My car was towed over $1,260 in parking tickets but I did nothing wrong – my ‘dead plates’ were the real culprit

A WOMAN was left confused after being told she was responsible for several speeding tickets associated with her old license plates.

She only learned of the extra tickets when she called the parking authorities.

ABC 6

ABC 6

ABC 6

Brittany Walker, a Pennsylvania resident, bought a 1995 Mercedes-Benz sedan when someone she knew posted an ad online that they were selling it from a used car dealership .

She’d contacted her acquaintance with interest, and they met at the dealership to make the sale – they’d transferred titles, drafted a bill of sale, and she got new plates to replace her old ones.

When Walker found a boot on her vehicle after her shift, she assumed it was from the four tickets she got over the year she owned the vehicle that she knowingly did not pay.

She called the Pennsylvania Parking Authority to set up a payment plan to pay off the four tickets.

Then she was shocked by what the representative told her.

“I had eleven tickets, totaling $1,260,” Walker told ABC affiliate WPVI .

As she asked more questions, she found out the remaining seven tickets were from a previous owner of the Mercedes .

She did recognize the owner’s name, though.

“He owned it and then he sold it to the next guy that sold it to me, but they’re friends,” she explained.

While she was able to learn exactly why she’d been booted, she was told the boot couldn’t be removed due to the legal complications.

Her name and address weren’t associated with the tickets, so the vehicle was impounded.

To make matters worse, the vehicle may be registered and titled to her, but the plates were “dead” to PennDOT.

Meaning the plates were wiped from the agency’s database, and should not be on the road.

“It’s a big mess,” she said.

In this particular case, she did nothing wrong. She did everything she was supposed to do. And she just didn’t know and got caught up in the system because there was an error at the front end at the tagging agency.

PPA Executive Director Richard Lazer

Walker reached out to WPVI reporters, who contacted PPA on her behalf, who then granted her an emergency adjudication hearing.

After the hearing, the agency revoked the tickets that were sent to the incorrect address, was ordered to pay the fines she owed from her four tickets, and was granted new plates.

“In this particular case, she did nothing wrong,” said PPA Executive Director Richard Lazer.

“She did everything she was supposed to do. And she just didn’t know and got caught up in the system because there was an error at the front end at the tagging agency.”

Statement from PennDOT

PennDOT's full statement to WPVI reporters read as follows:

“This was an error initiated by a contracted agent of PennDOT. When the previous owner of Ms. Walker’s current vehicle attempted to transfer their registration plate to a new vehicle, the agent inadvertently transferred Ms. Walker’s current plate to the previous owner’s vehicle,” explained the spokesperson.

“Neither the agent nor the previous owner noticed that the incorrect plate was transferred until a few days later. When the previous owner transferred the correct plate, Ms. Walker’s plate was made invalid, which led to her current situation. We apologize for the error and we have addressed the issue with the agent.”

Source: CBS affiliate WPVI

A spokesperson from PennDOT issued a statement that helped clear up exactly what happened to Walker.

“This was an error initiated by a contracted agent of PennDOT. When the previous owner of Ms. Walker’s current vehicle attempted to transfer their registration plate to a new vehicle, the agent inadvertently transferred Ms. Walker’s current plate to the previous owner’s vehicle,” explained the spokesperson.

“Neither the agent nor the previous owner noticed that the incorrect plate was transferred until a few days later. When the previous owner transferred the correct plate, Ms. Walker’s plate was made invalid, which led to her current situation. We apologize for the error and we have addressed the issue with the agent.”