Dispute a Parking Ticket

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Dispute a Parking Ticket

The City of Philadelphia’s Office of the Chief Administrative Officer oversees the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication (BAA).   Once a parking violation is issued, the BAA is the only agency able to determine liability. If you would like to dispute a parking violation you believe was issued in error, there are multiple options for disputing it. Please see below for additional information.

 

Customer Alert: In-person hearings at BAA are available for booted/towed vehicles only.

Dispute a Parking Violation Online

Please click below to dispute a parking violation online.

Dispute Violation Online

Dispute Parking Violation Via Mail

Submit your written testimony and any evidence you would like to have a hearing officer consider in your case and mail to:

Bureau of Administrative Adjudication
913 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Booted or Towed Vehicles

If your vehicle is booted or towed and you wish to have a hearing, you must go to the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication at 913 Filbert St., Monday-Friday. Expedited hearings to discuss arrangements for the release of your vehicle begin at 8:30 AM. As wait times may be longer than anticipated and the number of cases seen daily will vary in order to ensure the proper safety of the public and our staff, we ask that you arrive as early as possible to secure a position in line.

Additional Information

Ticket Dispute Frequently Asked Questions

The Bureau of Administrative Adjudication (BAA) is the governing entity, separate of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, that administers parking ticket disputes in accordance with Section 12-2800 of the Philadelphia Code and Charter.

You may dispute a violation through one of 2 options:

Online

By Mail:

Submit your written testimony and any evidence you would like to have a hearing officer consider in your case and mail to:

Bureau of Administrative Adjudication
913 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

If your vehicle has been booted/towed, please see the next question.

If your vehicle is booted or towed and you wish to have a hearing, you must go to the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication at 913 Filbert St., Monday-Friday. Expedited hearings to discuss arrangements for the release of your vehicle begin at 8:30 AM. As wait times may be longer than anticipated and the number of cases seen daily will vary in order to ensure the proper safety of the public and our staff, we ask that you arrive as early as possible to secure a position in line.

Please do not pay a parking ticket you intend to dispute. In accordance with the Philadelphia Code and Charter, payments of parking tickets are considered an admission of guilt and liability.

PLEASE NOTE: If you would like to dispute a parking ticket you feel has been issued in error, we recommend doing so promptly in order to avoid late penalties.

Mailed in and online hearings usually take 4 – 6 weeks from receipt of your submission. This is ultimately dependent upon the volume of mailed in and online hearing requests being received at a particular time.

There is no filing fee for hearings.

There is no requirement for representation by a lawyer, though you are certainly entitled to be represented by legal counsel. Generally speaking, most respondents appeal without being represented by legal counsel.

After a decision is rendered during your appeal hearing, you will have exhausted your appeal opportunities within the City’s adjudicatory structure. You may, however, appeal that decision within the court system. In this instance, should you wish to make an appeal of the City’s interpretation of the law or decision in any matter, you may do so by filing with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

PLEASE NOTE: There is a filing fee should you wish to appeal to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Though mailed in checks may be dated or mailed before the payment deadline, the date in which payment is received stipulates whether late penalties are applied. Should you need to make immediate payment in order to avoid late penalties, it is recommended to either make payment online , or via phone by calling 1-888-591-3636.

Having mechanical issues with your vehicle could be a valid excuse, but it’s not necessarily a guarantee you will succeed in your parking ticket dispute.

For example, running out of gas is unlikely to be a sufficient excuse unless you can prove that a sudden failure of the gas gauge was the reason you had run out of gas. If your vehicle does break down, it is highly recommended you take reasonable and timely steps to remove the vehicle from the roadway. While doing so, you should be able to obtain necessary documentation showing you took necessary steps should you need to dispute a parking ticket.

If the vehicle owner is deceased, nothing will happen to the outstanding tickets until someone responds on behalf of the late registered owner. We highly recommend obtaining and presenting an original death certificate and any unresolved tickets up until the date of death will be dismissed.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: Outstanding tickets will not be dismissed if there is a surviving co-owner of the vehicle.

Generally speaking, no. If this occurs, we recommend obtaining and presenting a legible copy of the police stolen vehicle/tag report (the report number alone is not sufficient). The report should show the date and time of theft, along with the date of recovery. If the vehicle/tag was not recovered (never found or not found by time of your hearing) you may also need to provide documentation that shows that as well. Please keep in mind that regardless of where you live or where the vehicle is registered, the stolen vehicle/tag report is issued by the city or township in which the theft occurred.

Having a medical emergency could be a valid excuse, but it’s not necessarily a guarantee you will succeed in your parking ticket dispute.

For example, if you had a heart attack and were taken from the scene by ambulance to a hospital and have documentation to support that, you are more likely to succeed in your parking ticket dispute. However, if you have a known medical condition but did not take reasonable precautions to prevent an emergency, the likelihood of you succeeding in your parking ticket dispute decreases. Additionally, if you rush to the hospital to support a loved one who had a medical emergency but you were not directly involved in emergency transport or life-saving care, you are unlikely to succeed in your parking ticket dispute.

If the registered owner of the vehicle is unable to attend their hearing, they may authorize anyone else to dispute in their absence.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: Whoever is representing the registered owner of the vehicle will also be utilizing the registered owner’s hearing opportunity. With that said, the registered owner bears responsibility for whatever decision is rendered by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication.

When your testimony and documentation has been received for an online or by mail hearing, a suspend is placed on the ticket or tickets involved until a decision is rendered. During this time, no penalties will be added and no noticing or collection activity will take place while the suspend is in effect.

Each hearing is conducted by a full-time hearing examiner employed by the City of Philadelphia’s Bureau of Administrative Adjudication.

Hearing examiners with the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication are not permitted to obtain evidence on your behalf. The only evidence that a BAA hearing examiner will consider is what you submit or present. With that said, it is your responsibility to obtain and present your own evidence such as photographs, police reports, etc., that may be beneficial to your defense.

Yes. You have one year from the entry of default in which to appeal. In general, if there is no response or an inadequate response, the entry of default is 4-5 weeks after the issuance date, so in rough terms, you have 13 months from the issuance date. Tickets beyond one year from the entry of default are no longer eligible to be disputed, regardless of the merits of the defense.

Whenever you are issued a parking ticket, it is highly recommended that you either pay or dispute it before late penalties are applied. When no action is taken 15 days after a ticket is issued, a Notice of Violation (NOV) is sent to the vehicle’s registered address reminding its owner to either pay or dispute the ticket within 10 days. If no action is taken within 10 days of the date noted on the NOV (or 90 days after issuance if name and address information is not returned from the motor vehicle records), a $30 penalty will be added. After that, the vehicle owner has another 10 days to pay or dispute the ticket before the second penalty of $35 is added.

PLEASE NOTE: For tickets issued through November 22, 2013, the first late penalty was $25 and the second late penalty was $30. Those penalty amounts were changed when Bill 130562 was enacted. See City Code §12-2809(1). For tickets issued on or after November 23, 2013, the first late penalty is $30 and the second late penalty is $35.

Your appeal options are explained in the decision letter you receive from the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication. If you choose to appeal the original decision, your appeal hearing will be heard by a hearing examiner from the appeal panel. Additionally, it will not be the same hearing examiner that conducted your initial hearing.
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