Parking Violations Bureau

Contact

The City of Albany strongly recommends conducting City business by phone, online, mail or email.

The Parking Violations Bureau (PVB) is open to serve customers. It is recommended to call ahead for an appointment as there may be waiting times to enter City offices. You may still pay or contest your ticket by mail or pay your ticket online.

Phone, email, online form

Please call 518-434-5006 if you have any questions regarding your parking ticket. If no one is able to answer, leave a message, and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. You may also email the Bureau if you have any questions about your ticket. Ticket information can be found online using license plate, ticket or vehicle identification numbers. All tickets associated with that license plate will be retrieved by the system.

You may also contact the PVB using our online form. When contacting the Bureau, be sure to leave your license plate number and/or your name, phone number, email, or ticket number(s).

Overview

The Parking Violations Bureau (PVB) is authorized to dispose of parking, red light camera (RLC), and school zone speeding (SZS) violations only (NOT traffic tickets issued by a police officer), and to collect the fines presently designated by the City of Albany and the Court as penalties for the violations over which the Bureau has jurisdiction. The PVB, notwithstanding any other provision, is not authorized to deprive a person from their right to counsel or from exercising the right to appear and contest their violation.

A plea and/or payment of a parking ticket must be made within 20 days of the violation.  A plea and/or payment of a RLC or SZS ticket must be made within 30 days of the issuance of the ticket.  Failure to respond to any of these tickets will be deemed a plea of guilty and will result in the imposition of additional fines and penalties.  After 6 months, all tickets are referred to collections.  

Accumulations of tickets may result in the issuance of a warrant for arrest, the immobilization (booting) of the vehicle, and/or the issuance of a hold on the vehicle registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV hold) to prevent the re-registration of a vehicle until ALL tickets are paid.  

Booting of Vehicles: 

Vehicles become “boot eligible” after accumulating $200 in fines and penalties.  Boot releases are only issued upon the payment and settlement of all outstanding tickets, including RLC and SZS tickets.  If booted, you must pay your tickets, contact the PVB in person, by phone or by e-mail, and once the tickets are paid, the PVB will release your vehicle.

DMV Holds: 

Holds are issued on any vehicle accumulating 3 or more unpaid tickets within an 18 month period within the City of Albany.  Holds are released upon payment and settlement of all outstanding tickets, including RLC and SZS tickets, and you must contact the PVB in person, by phone or by e-mail to obtain the DMV release number from your account.

Appealing a Ticket

Instructions for appealing any ticket can be found on either the ticket itself or the mailed violation notice.  Tickets regarding public safety (including but not limited to RLC, SZS, fire hydrant, handicapped, obstruction, certain no-parking zones) will not be voided absent proof of a legal defense or valid explanation. Appeals of parking violations received after 20 days of issuance, or RLC/SZS tickets received after 30 days of issuance will not be accepted. 

Currently, all violations are supported by photographic and/or video evidence that can be easily viewed by viewing your ticket here https://albany.rmcpay.com/ for parking violations, and here www.viewcitation.com for RLC/SZS tickets. 

You may appeal a parking ticket by mail, in person, or the easiest and fastest way, by e-mail here [E-mail link here parkingticketappeal@albanyny.gov].

Before appealing your RLC or SZS Tickets: 

Go online to www.viewcitation.com and input your citation number and Pin# contained in your violation notice to review pictures and video evidence of your infraction. Because the video evidence of the infraction is almost always clearly shown upon viewing, the PVB does not reduce or excuse RLC or SZS tickets absent a legal defense (such as a stolen vehicle or license plate) or a valid explanation (such as an evidence-supported medical emergency). 

Those who wish to appeal these tickets after reviewing the evidence of the infraction may only do so online [www.viewcitation.com] or by phone, 1-855-427-0455.  These appeals will be provided a pre-trial conference date for you to appear at the PVB in City Hall.  You may be contacted prior to the hearing date with a disposition or request for supporting evidence that may allow for the cancellation of the scheduled conference.

Overtime / Non-Payment of Meter / Official Duty violations

The most common appeals we receive concern tickets issued even though payment has been made for parking.  Frequently this is because people input the incorrect License Plate Number when paying or using the Park Albany App.  

It is our policy to waive tickets ONLY for overtime violations with proper proof of payment, or that are incurred by government officials who are testifying in court or at the Albany Judicial Center (Lodge St). Proof of payment entails the paper receipt from the parking meter towers, and/or an e-reciept from using either a credit card or the Park Albany app.  

Repeated appeals for inputting the wrong license plate number when paying for parking will be denied by the PVB.

All other appeal requests will be provided consideration in accordance with our standard adjudication policies. Violations for parking in handicap zones, on sidewalks, in crosswalks, obstructing fire hydrants and similar violations that impact public safety will be enforced, even if they are incurred while on "official duty".  

Permit/ 2 Hour Parking in a Permit Zone Violations: 

Parking in zones that are permitted for residents is limited to 2 HOURS TOTAL PER DAY IN THE ZONE.  This means that moving a car from one space to another does not re-start the 2 hour clock.  This is enforced by video evidence from license plate readers.  Residential Parking Permits are issued by the Clerk’s office here https://www.albanyny.gov/760/Parking-Permits

Again, the PVB strongly recommends inquiring about your tickets via e-mail. [E-mail link here parkingticketappeal@albanyny.gov] You may also call 518-434-5006 or visit the PVB in person at City Hall, 24 Eagle St., Rm. 203, Albany, NY 12207.  We are open from 8:30-4:45, but closed for lunch from 12:30-1:30.

Access Parking Meter Performance reports.