Got a Parking Ticket in the mail from a city I've never been to (Hoboken)

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

I came home to an "Official Legal Notice" in the mail last night. It's a parking ticket from Hoboken, NJ, a city I've never been to. I'm thinking of fighting it out of principle. How should I go about fighting this?


Here's the relevant info.

Date of alleged offense: Dec 6 2016
Time of alleged offense: 6:28pm

Location of alleged offense: XYZ, NJ (Google street view shows this address does not exist. I also cannot find any info about this address on Google)

They have my correct name, DL#, Plate #, and Home Address. (The lady I spoke to said they probably got this info from DMV)

I left work on the evening of Dec 6th at 6:00pm. At 5:58pm, I sent my employers a text, as I do every night, giving them a summary of the day.

I arrived home at 6:26, although this is not something I can prove.

I work in (Town withheld), NJ, and if I left here at 6:00pm and drove to the location of the alleged parking infraction, it would take me 1 hour and 13 mins according to Google Maps which would bring me to the location of the alleged offense at 7:13pm.

Driving home from Hoboken to my place of residence in (Town withheld), would take 1 hour and 15 mins.

My wife has a picture on her iPhone of my son and I sleeping on the couch, on the night of the alleged offense. The picture is time stamped for 7:58pm.

It is physically impossible for me to leave work at 6pm, get to the location of the alleged offense, and back home by 7:58pm which is when the picture was taken.

Here's what I'm thinking of doing as my defense.

1. Get a signed affidavit from my employer, stating I was at work from 10am to 6pm on the day of the alleged offense.

2. Print out directions from Google Maps, showing how long it would take for me to get to the location of the alleged offense, and also showing the time it would take for me to get home from the location of the alleged offense.

3. Print out a screenshot from my wife's phone, showing a picture of my son and me sleeping on the couch. This shows the date and time. She does not have locations turned out so the physical location would not be displayed. However, I have picture on my phone of the same couch, that shows the location to be in the town I reside in.

4. Print out an EZ Pass statement showing it was not scanned on the date of the alleged offense.

Is there anything else you can think of that I should do? Also, is there a way that I can get them to allow me to send this proof to them through the mail or email, so I don't have to drive up there for a court date. The lady on the phone said she spoke to the judge who insists I still come for the court date. They have my car listed as white, when mine is black, but the judge said since the License plate and make of the car matches up, I still have to go to court.
 

I really want to fight this ticket as it's completely bogus. But I also don't want to wind up paying more than the fine of $64 I'm ordered to pay at the moment. They even added on $10 because I missed the first court date since I was NEVER notified I had received a parking ticket because the meter maid who issued it put it on a different car.

 

I'm thinking the meter maid found a car to ticket, messed up one of the letters or numbers of that person's plate, and I was the unlucky SOB whose plate number got recorded. They sent the plate info to the DMV, and the DMV sent me this "second" notice in the mail.

 

Any advice you guys and gals can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

PS. When I search on Google and Google Maps, I don't see any hits for the exact address of the alleged offense. I see the street, and other building numbers, but not that one listed on my ticket. Can I use this as a defense as well?

[AdamM 42]

I had that happen a couple times to me. I called them and asked them to send me a copy of the ticket. The issue was that the cop who kept writing these tickets had terrible hand writing and they misread the plate. The good news is that they also write down the make/model and I told them that is not my car. Once they looked that up, they dismissed them.

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

I had that happen a couple times to me. I called them and asked them to send me a copy of the ticket. The issue was that the cop who kept writing these tickets had terrible hand writing and the misread the plate. The good news is that they also write down the make/model and I told them that is not my car. Once they looked that up, they dismissed them.

 

They have the correct make of my car, but I don't think they had the model listed. They also have the wrong color, but the judge is making me fight it in court still. I asked them to send me a copy of the ticket, and she said it will arrive in 5 to 10 business days.

[Krdshrk 3,877]

Got one of those from NYC before when I wasn't even in the same state.  Had an EZPass toll from a location hours away at around that time too - sent them that and it went away.

[MartyZ 692]

It could be bad handwriting on the LEOs part. I once got a parking ticket in NYC, meter expired. couldn't tell from the ticket but when I went online to pay they had a "B" as one of the letters on my license plate instead of an "8". My license plate had an "8", not a "B". So it is possible that they misread one or more of the numbers written on the ticket.

[PK90 3,570]

Got one of those from NYC before when I wasn't even in the same state.  Had an EZPass toll from a location hours away at around that time too - sent them that and it went away.

