New York City is now cracking down on the hundreds of thousand parking ticket delinquents who's neglected to pay, and it's not small fry--the Department of Finance says they are owed close to $700 million in unpaid fines.
“We have not taken anywhere near an aggressive enough posture to collect this money,” David M. Frankel, the city’s finance commissioner, told The New York Times.
The Department of Finance has been lax in going after those who haven't paid up, but with bigger budget cuts looming, the City could use the money. The old rule was to wait until the fines reached $800 before bringing in collection agencies, but now the Finance Department will go after any amount owed. The New York Times reported that the Department recently sent agencies paperwork for $209 million in outstanding fines for collection, which are fines owed for 1.4 million tickets.
The old punishment for unpaid tickets up to $250 or more was blocking the driver from renewing his or her registration. Now the city will immediately suspend the registration of any car owner who hasn't paid at least five violations in one year.
Local
Around $150 million owed is on vehicles with out-of-state license plates. The top offenders are plate holders from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
