7 On Your Side: Junked jalopy causes parking fine frustrations
NEW YORK (WABC) -- This is from the "no good deed goes unpunished" file. A 20-something moved to Brooklyn needing to get rid of her ride and wanted to donate the car to charity.
But months after it was gone she got submerged by summonses. With fees pushing four digits she hailed 7 On Your Side for help.
Lindsay Cohen is frustrated by a stack of parking fines for tickets on a car she no longer owns.
"I think it's nonsense," says the former car owner.
6 years ago, Lindsay got her first car, a black VW.
She drove it all through college and beyond. Then she moved out of her parents' home in Smithtown to her own apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
A relative suggested donating the Jetta, so she called J V Towing. The tower told her the car would be donated to the charity Kars 4 Kids, which is even written on her towing receipt.
Lindsey did all the right things, cancelling the insurance and turning in the plates, which automatically suspends a car registration. Then a few months later she got a stack of past due violations.
After we called, Suffolk County started a criminal investigation, finding J V Towing didn't donate Lindsay's car. Instead it put it up for sale, parking it in a strip mall lot on a busy intersection in Smithtown.
And that's where it got ticketed, for improper plates, no valid inspection sticker, and parking the car on a highway while putting it up for sale. Lindsay says the fines and the fees add up to about $1,000. So she went to Suffolk court to fight it but struck out. That's when she flagged us down. And after our call?
"I'm just really happy this aggravation is over," said Lindsay.
Suffolk County transferred the tickets to J V Towing.
Lindsay's takeaway? "The best thing I did was call 7 On Your Side."
J V Towing told us Monday they transferred the tickets out of the customer's name as a courtesy. They have a court date and intend to fight the fines. Kars 4 Kids told us they never received this Jetta and have never done business with J V Towing.
The big takeaway. If you junk, sell, or donate your car have the new owner sign the back of the title, and take a picture of the signed title.
Also, have the new owner sign a bill of sale that includes name, address, and phone number.
And don't forget, keep a signed copy. And lastly scrape the registration sticker off the front window. Lindsay didn't. That could've led the police back to her and started her frustrations.
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