“Dear PoPville,
Looking for advice on what to do after a parking ticket is sent to collections. I received a ticket in June, contested it using the Ticket Alert Service, registered for all alerts regarding this ticket, and never heard anything. I checked the Ticket Alert Service website several times since then and never saw any movement. Today, I received a Delinquency Notification from Harris & Harris, Ltd. notifying me that they were collecting the payment (plus a fine).
I was able to speak to someone via the DC 311 line who could confirm they ruled against my contestation in July and sent me a written letter (which I didn’t receive, but that shouldn’t matter because I had registered for the Ticket Alert Service for just this circumstance). He agreed I should have received a notification via Ticket Alert Service so he recommended I call this number (202-724-2034) which seems to be an unmonitored line (no official DMV outgoing message). When I tried to find a different DMV point of contact by calling into the collection agency, they put me on hold for 10 minutes and then told me no one was available and hung up.
Does anyone know what I should do at this point? I figure at this point I’ve missed my chance to ask for a reconsideration after contestation (which I would have done right away had I known about the decision in July). I really do believe this ticket was unfair and don’t want to give up and pay it because I didn’t display my emissions sticker in the right place (note: there were no instructions attached to the sticker regarding where to place it). Should I keep trying, or give up?“