 

I lend my EZPass out to people on vacation when I want to speed around town. The statement got me out of thousands of dollars of tickets, and even hit & run accidents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding.

[Golf battery 1,223]

It was your cars doppelgänger. Freaky.

[maintenanceguy 510]

Get the person writing the ticket to correct the error.  If you end up in court, you'll loose a day's pay and end up paying court fees because somebody other than you screwed up.  Municipal court is a completely corrupt money collection system.   It's outrageous that you're charged a fee for the privilege of defending yourself against something you never did - but that's how it works.

 

And, if the officer tells the judge that he's sure it was your car - no evidence in the world will matter.  The judge will ALWAYS side with the person writing the ticket even if he knows you're right.  Municipalities hire judges that collect fines.  The judges see the same cops every day and he probably won't see you again.  In traffic court, you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent and even then, you're probably still guilty.

 

I also got a ticket once from a place I had never been.  I paid the fine plus court fees.

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

Get the person writing the ticket to correct the error.  If you end up in court, you'll loose a day's pay and end up paying court fees because somebody other than you screwed up.  Municipal court is a completely corrupt money collection system.   It's outrageous that you're charged a fee for the privilege of defending yourself against something you never did - but that's how it works.

 

And, if the officer tells the judge that he's sure it was your car - no evidence in the world will matter.  The judge will ALWAYS side with the person writing the ticket even if he knows you're right.  Municipalities hire judges that collect fines.  The judges see the same cops every day and he probably won't see you again.  In traffic court, you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent and even then, you're probably still guilty.

 

I also got a ticket once from a place I had never been.  I paid the fine plus court fees.

It was written by a fucking meter maid, which is what really pisses me off. These fuckers have ONE SIMPLE job to do, and they can't do it right. How am I supposed to get the meter maid to correct the ticket? My only options are to go to court and fight it, or pay the bullshit fine.

[Cereza 106]

It was written by a fucking meter maid, which is what really pisses me off. These fuckers have ONE SIMPLE job to do, and they can't do it right. How am I supposed to get the meter maid to correct the ticket? My only options are to go to court and fight it, or pay the bullshit fine.

 

It pains me to say this, but unless you have free time galore, paying the fine is the better choice. The municipality is counting on it, that's why the ticket is just expensive enough. If the fine was $150 traffic court would be packed, and weeks behind because everyone would be in there contesting their fines. However, for most people $64 is less than a day's pay, so they swallow the aggravation and injustice and just pay it. It's not right, but it's the broken system we have.

 

Warning: if you decide to fight the ticket in court and the meter maid/cop doesn't show up, the court will not automatically find in your favor. They will likely reschedule the hearing at least once, possibly twice, so you could be looking at three days of work lost in total.

[Sota 1,191]

ironically, if more people fought the $50 tickets the bullshit would stop.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

Yeah, I had to deal with that from the City of Orange, NJ once.  I had to go "in person" to the Municipal Court House to resolve it. i had to deal with an overworked nasty little shrew of a court clerk.  She pulled the ticket, and sure enough, the officer had bad handwriting and got my plate wrong by one letter. She got out her rubber stamp and singed the "charges dismissed" letter from the judge.  Problem solved.

[gleninjersey 2,139]

Have you tried calling the parking officer who issued the ticket? Perhaps calmly (I know that will probably be hard) explain all the details you shared above with them and ask them if they can help? Worth a try. Only costs you a few phone calls and a litle time. Much, much, MUCH better than wasting a day in court.

 

Worse they can do is ignore you or tell you "see you in court". Which you'll have to end up doing otherwise anyway.

 

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

[RecessedFilter 222]

Ironically I received a parking ticket in the mail from Newark as well a few years ago. They had my plate, car, color, everything was correct...Except I was not in Newark that day and rarely ever go there.

 

Taking all the time to fight it wasn't worth it to me so I paid the $40 I think it was. Sucks to hear you're getting caught with one as well. Good luck if you choose to fight it.

[Howard 538]

I wonder if you can take them to small claims court over this, turn the tables on them.

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

Have you tried calling the parking officer who issued the ticket? Perhaps calmly (I know that will probably be hard) explain all the details you shared above with them and ask them if they can help? Worth a try. Only costs you a few phone calls and a litle time. Much, much, MUCH better than wasting a day in court.

 

Worse they can do is ignore you or tell you "see you in court". Which you'll have to end up doing otherwise anyway.

 

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

I haven't, but reading online about the Hoboken Parking Authority, I highly doubt I'll get anywhere with them. But you're right. It's worth a phone call.

