Seconds count when Philadelphia enforces parking, which University of Pennsylvania graduate student Adama Berndt discovered on March 2, 2024. After mailing a package near campus, he returned to his vehicle just as the meter expired.
A Philadelphia Parking Authority officer was in position, ready to issue a $36 citation before Berndt could drive away. “He knocked on my window and handed it to me,” said Berndt, a UPenn Neuroscience Graduate Group student.
Hoping for leniency, Berndt went home and launched a dispute. This ended the city’s urgency.
An in-person hearing was not possible. The Bureau of Administrative Adjudication spells out the restriction in a red banner across the top of its website: “Customer Alert: In-person hearings at BAA are available for booted/towed vehicles only.”
Berndt had one option. He had to file his dispute online and wait. Philadelphia says it responds typically within four to six weeks, but this is just a guideline with no guarantee. To be safe, Berndt started logging on to the dispute portal frequently and checking for updates.
Weeks and months passed. Nothing happened. Then, one day in October 2024, Berndt received a civil default order in the mail.
Philadelphia had considered his case and ruled against him in August without updating the website. The city then stayed quiet for two months while late fees accrued. The new debt was $101.
Berndt, a married father living on a modest university stipend, was shocked. His last hope was a single line on his default order: “You may request a hearing by web or by mail.” This turned out to be another trick. When Berndt called the city, he learned that his window for appeal had closed before he knew he had lost. The lack of timely notification did not matter.
Berndt had waited and waited. Then suddenly, he was too late. “They get an unlimited amount of time to respond,” he says. “They can take six weeks, six months, or two years if they want. And I get one month.”
The power imbalance is typical of parking enforcement nationwide. It’s a rigged game.
Ameera Shaheed fought back with a lawsuit in Wilmington, Del., after the city gave her several parking tickets within a few days — and then impounded and scrapped her vehicle while her appeal was pending. Our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represented her.
The result was total victory. A settlement, which the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware approved on Dec. 17, 2024, will require multiple violation notices, easy payment plans, and convenient hearings for parking tickets.
Most cities offer none of these. They demand strict compliance from vehicle owners but give themselves the flexibility to violate the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which promises due process.
One trick is a short window to pay or appeal before late fees kick in. The deadline is 15 days in Dallas, 10 days in Boise, Idaho, and seven days in Normal, Ill. Many cities require payment upfront for the privilege of a hearing.
When people fall behind, cities can impound their cars and hold the vehicles ransom until all debts are paid in full. Costs add up fast in Cincinnati. Vehicle owners must pay $190 for towing, $25 for processing, $25 per day — plus tax — for storage, and an extra $75 for “extended storage” after five days.
People too poor to pay are out of luck. Cincinnati can auction a vehicle or scrap it after 20 days of impoundment. The window is just 15 calendar days for certain cars in Connecticut and 10 business days in New York City.
Regarding parking enforcement, cities follow a simple rule: Leniency for me, not for thee. Berndt studies something different than public policy in his UPenn program, but he recognizes a scam when he sees one. It’s not brain science.
