You can get help with parking ticket or camera violation disputes and hearings.
Status
After your request is submitted, a hearing will be held within 14 to 45 days. You will be sent a copy of the administrative law judge's decision after the hearing. For in-person hearings, you get the decision at the conclusion of the hearing.
If you requested a hearing online or by app, you will be emailed the decision about 2 weeks after the hearing to the email address you provided in your request. The email will be from NYCServ@finance.nyc.gov. If you don’t see the email, check your junk and/or spam folder. Please note this is an outgoing email address, any emails sent to this address will not be received or responded to.
If you requested a hearing by mail, the decision will be mailed about 10 days after the hearing to the address you provided with your defense or the address where the vehicle is registered.
If it's been more than the normal timeframe and you haven't received a decision, you should check the status of your violation. If there's no information available in the system, you can request the status from the Department of Finance.
Blocked Violation or Vehicle
If your plate or ticket is blocked and you cannot pay or request a hearing, contact or visit the Department of Finance for more information.
If you have three or more returned online payments on the parking and camera violations website within a 6-month period, you will be automatically blocked from using the online payment system.
If you are blocked and try to pay online, you will see a message on the screen that says "This plate has been blocked from making payments online. You may pay in person or by mail. For more information on how to pay, go to www.nyc.gov/payonline or read payment instructions on your parking ticket."
If your license plate is added to the list of blocked payments, you will get an email with details about your returned payment and instructions on how to be removed from the list. Once your debt on the license plate is cleared for 15 calendar days, you will be able to pay online again. If the behavior continues, you may be blocked from making online payments permanently.
Online
Contact the Department of Finance.
In Person
Visit a DOF Business Center.
Evidence Adjournment
After submitting your defense, you may receive a letter or email requesting additional evidence. You have 30 days from the adjournment date (which is listed in the middle of the page) to send in the requested evidence. Along with the evidence, include your ticket or NOL number and your license plate number and the state the vehicle is registered in.
Mail to:
NYC Department of Finance
Hearing by Mail Unit
P.O. Box 29021
Brooklyn, NY 11202-9021
Evidence Submission Failure
If you received an “Evidence Upload Failure” message while disputing online or with the app, the evidence files you tried to attach weren’t submitted.
You may have exceeded the 20 MB limit. If you need to submit files that are over 10 MB, you should make your hearing request online, by mail, or in person.
Another reason you can get this kind of error is if you’re trying to upload file types that aren’t accepted by the app.
The acceptable image and file formats are:
- JPEG/JPG
- TIFF
- BMP
- Non-animated GIFs
If you requested a hearing and received confirmation but had a problem submitting evidence and still want to submit that evidence, you need to immediately request that your hearing be stopped. You should do this immediately, so it is stopped before the judge hears it.
Online
Your message should include the violation number and a note that this is an "Upload Problem." Don’t include evidence. DOF will email you instructions on how to send it.
Contact the Department of Finance.
In Person
Bring your ticket or Notice of Liability (NOL) and evidence to a DOF Business Center.
Notice of Unpaid Violation
Twenty days after a parking ticket is issued, DOF will send a Pre-Penalty Notice of Unpaid Violation to the DMV address on file for the registered owner of the vehicle. This letter reminds owners about an outstanding violation on a plate registered to them and gives instructions on how to pay or request a hearing.
If you received a notice that you still owe money on a violation that you already paid or had dismissed, it’s possible that DOF mailed the letter before they processed your payment or accepted your hearing request. Depending on how you paid, it may take up to two weeks for a payment to be posted. You may also still have a remaining balance on a ticket that you thought you paid in full or a penalty was added because you didn’t pay on time.
You should check the status of your violations to verify the information in the notice.
If the ticket or Notice of Liability (NOL) number listed on the notice matches your payment or dispute records, you should send DOF proof of payment or dismissal and a copy of the notice.
Proof of payment or dismissal may include:
- A copy of the front and back of a canceled check
- A copy of a cashed money order
- A copy of a hearing decision or stamped printout
- A copy of a credit card statement
- The confirmation number for an online or phone payment
By Mail
For requests by mail, be sure to submit copies of the documents, not originals.
DOF will respond to requests by mail in about 15 days.
Mail to:
NYC Department of Finance
Refunds Unit
59 Maiden Lane, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10038-4648
You can contact the Parking Summons Advocate for help if you keep receiving notices from the Department of Finance or a collection agency about a ticket that you already paid or already had a hearing on but for which you never received a decision.
Learn more on the Parking Ticket or Camera Violation Advocate page.
Payment Made Before Hearing Requested
Since paying the violation is "an admission of liability" (meaning you admit you are guilty) do not pay the ticket if you want to request a hearing.
If you mistakenly paid the ticket but still want to dispute the violation, you must do so by mail or in person within 30 days of the date of the ticket. Make sure to explain why you paid the violation.
Reinstatement of a Previously Dismissed Ticket
If fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct was committed to obtain a dismissal of a parking ticket, the Department of Finance (DOF) may reinstate it.
If DOF determines that they shouldn’t have dismissed your ticket, you will be mailed a Notice of Hearing with a Statement in Support of Setting Aside Prior Dismissals.
If you agree that you were guilty on the original ticket, you don’t have to appear at the hearing. You can call or send a letter to the DOF Fraud Investigation Unit to say you don’t object to the reinstatement and don’t plan to attend your hearing. DOF will submit the Reinstatement Petition and any evidence to a judge. You will get the judge’s decision by mail. The original ticket may be restored and you may have to pay up to three times the original fine and three times the additional penalties.
If you want to dispute the reinstatement, you must participate in a hearing. A hearing will be scheduled where you will have a chance to dispute the reinstatement. You can appear by yourself, with an attorney, or send an eligible representative who is authorized, in writing, to speak on your behalf.
You can contact the DOF Fraud Investigation Unit by phone or by mail.
By Phone
NYC Department of Finance
Fraud Investigation Unit
Legal Affairs Division
375 Pearl Street, 30th Floor
New York, NY 10038