[Princetonian58 53]

To fight this you will have to go to court.  The way to handle this is to bring your proofs and come early.  Almost all municipal courts have private attorneys that work as municipal prosecutors as part of their practice.  They do not work for the Prosecutor's Office.  They will typically sit in an ancillary office about an hour before the scheduled court starting time and essentially negotiate plea deals, ordinarily with persons who have engaged lawyers to defend them.  If the municipal prosecutor is fair, and a lot of them are, he may agree to move before the court to dismiss the summons/complaint against you without forcing you to the trial after you show him your proofs why a mistake was made.  If you are forced to try the case, however, you'll likely be there for hours since municipal judges go through their spiel about how the court operates, guidelines etc, and then they process all of the guilty pleas, one by one.  Each one will take about 10 minutes.  Then, the judge likely will take contested cases, those that must be tried, by those defendants who have lawyers present since the lawyers most often work on a flat fee and the judge knows that they will lose money for each minute they have to sit there waiting to be heard.  Then, lastly, they try the contested cases like yours, against defendants without lawyers.  The Rules of Evidence apply so don't expect to have the judge allow an affidavit from your employer to be admitted and considered since the prosecutor cannot cross-examine the affidavit.  It's what they call hearsay.  Good luck.

[Newtonian 453]

If you can't get it expunged by phone just pay it. The "I was here at this time" excuse never works. You have the choice between $74 out of pocket or wasting several hours on the chance that the judge will dismiss it. If he has a hardon for you he'll charge court costs. It's not worth it for something that will never happen again. 

 

I have a history with Hoboken tickets going back to 1972. 

 

BTW 51 3rd St. is somewhere between Hudson St. and the river. There are only about 4 legal spaces total on both sides along those two blocks. I've been going to that neighborhood for 5-6 years and I have never seen any of those spots open. Whatever happened that evening during your liaison with your girlfriend at one of the local watering holes, you probably parked illegally. 

 

Oh I forgot you were home with your family

[Sig226GuyNJ 128]

If you can't get it expunged by phone just pay it. The "I was here at this time" excuse never works. You have the choice between $74 out of pocket or wasting several hours on the chance that the judge will dismiss it. If he has a hardon for you he'll charge court costs. It's not worth it for something that will never happen again. 

 

I have a history with Hoboken tickets going back to 1972. 

 

BTW 51 3rd St. is somewhere between Hudson St. and the river. There are only about 4 legal spaces total on both sides along those two blocks. I've been going to that neighborhood for 5-6 years and I have never seen any of those spots open. Whatever happened that evening during your liaison with your girlfriend at one of the local watering holes, you probably parked illegally. 

 

Oh I forgot you were home with your family

 

Haha. Honestly, my first thought was, "Did I go to Hoboken and forget about it?" My wife was the one to actually open the notice as I was still at work when it came in the mail. She just left it on the table for me to find. She wasn't suspicious though. I'm too ugly to have a side chick.

 

ETA: I looked on Google Street View, and for the life of me, can't find a building labeled 51. If I as my sister who lives in JC, to go there and take pictures to show there is no 51 3rd St, do you think I could use this to help my defense should I choose to go ahead with it? Also, I can find any apartment or business listings that match that address.

[bad64chevelle 0]

I had the same thing happen to me for Rahway. They had my plate , same make , same model, wrong color . It was 3 am on a Sunday morning , I was in bed sleeping . I called after they sent me a notice post marked two weeks prior , that I had to pay by the day I actually received the notice . Otherwise a warrant was going to be issued for my arrest , and the time for appeal had already come and gone . I called the court and explained to them the dilemma and their response was "the officer must be color blind" and basically told me I was SOL. So I had to pay .

[DaveR 42]

I'm too ugly to have a side chick.

 

[Newtonian 453]

Haha. Honestly, my first thought was, "Did I go to Hoboken and forget about it?" My wife was the one to actually open the notice as I was still at work when it came in the mail. She just left it on the table for me to find. She wasn't suspicious though. I'm too ugly to have a side chick.

 

ETA: I looked on Google Street View, and for the life of me, can't find a building labeled 51. If I as my sister who lives in JC, to go there and take pictures to show there is no 51 3rd St, do you think I could use this to help my defense should I choose to go ahead with it? Also, I can find any apartment or business listings that match that address.

If there's a # 51 it's a surveyor's artifact. There are four buildings that could possibly be located at that address, three high rises and one hotel. There's no parking on three of those sides, and just 3-4-5- spaces plus a bus stop on the remaining one. FYI the official address of one of the buildings is "2 Marineview Plaza." There is no f-ing "Marineview Plaza" in hoboken that corresponds to an actual street. You have to go west of Hudson St. to get actual number addresses on 3rd St. 

