Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Florida: City to Seize Homes Over a $5 Parking Ticket
the newspaper.com ^ | March 22, 2007

Posted on 03/23/2007 8:04:40 PM PDT by Founding Father

3/22/2007

Florida: City to Seize Homes Over a $5 Parking Ticket Brooksville, Florida proposes to foreclose homes and seize cars over less than $20 in parking tickets.

The city council in Brooksville, Florida voted this week to advance a proposal granting city officials the authority to place liens and foreclose on the homes of motorists accused of failing to pay a single $5 parking ticket. Non-homeowners face having their vehicles seized if accused of not paying three parking offenses.

According to the proposed ordinance, a vehicle owner must pay a parking fine within 72 hours if a meter maid claims his automobile was improperly parked, incurring tickets worth between $5 and $250. Failure to pay this amount results in the assessment of a fifty-percent "late fee." After seven days, the city will place a lien on the car owner's home for the amount of the ticket plus late fees, attorney fees and an extra $15 fine. The fees quickly turn a $5 ticket into a debt worth several hundred dollars, growing at a one-percent per month interest rate. The ordinance does not require the city to provide notice to the homeowner at any point so that after ninety days elapse, the city will foreclose. If the motorist does not own a home, it will seize his vehicle after the failure to pay three parking tickets.

Any motorist who believes a parking ticket may have been improperly issued must first pay a $250 "appeal fee" within seven days to have the case heard by a contract employee of the city. This employee will determine whether the city should keep the appeal fee, plus the cost of the ticket and late fees, or find the motorist not guilty. Council members postponed a decision on whether to reduce this appeal fee until final adoption of the measure which is expected in the first week of April.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: extortion; governmentsux; govwatch; homes; jbts; legalisedtheft; parkingtickets; propertyrights; seize; shakedown; thegovernmentsteals
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 next last
To: suijuris

It isn't too much hassle if the real goal is the property and they have a developer on deck waiting for it.

All depends on what is motivating them.


61 posted on 03/24/2007 6:45:27 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: mysterio
Government power is now past the point of no return.

It may seem so, but in fact, the citizens of that town can do two things. First they can do a petition drive to put a revocation of the law on the next ballot. Second, they can vote out the varmints who came up with the ordinance. Past that, should they fall prey to the law, they can file both state and federal civil rights violations suits. They're not out of ammo yet.

62 posted on 03/24/2007 7:51:44 AM PDT by MACVSOG68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Founding Father

Homeowner's Association on Steroids!


63 posted on 03/24/2007 7:52:42 AM PDT by Suzy Quzy (Hillary '08...Her Phoniness is Genuine!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Natural Law
...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

How quaint.

Is that from a fairy tale?

64 posted on 03/24/2007 7:57:29 AM PDT by HIDEK6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator
They were wrong to park illegally, knew they were, and decided not to pay

Ever received a notice that you're delinquent on a parking ticket that you never knew about? Wind, rain and kids having fun have been known to remove a ticket. Weeks later, you get notice that you haven't paid for a ticket that wasn't there when you get back to your car.

And the potential for abuse is huge. A "meter maid" can write a ticket for a legally parked car and destroy the original. Suddenly, you have to pay $250. to contest a copy of a ticket that was supposedly issued two months ago. No chance to take photos of the car with the ticket and the signs etc.

It's a scam to make money; there's no other reason for draconian measures for unpaid $5. tickets.

65 posted on 03/24/2007 8:05:08 AM PDT by par4 (If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: 383rr; Abram; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; Allosaurs_r_us; amchugh; Americanwolf; ...
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
66 posted on 03/24/2007 8:08:09 AM PDT by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Founding Father
Stole this a long time ago, so I'm gonna' use it:

"The Second Amendment is the 'RESET' button for the Constitution".

If anything calls for a clip-fed solution to a problem, this would well qualify.

I'll resume posting after my hopefully temporary banning.

67 posted on 03/24/2007 8:54:12 AM PDT by S.O.S121.500 ("The Second Amendment is the 'RESET' button for the Constitution")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HIDEK6
"How quaint. Is that from a fairy tale?"

I'm afraid that it is becoming increasingly so. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution as a way to appease the Anti-Federalists. The dissolution of the Bill of Rignts began in earnest with the Civil War. Although most history books assert that the war was to end slavery or was some esoteric struggle over "States Rights" it was in fact a war to establish the supremacy of Federalism. The south didn't lose the Civil War, the Anti-Federalists did. It isn't surprising that the primacy of the government over the individual is the consequence.

68 posted on 03/24/2007 9:22:20 AM PDT by Natural Law
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: par4

You gave some very valid points. Very True...


69 posted on 03/24/2007 9:22:51 AM PDT by napscoordinator (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Natural Law
The dissolution of the Bill of Rights began in earnest with the Civil War.

After nine years here I've finally met a person who understands. Nice to meet you.

70 posted on 03/24/2007 9:30:55 AM PDT by Founding Father (The Pedophile moHAMmudd (PBUH---Pigblood be upon him))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: par4
Ever received a notice that you're delinquent on a parking ticket that you never knew about?

Sounds like you are describing the latest scam out of New Orleans. They are sending out notices of parking violations that allegedly took place pre-Katrina. $40 if you immediately pay, $120 if you wait around a few weeks, then go to court and add costs, etc. One little problem, people who have never been to New Orleans are getting these notices. Someone has been able to tap in to a license plate database for the info to run the scam.

71 posted on 03/24/2007 9:38:20 AM PDT by Founding Father (The Pedophile moHAMmudd (PBUH---Pigblood be upon him))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: Founding Father
Well, "Founding Father" and "Natural Law" are synonymous. You really have to filter through a lot of the "Party uber alles" Bush-bots and "Shrill Savage (isn't that redundant) Robots" to find the few who really understand. Glad to make your acquaintance.
72 posted on 03/24/2007 9:50:22 AM PDT by Natural Law
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: tenthirteen
So, if you get a parking ticket for something you did illegally, you don't want to pay?

Its not a matter of whether a ticket should be issued. Its a matter of an unfair, excessive fine.

You read the constitution lately?

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

73 posted on 03/24/2007 9:58:40 AM PDT by Fan of Fiat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: BushMeister

No good deed goes unpunished.


74 posted on 03/24/2007 10:17:15 AM PDT by 2111USMC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: mysterio

Pay the 5 bucks.


75 posted on 03/24/2007 10:18:40 AM PDT by DownInFlames
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: goldstategop

We've allowed the government to steal property without due process from those merely accused of using drugs. This is the predictable result -- government power always expands to find new targets.


76 posted on 03/24/2007 11:17:12 AM PDT by ellery (The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts. - Edmund Burke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: AdamSelene235

Excellant reply.


77 posted on 03/24/2007 11:25:15 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: AdamSelene235

Excellant reply.


78 posted on 03/24/2007 11:25:18 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: DownInFlames

You support seizing cars and houses over a $5 debt?


79 posted on 03/24/2007 1:06:37 PM PDT by mysterio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: TN4Liberty; tenthirteen
If you believe that taking a man's $500,000 home after he is 90 days late paying a $20 ticket is just and fair, you are insane.

If you want to appeal, you have to pay $250 just for the option, and a city employee decides if your appeal is valid?

This whole thing is a racket.

I couldn't agree more. Just one more example of the fact that no one really owns their real estate anymore. All that you worked to earn can be taken away at the whim of a sniveling bureaucrat. This is beyond a racket, but I don't have the words to express my contempt for this scheme... or for the attitude that it's just "one more cost of doing business."

80 posted on 03/24/2007 3:01:17 PM PDT by pbmaltzman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson