my left and a blue on my right, in a space with no signage, handicapped or otherwise. I saw the cop writing the ticket at 7am-ish and ran out to stop him. He issued the ticket and said I needed to set a court date to fight it.

For the next six months, I called to set up the court date. Nothing--wasn't in the system yet. A year later, my boyfriend [[it was his car) got a letter that he owed the city $150 for the ticket. He called and was told he couldn't get court date until he paid up. He paid. No court date assigned.

Five years, six address changes and four cities later, we move to a new house. A month after we had settled in, he got a letter at the new address saying the ticket was void, issued incorrectly, and that a check would be in the mail. The check arrived a week later.

So, there is hope! Someone out there at the City of Detroit Parking Violations Bureau is doing their job . . . just taking their sweet time doing it.

**ASR89** · November-17-10, 09:59 PM

I think I made a topic about it a while back. Here's my story: This was a few years ago when I drove to Detroit for the first time [[instead of by bus, train or being driven by someone else). I went with a friend to take care of some stuff at Wayne State. I parked on Warren west of Woodward in front of the Welcome Centre. It's been a while, but I think it was that I put money in the meter and didn't see any No Parking signs. I know this is going to sound stupid, but I did see a "No standing 4 to 6" sign and I thought it meant like don't loiter on the sidewalks. A little bit after 4, I saw a meter maid outside and got a ticket. FFFUUUU-!! Oh well - at least I learned something that day.