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Moral Question, Moonbeams
So I rent my car out via Turo. The deal is that basically while it's out of my hands during the rental window, the renter is responsible for all tolls and fees.
I got a notice in the mail from City of Philly Parking that there was an $80 parking ticket for my car during a time a renter had it.
I contacted Turo to tell them. They said to pay the ticket, show proof of the ticket and the payment and they would charge the renter.
The renter then sends me a message wanting to know what this charge is for. I sent him a photo of the ticket. He claims that he doesn't deserve it because he was in a parking lot the whole time. I checked the car GPS. He was in a parking lot.
It's possible, though, that he was there outside the hours he paid for, or something like that. That's what the ticket indicates.
If I do nothing further, I get my $80 back, he's pissed and never rents my car again. I could try to fight the ticket, using whatever evidence he can furnish me of the parking slips he paid for. But a) it's in Philadelphia and b) the ticket is already paid. I can't get a court date since it's already paid.
Am I under any obligation to do anything other than sit back and get my reimbursement?



If money is the main issue: Assuming this renter would use the car again, and assuming they have been in all other ways respectful of your property (didn't incur fees, returned in good condition) the question is whether the amount of the ticket is less than the rental fees you stand to lose if they stop renting.
The question (for me) would be how the renter is behaving and whether his being a good/consistent renter is worth the aggravation of an argument if/every time something goes wrong. Bc it seems, at the very least, he should appreciate that "fixing" this would take an effort on both your parts and, since the ticket happened on his watch, if anyone should just eat the cost, it's him.
Hard to say how often he would have intended to use the car. I get like $20/day for it. So this ticket is 4x the amount he normally pays.
And to be honest, he's kind of a pain. Like, returning the car at 2am so I have to stay up to get the keys. While I'm all about making money, I think I wouldn't mind if someone else replaced him...
Taking that into account, I think you can feel totally ok letting him pay the ticket!
Nope, you got charged when it was out. Not your problem. Get the money.
OK, this is just my opinion, with no legal knowledge whatsoever to back it up. That said:
Renter 'lost' the case when his only defense was he doesn't deserve the ticket. When you have a free day and want some fun, go spend some time downtown watching traffic court. After each case, ask the person as he/she leaves if they 'deserved' the ticket. For each person that says yes, I'll pay that $80 myself.
Further things that make me wonder what game the renter is playing: The first you heard of it was the mail? The renter never said anything along the lines of "heads up, when I came back to the car there was a ticket on the windshield, but I don't think it's really accurate, here's proof I was legally parked the entire time."? He only responded after Turo charged him, and his response was "I don't think I should have to pay this."? If so, he can take that up with Turo and they can review their terms and conditions with him. Add this to the returning the car at 2AM thing, and I don't know this dude from Adam, but I think he's kind of a jerk and you're better off not having to deal with him.
Or, another way of looking at it, he had the car from 6AM to 2AM the next morning (just using this as an example, I don't know the times). He was parked in a parking lot from 8AM to 5PM, the ticket is for 7:30PM, and he's saying he's not responsible? This begs the question, who else was he sharing the keys with then?
Eh..... If he's the one footing the bill (in the end anyways) isn't it his obligation to fight the ticket?
It would be. Except it's in my name. Everything is in my name because it's my car.
Yes yes I get that part but if Turo is charging him and he feels it's unfair isn't it his responsibility to fight it? To be honest it sounds like he was parked in the lot outside the hours he paid for unless mistakes happen often there...
I don't know how he'd fight it, legally, with the city of Philly.
Weird that Turo doesn't have some kind of statement about parking tickets and fees and/or some sort of recourse in case of mistakes though isn't it.
I guess they assume all tickets are legit. Their rules made it rather easy on me to collect.
Maybe you should also assume all tickets are legit and put your mind to rest? I'm just glad you didn't get stuck with a random $80 expense.
This is a fair point.
I'm before coffee here I'm surprised it took me that long to get there. Haha. ❤