TicketWiper: A New App To Help Fight NYC Parking Tickets
If you own a car in New York City, you will get a parking ticket at some point. The Daily News points out that fines are a huge money-maker for the city (to the tune of $993 million) and “[parking] tickets accounted for 55% of all fines, bringing in $545 million for city coffers, a $32 million spike since 2012.”
Whether you forget to move your car on alternate side parking day, don’t put enough money in the meter, park too close to a hydrant, or are one of the thousands of people who get a ticket for parking legally – getting one is only a matter of time. And when you do, you’ll have two choices: fight it or pay it. If you want to fight, there’s a service that can help you: TicketWiper. And they just launched an easy-to-use app.
Founder David Obstfeld has been fighting tickets for a while. A “Brooklyn boy” born and raised in Borough Park, he “always had a dream of helping people and never knew how that would come about. I thought fighting parking tickets is a good area where I could help people and make a living at the same time.” He wants to take what he’s done for commercial clients over the years and do it for “regular people” through the TicketWiper app, which launched in January.
So how does it work?
After you download the app, if you get a ticket, you can submit it either by entering the info manually or by scanning the ticket’s barcode. Then leave the rest to TicketWiper. “You don’t need to submit a defense,” explains Obstfeld. “We review the ticket for technicalities and try to get it dismissed. We don’t necessarily need or even use evidence outside of that.” The process takes about 2-3 weeks.
You don’t pay a fee unless the ticket is dismissed. If they’re successful, the fee is 50% of the fine. If not, you don’t pay them anything. (Of course, you do have to pay the ticket to NYC.) Obstfeld says his success rate is between 40% and 50%. There can be an error or technical reason for dismissal “even if the ticket looks good to your eye.”
If you find yourself between tickets at the moment, TicketWiper can still be of help. They post helpful tips on their blog three times a week – posts ranging from alternate side parking suspension updates to ticket-related news and tips. You can even enter your plate number and the app will auto-monitor for tickets issued that you might not be aware of. It checks plates weekly.
Obstfeld points out that their friendly staff can always be contacted through the app’s live chat or by calling 212.774-WIPE. Give TicketWiper a try – it could save you tons of money.
Special BKLYNER offer: Use coupon code WIPE5 to receive a $5 discount on your first dismissed ticket.
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