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 NYC Parking Tickets Class Action Lawsuit Overview:  

• Who: New York City’s Department of Finance and police department have been hit with a class action lawsuit.
• Why: The lawsuit accuses the City of running a “rent-seeking operation”—knowingly charging commercial vehicle owners illegal parking tickets and leaving them few options to challenge the alleged violations.
• Where: The lawsuit is pending in New York City.

New York City, through its Department of Finance and police force, collects millions of dollars through illegal parking tickets each year and makes it nearly impossible for drivers to challenge its conduct, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

New York resident Ward Oles and his grandmother Patricia Reed filed the lawsuit against the NYC Department of Finance, the New York Police Department (NYPD), and others alleging violations of the U.S. and New York Constitutions.

Oles says he was hit with two NYC parking tickets after he drove a light duty pickup truck he owns with his grandmother, and which is registered in New York State as a commercial vehicle bearing commercial plates, into New York City in July to pick up some furniture.

While he was parked in a commercial vehicle zone for less than 10 minutes, Oles received two parking tickets from the same NYPD officer which alleged that he had committed a violation by parking a commercial vehicle, and another violation by parking a non-commercial vehicle, all at the same time, the lawsuit explains.

“Specifically, the first $115 ticket alleged Mr. Oles illegally parked an ‘unaltered commercial vehicle’ in the City, and the second $115 ticket conflictingly alleged he had illegally parked a non-commercial vehicle in a zone for ‘commercial vehicles.’”

Although Oles attempted to challenge both tickets and requested a hearing, he was told in August that a hearing had been held without his notice and that he had been found guilty of both violations.

In an effort to avoid additional fines, penalties, or vehicle impoundment, Oles paid $230 for each of the $115 parking tickets and an additional processing fee, totaling $234.60.

NYC Parking Tickets ‘Impossible’ To Avoid, Claims Class Action Lawsuit 

The plaintiffs say the City is running a “rent-seeking operation” whereby it systematically assesses excessive fines for commercial vehicle drivers for “objectively impossible conduct” and leaves them little opportunity to challenge those allegedly illegal assessments in court.

The pair say that the illegal fines stem from the City’s requirements for “permanent and destructive alterations to ‘every commercial vehicle’ parked or operated on the streets of the city,” which include removal of all seats except the front seats and permanent emblazonment of the name and address of the owner on both sides of the vehicle.

“The City’s vehicle alteration requirements protect its own local economic interests and unfairly burden commerce by discriminating against both out-of-state and out-of-town (but in-state) vehicles, making joint compliance impossible for many drivers subject to conflicting regulatory requirements,” the pair say.

The City, they allege, assesses fines of $115 for “unaltered commercial vehicle” violations, violating federal and state laws and the NYPD’s own code, which authorizes “a fine of not more than fifty dollars” for unaltered commercial vehicle violations.

The City then issues a second $115 “companion summons” alleging — impossibly — that the same vehicle is also “non-commercial vehicle” illegally parked in a commercial zone, they say.

Oles and his grandmother are now suing on behalf of anyone else who received an unaltered commercial vehicle summons and on behalf of those who had companion summonses. He seeks certification of the Class, damages, declaratory relief, order of enjoinment, legal fees and costs, interest, and a jury trial.

In recent years, New York City paid to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the city and sheriff’s department of illegally towing cars over unpaid parking tickets.  

The City of Chicago has also been accused of assessing illegally high parking tickets for those who run out of time on their meters. 

Have you been hit with an illegal parking ticket? See if you can start your own class action lawsuit!

The plaintiffs are represented by Robert B. Lower of Lower Law, PLLC and Farber Schneider of Ferrari LLP.

The NYC Parking Ticket Class Action Lawsuit is Oles v. City of New York, et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-09393-UA in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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