Many of us know the sinking feeling. We return to our cars only to find a slip of paper on the dash — spelling out a pricey fine for overstaying our parking.
In Vancouver, it happens to folks who’ve paid for parking, too. Back in June Daily Hive first reported the story of a local radio host who was ticketed in a downtown EasyPark lot four minutes after he paid.
Turns out, it’s a common problem. After we published the story, complaints poured in from others with similar experiences. According to EasyPark, communication delays sometimes occur between their pay metres and enforcement officers’ devices, and the company encouraged users to dispute tickets online that were issued in error.
But there was also a cry from readers urging those ticketed in private lots not to pay the fine and ignore it completely. But how risky is ignoring a fine from a private parking company? We spoke to the experts to find out.
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Of course, there are other risks to not paying a private parking fine. Vancouver lawyer Kyla Lee explained that continuing to park in a private parkade without paying opens the door for the lot to enforce trespass consequences, including towing a customer’s vehicle.
Lee had another tip. Instead of completely ignoring the fine, she suggested sending the company a cheque for the exact amount of time you were there, along with a letter stating final payment was made.
“If they cash the cheque, that’s essentially them accepting your offer to settle it,” she said. “And they can’t do anything to you.”