 

That being said you're not going to win. They're desperate to fund their LBGQT outreach. Nobody gets out of parking tickets in that town. Pay the fine and stop seeing that old bag in MarineView, Apt. 14d. 

[The brew guy 22]

I had the same thing happen to me for Rahway. They had my plate , same make , same model, wrong color . It was 3 am on a Sunday morning , I was in bed sleeping . I called after they sent me a notice post marked two weeks prior , that I had to pay by the day I actually received the notice . Otherwise a warrant was going to be issued for my arrest , and the time for appeal had already come and gone . I called the court and explained to them the dilemma and their response was "the officer must be color blind" and basically told me I was SOL. So I had to pay .

Could be worse. I got pulled over in Cranford about 30 years ago and, after running my licence, the officer tells me my license is suspended. Turned out it was suspended due to an unpaid parking ticket in Rahway in a location I'd never been near, and at a time that I'd been at work in Westfield. Right make and model, but my car was white, not silver.

It didn't matter by then, I was cited for driving while suspended and my vehicle was impounded. 30 years later, I still have a strong dislike for the town of Rahway.

[Oakridgefirearms 224]

Years ago I got a FTA notice from Jersey City for unpaid parking ticket. I called the court to explain that I had not been anywhere near Jersey City with that truck. The lady I spoke to asked if I had a 1987 gray Ford van, I told her no, that license plate was for a 1987 red GMC Mason Dump truck. She said they would look up the DMV records and the ticket would be dismissed. That was the last I ever heard of it.

 

I also got several violation notices from EZ Pass a few years ago for an unpaid toll for a 1984 GMC 7000 dump truck that I also know never went through the tolls they claimed. I called them and got a very nasty response from them that I better pay it because they were going to pull the pictures of my truck going through the toll. I told them please do - because the vehicle they have photographs of wasn't going to match the DMV records of that vehicle's registration. A couple weeks later I got a letter saying they dismissed the violations. My license plate had an 8 in it and I suspect someone had the same plate number but with a 3 where the 8 in my plate was and took some black electric tape and made their 3 an 8 - and then ran a bunch of tolls.

[Mario48 0]

This happened to me back in the 70s I got a parking ticket in the mail that I was parked illegally in downtown NYC. My car was a gold Impala and the ticket was for a silver Impala with the same plate # except mine was NJ and the other was NY. I went to court and won but at the end judge still said don't let this happen again. The bailiff saw I was angry and told me to calm down that he always said that. I had to get new plates after that.

[OfcrFek 21]

This happened to me back in the 70s I got a parking ticket in the mail that I was parked illegally in downtown NYC. My car was a gold Impala and the ticket was for a silver Impala with the same plate # except mine was NJ and the other was NY. I went to court and won but at the end judge still said don't let this happen again. The bailiff saw I was angry and told me to calm down that he always said that. I had to get new plates after that.

That response would have made me pretty hot too.

 

"Don't let this happen again."

Mother f*cker, it wasn't me that let this happen the first time.

[rtquig 45]

Two years ago a parking ticket came in the mail from Montclair NJ. I called the court clerk and asked to see the picture of the car and license plate as they do take pictures. The picture showed a black 2010 Honda Civic with a license plate 1 digit off. I explained that my son is in college in Hoboken and we do not allow him to have his car up there. I sent a picture of our 2010 Silver Honda Civic and license plate. The clerk said she was sorry when she got my picture in the mail and sent me a letter confirming we did not have to pay the ticket. I still have the letter just in case.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

This happened to me back in the 70s I got a parking ticket in the mail that I was parked illegally in downtown NYC. My car was a gold Impala and the ticket was for a silver Impala with the same plate # except mine was NJ and the other was NY. I went to court and won but at the end judge still said don't let this happen again. The bailiff saw I was angry and told me to calm down that he always said that. I had to get new plates after that.

 

Were you "ordered" to get new plates or did you choose to do so to avoid future confusion?

 

Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with the judge at all...  just his clerk, but that was enough, It must of been a bad day for her but, at least, she did not "go off" on me.

[Handyman 5,682]

So all this being the case, what is to keep some scumbag metermaid from just sitting in her truck and fabricating tickets all day to make a quota?

 

Why hand-write anything? With all our digital technology they should require a photo of the vehicle and license plate.

[Handyman 5,682]

So all this being the case, what is to keep some scumbag metermaid from just sitting in her truck and fabricating tickets all day to make a quota?

 

Why hand-write anything? With all our digital technology they should require a photo of the vehicle and license plate.