T.O. Parking Authority "courtesy charge"

I had the misfortune of finding a "courtesy charge" notice on my windshield tonight. I have a defence -- even if I didn't, I still believe in making the city work to prove their case and penalize me -- but I'm not sure how to proceed. While the Toronto Parking Authority appears to be a city-owned and operated corporation, I don't see any way to appeal other than begging mercy of the Authority itself. This isn't a parking infraction in itself, however, it does order me to pay a certain amount by a certain time and does essentially count as a warning against me. If this payment order and warning are penalties, shouldn't I have the right to challenge them? If so, does anyone know how I go about doing it?

I've successfully defended a handful of traffic offences so I'm not concerned about provincial offences court or anything, I'm just not sure it's possible to appeal against this bureaucratic machine.

Thanks for your help!

Can you explain what a courtesy charge is? Never heard of it before.

this info might help

"only if the car remains parked there.

These courtousy tickets are not valid and do not have to be paid. If you leave your car there Toronto Parking Enforcment (refered to as T.A.G.S) will give you a "park private property" ticket. Which can be $20-$30 depending how fast you pay them. After that ticket is issued for 20 minutes they *can* tow you.

Dont pay the Green P

the 48 hours is just to create a sense of urgency so people just pay and forget and not ask their friends.

DO NOT EVER PAY PRIVATE PROPERTY PARKING TICKETS UNLESS ISSUED BY TAGS!"

@ Thread: Toronto Parking Authority $10 Green P courtesy charge parking ticket?

http://forums.redflagdeals com/

Can you post a copy of the ticket (with personal info blanked out)?

Thanks for getting back to me, guys. I saw that post on redflagdeals, too. My only concern is that the Toronto Parking Authority is city-owned. If it was a private parking company, I'd have no hesitation ignoring it. I don't think it's a big deal if I don't pay, honestly, but I don't like this using up my "grace" parking infraction before they drop the real ticket. I'll attach pictures below!

The back says that it is not an parking infraction under Toronto bylaw so it is not enforceable if you don't pay.

Will they issue an actual parking infraction under the bylaw if you do not pay it? They might or they might not. Again Toronto is backed up so there is good chance if they issue ticket that it will never make it to court in a reasonable time.

I am mostly opposed to giving in and paying tickets, but then again this one is only $6 !!!

jsherk wrote:

I am mostly opposed to giving in and paying tickets, but then again this one is only $6 !!!

Haha, I know. I feel a little petty trying to dispute it but, hey, it's my day off.

I've been e-mailing the Toronto Parking Authority and they've pretty much said the same. It's not the $6 that gets under my skin, it's the lack of appeal or dispute process.

The TPA issues courtesy notices to people who have paid for parking but over stayed their time. The charge is the difference between what you already paid and the lots daily maximum. Since this thing is more like an invoice than a ticket, the only way to dispute it is directly with the TPA. That said, if you ignore it they won't really do anything to you. The only consequence of not paying is that if you are caught overstaying your time in one of their lots again you will be hit with a real parking ticket instead of a courtesy notice.