We’re just one week away from the end of what Seattle Municipal Court is calling a collections reduction event. Through June 30th, 2011, Seattle Municipal Court will allow citizens to pay their unpaid tickets and fines at a reduced cost. During this 60‐day period, defendants can pay certain delinquent accounts directly to the Seattle Municipal Court rather than to the Court’s collection agency.
July 5th marks the start of Seattle’s scofflaw ordinance. If a vehicle has four or more overdue, unpaid parking tickets, enforcement teams will put a locking boot on it to immobilize it. The press release outlining the details of the ordinance can be found here.
If you have any unpaid parking tickets, the City strongly suggests you take care of them immediately.
Vehicles that have four or more unpaid parking tickets are defined as Scofflaws, per City Ordinance #123447. For all Scofflaws, starting July 5:
- Your vehicle will be immobilized (“booted”) on a City street.
- Once booted, to get the vehicle released you will have 48 hours to pay all parking tickets, default penalties, interest, collections agency fees, and a boot fee.
- If you do not pay within 48 hours of being booted, the vehicle will be towed and impounded. To release the vehicle from impound, you will need to pay all fees and fines, plus tow fees, per Seattle Municipal Code.
- If your vehicle is not claimed from impound within 15 days, it will be sold at auction to help pay your debts.
Pay now to avoid boot and tow fees and save yourself the hassle of being booted and/or impounded. Parking tickets may cost less from May 2011 through June 2011 as part of the Court’s Collections Reduction Program
Check the Seattle Municipal Court – Public Information Web Site to see if your vehicle has unpaid parking tickets