A Chicago woman has settled with the city of Chicago after she was left with more than $100,000 in parking fines when her ex-boyfriend abandoned her car in an inaccessible airport parking lot for nearly three years.
Jennifer Fitzgerald initially owed the city of Chicago a whopping $105,000 after a 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo - a used car that was bought for $600 and registered in her name - was parked at O'Hare Airport for three years starting in November 2009. It was parked there by Fitzgerald's ex, Brandon Preveau, according to a civil suit Fitzgerald filed.
According to DNA Info Chicago the city agreed to drop $100,000 in ticket fines against Fitzgerald leaving her with a final bill of $4,470.
Preveau has to pay the initial down payment of $1,600 and Fitzgerald will pay an additional $78 per month until the fine is paid off. When she found the first bunch of tickets, she claimed she tried to move the car herself, but she did not have the keys. She then asked the Chicago Police Department to help her move the car, but they did not have access to the lot. She then had the Illinois Secretary of State revoke the license plates in September 2010 -- but the car still received tickets. Fitzgerald then was told to transfer the registration and title to her ex-boyfriend by a judge to give him the responsibility, a move which the city deemed inadequate. The car was finally towed on Oct. 26, 2012.
Fitzgerald has lost her license as a result of all the tickets. The car still remains in an impound lot. The settlement brings to an end a lengthy battle for the single mother after she was left with the biggest parking fine in city's history.
In a suit, filed against Preveau, United Airlines, and the city of Chicago, Fitzgerald contended that she should not be liable for the tickets. According to the court papers, first obtained by the Chicago website, The Expired Meter, Fitzgerald "was never the owner of the [automobile]… had no control over the [automobile] when the parking tickets were issued… [and] is not responsible for the parking tickets issued on the [automobile]."
Drew said it is the city's understanding that the car was parked in the United Airlines' lot at O'Hare Airport. Preveau works for United Airlines.
Fitzgerald claimed to The Expired Meter that she didn't know the car was parked in the airport. However, even if she did, Chicago law states that any car parked for more than 30 days in a city-owned lot is subject to an immediate tow to a city pound or authorized garage. She's arguing that the majority of the tickets would not have even been issued if the car had been towed.
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