A judge has ruled that the city of San Diego illegally collected millions of dollars in parking violation late fees and penalties over the course of about three years, potentially entitling more than 174,000 people to refunds.

The ruling stems from a class-action lawsuit involving parking citations issued within San Diego city limits between Feb. 22, 2022, and March 31, 2025. According to the ruling, the city owes plaintiffs more than $16 million.

The lawsuit alleges the city failed to follow requirements in the California Vehicle Code when issuing notices for parking citations. Under state law, the city must mail an initial notice giving recipients 14 days to pay a parking ticket without penalty.

A judge found that the city instead sent notices with late fees already added, according to the lawsuit.

The lead plaintiff, Toya Hacia-Welch, received a parking ticket in downtown San Diego on Feb. 2, 2022. She claims she never received a paper ticket on her car. A notice of delinquency arrived weeks later on April 6, listing a total amount due of $112.50, including fines and penalties if paid by April 20.

According to the lawsuit filed with the Superior Court of California, the notice did not include the option to pay the base fine of $57.50 within 14 days, as required by law.

According to a joint filing, the lawsuit now includes more than 306,000 citations.

The city of San Diego denies the allegations. The city has not responded to the judge’s ruling nor NBC 7’s request for comment in time for publication.

The city’s website still states: “The court has not determined whether plaintiff or the city are correct. There is no money available now and no guarantee that there will be.”

According to lawsuit documents, the city now (as of April 2025) provides at least 21 days notice before adding penalties, fees or interest to the original ticket amount.

Attorneys representing the more than 170,000 people affected declined to comment.

More information is available on the city of San Diego’s website.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.

By Dave Rice

Is Measure A going to affect a significant number of properties? Is it going to affect affordable housing in any meaningful way? Come now, let’s not be dense – this hits a handful of rich people who can absolutely afford to drop $10K in the city coffers if they’re leaving a vacation home vacant on purpose – let’s say that’s their civic contribution that would be realized in other ways if they actually lived, worked, and shopped here full-time.

Or it hits STVR hosts, who can either factor the cost into their business model or give it up if margins are really that thin (maybe not everyone needs to fancy themselves an amateur hotelier). But let’s not kid ourselves and believe the kind of housing this will free up will be plentiful or affordable.

In the exceedingly rare instances where someone might be eligible for an exemption, will it be too hard to apply for? That’s something we can argue and refine but that’s the bathwater, or just the little bit of it that splashes out of the tub, not the baby. An argument that the whole proposal is DOA because military members are too stupid to file for an exemption is either dismissive of or telling tales out of school about what we really think of military intelligence.

Poor, poor grandma who needs a home near her doctor? If she’s really poor why does she have multiple houses, and if she’s not does this really affect her? I live in a neighborhood where “aren’t you afraid you’re going to get shot?” is the first thing outsiders ask me about where I’m from, and if Grandma has owned her mostly-unoccupied vacation house for any significant time I probably pay a lot more property tax than she does. You couldn’t trip over the limbo bar to gain my sympathy, it’s buried a few feet deep.

This is a tiny nod toward taxing the rich, but that’s all. It’s not significant or meaningful, it won’t do a lot, most of the housing stock in question even if returned to actual residents won’t make a dent in the astronomical cost of living in or anywhere near this city. But it’s a tiny step in the right direction – and watching how hysterical the moneyed class is about the rest of us asking for even the tiniest drop in the goddamned bucket we’re trying to fill without their help is telling.

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