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05-26-2006, 08:59 AM
Source: Today's Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492
City loses parking fine battle
Ruling allows private firms to issue tickets
`This is the wild west,' says Howard Moscoe
May 25, 2006. 05:23 AM
PAUL MOLONEY AND VANESSA LU
CITY HALL BUREAU
A judge has quashed a City of Toronto bylaw banning private companies from issuing parking tickets.
That means parking tickets issued without city or police involvement are perfectly legal.
"This is the wild west. It means that any person in this city can print up a phony parking ticket, demand money for it, put it on somebody's windshield, sit back and wait for the money to roll in," said Councillor Howard Moscoe. The city is considering its appeal options.
Parking tickets are big business. The city issues approximately 3 million parking tickets a year, and manages to collect fines on about 82 per cent on them. That translates into about $80 million in revenues every year.
For years, companies have been issuing their own parking tickets on private property and keeping the money. Then in July 2004, city council passed a bylaw making it illegal to do so.
Under the bylaw, if owners of a mall or apartment building wanted to punish a parking violator, they had to use municipal licensing enforcement officers who then issued city tickets â complete with the city's logo. And all the fine money would go to the city, not the private firm, which led to charges that the city was simply looking for a cash grab. Two firms, Municipal Parking Corp. and Imperial Parking, challenged the bylaw.
Late Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Stewart issued two separate rulings against the city.
The city argued its bylaw was designed to protect consumers, but the judge argued that illegal trespassers are not consumers in need of protection.
Because the city was enforcing its bylaw, Municipal Parking's lawyer Louis Sokolov said his client has been charged. "All of those charges are now in limbo."
In the Impark case, the judge ruled that the parking company was allowed to charge drivers for use of parking spots if they failed to pay for them.
Moscoe argued that the city is providing a public service by enforcing parking requirements on private lots, alleging some use questionable practices to collect their fines.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492
City loses parking fine battle
Ruling allows private firms to issue tickets
`This is the wild west,' says Howard Moscoe
May 25, 2006. 05:23 AM
PAUL MOLONEY AND VANESSA LU
CITY HALL BUREAU
A judge has quashed a City of Toronto bylaw banning private companies from issuing parking tickets.
That means parking tickets issued without city or police involvement are perfectly legal.
"This is the wild west. It means that any person in this city can print up a phony parking ticket, demand money for it, put it on somebody's windshield, sit back and wait for the money to roll in," said Councillor Howard Moscoe. The city is considering its appeal options.
Parking tickets are big business. The city issues approximately 3 million parking tickets a year, and manages to collect fines on about 82 per cent on them. That translates into about $80 million in revenues every year.
For years, companies have been issuing their own parking tickets on private property and keeping the money. Then in July 2004, city council passed a bylaw making it illegal to do so.
Under the bylaw, if owners of a mall or apartment building wanted to punish a parking violator, they had to use municipal licensing enforcement officers who then issued city tickets â complete with the city's logo. And all the fine money would go to the city, not the private firm, which led to charges that the city was simply looking for a cash grab. Two firms, Municipal Parking Corp. and Imperial Parking, challenged the bylaw.
Late Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Stewart issued two separate rulings against the city.
The city argued its bylaw was designed to protect consumers, but the judge argued that illegal trespassers are not consumers in need of protection.
Because the city was enforcing its bylaw, Municipal Parking's lawyer Louis Sokolov said his client has been charged. "All of those charges are now in limbo."
In the Impark case, the judge ruled that the parking company was allowed to charge drivers for use of parking spots if they failed to pay for them.
Moscoe argued that the city is providing a public service by enforcing parking requirements on private lots, alleging some use questionable practices to collect their fines.
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