Private-parking-lot owners and operators would gain leverage in their efforts to collect on unpaid parking notices under a bill making its way through the (Washington State) Legislature.
The measure (SB 5672) has cleared the Senate and was set for a hearing before a key House committee today. It authorizes commercial lots to charge late fees up to $25, to hire collection agencies to pursue people with unpaid tickets, and to collect attorney fees if they prevail in court.
“What we want to accomplish is the ability to go after people who fail to pay for parking,” Gary Beck, president of the Washington State Parking Association, said yesterday. The measure was modified at the request of Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, to include greater consumer protections. For example, the bill requires that parking signs be “visible at all times, including after dark, to a person seated in the driver’s seat of a vehicle 50 feet away.”
For this complete story, please visit State Bill Would Allow Private Collection Contracts for Unpaid Parking Notices.
