The City of West Hollywood not taking responsibility for their mistake
July 7, 2011
When has the City of West Hollywood parking gone to far? I received a ticket for parking in a residential area without a permit back in March of 2011. The ticket had $5 printed on it. Granted, the ticket was wet and I had to let it dry off (it was raining heavily that night). I checked the ticket carefully to make sure it was correct. The ticket stated that I had a certain date to pay it and it would go up to over a hundred dollars. I promptly paid it and forgot all about it. A couple of weeks later I received a letter from the City of West Hollywood that stated that I still owed $50. I was not sure why but figured they had made a mistake. Being new to the area, I didn’t want any problems so I paid the $50 with a second ticket I had received two blocks away when my meter expired. After approximately three weeks, I received another ticket stating that I had not paid them and the balance on the ticket had gone up. I promptly called them and stated I had paid them and had proof. After talking to representative, I learned I had paid the City of Los Angeles. He told me I had to get a letter from the City of Los Angeles manager explaining that I had over paid them. I called the City of Los Angeles and was told I would receive a refund but could not obtain letter from manager. I called the City of West Hollywood and explained the situation. I requested this time to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold. The representative came back on the phone and I was denied speaking to supervisor. I wrote out a letter to City of West Hollywood with copy of check. I went down and filed a Contest. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was denied. At the time, I chose to pay the $50 balance hoping it would end. I then receive a letter from City of West Hollywood stating they needed copies of all cancelled checks. I got cancelled checks from bank and went down and submitted. I spoke to a representative less than two weeks ago and was told my contest was still being reviewed. I called today and was told the city has placed another late fee (on top of the previous late fee) and that my claim had been denied (yet, I was NOT sent a letter of notification on their ruling). The City is now using scare tactics threatening to ruin my credit history and send me to collections unless I pay. I legally paid the initial fine and paid an extra $50 which I was NOT responsible for. Again I ask, when has the city gone to far?