What if I don't respond to a moving violation ticket within 30 days?

If you don't pay or contest the moving violation ticket within 30 calendar days, a penalty equal to the fine amount is added. The ticket is now considered delinquent, and your DC license (for DC residents) or DC driving privilege (for non-residents) will be suspended until you contest or pay the ticket.

If you fail to respond to the ticket within 60 calendar days, the ticket goes into default (i.e., it becomes delinquent), you are no longer eligible for a hearing and you must pay all fines and penalties (a $5 default fee is added to the ticket after the 60 day period). Also, moving violation tickets that are in default will result in the suspension of your DC license (for residents) or your DC driving privileges (for non-residents) until tickets are paid and your license reinstated. If you have parking tickets that are in default, you will be unable to receive services from the DMV until tickets are paid.

What if my ticket does not show up in the online payment database?

Most parking tickets are written by DPW's Parking Enforcement officers. Those tickets are usually posted to the database within three days. However, for other tickets, the length of time depends on when the officer submits their ticket book. Tickets are sometimes issued by agencies external to MPD and DPW's Parking Enforcement, the most prominent being US Park Police, US Capitol Police and university police. If your ticket is more than 20 days old, and it is not available on the online system for payment, it will be administratively dismissed. However, you should still mail the ticket to DMV using the address on the back of the ticket, so it can be entered into the database for dismissal.

What can I do if I never received the original ticket, but now I’m being penalized for failing to answer it?

If you have received a Notice of Unsatisfied Parking Tickets, but did not or cannot recall receiving the original ticket, you may reply to the address on the notice and request a copy of the ticket. If it is less than 60 days since the ticket was issued, then you can submit an adjudication request online or by mail adjudication in which you may reply to the merits of both the underlying ticket and the assignment of penalties. If the ticket is more than 60 days old, then you can file a Motion to Vacate Judgement* either online or by mail. In accordance with District law, once payment is submitted for a ticket, it can no longer be adjudicated. Therefore, if you dispute only the penalty, you must adjudicate the ticket without paying the original ticket fine.

Why was my ticket referred to a collections agency?

If your ticket has been referred to a collections agency, the administrative remedies identified on the ticket were not followed and the time period to contest the ticket has expired. DMV currently contracts with Professional Account Management, L.L.C. for debt collection services. You will receive written notification from the collections agency that identifies the available payment options. For questions on tickets in collections, you may contact Professional Account Management, L.L.C. at (866) 353-7145.

Normal practice in the credit reporting industry is to retain a reported debt in history for a period of seven years, even if a debt is paid during this period. However, in the interest of our customers, we have requested the collection agency (Professional Account Management L.L.C.) to automatically send a delete record to the credit bureaus whenever a collections account has been paid in full. Therefore a record of your delinquent ticket debt should disappear from credit bureau records once the payment is received. As a record of payment is sent from the collection agency to the credit bureaus on a weekly basis, and because a record of your payment may need to be communicated to other credit reporting agencies which did not receive the primary listing, you should allow a reasonable period of time for all records to be cleared. All communication concerning the status of your tickets with credit bureaus should be directed to Professional Account Management, L.L.C. (866) 353-7145.

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