By Anonymous - 06/05/2017 08:00 - United States - Indianapolis

Today, I called and went downtown after the city incorrectly issued fines against my property and threatened jail time for violating city ordinances, not paying fines, and not filing permits. They told me that, until fines are paid, they cannot correct a thing even though they got the address wrong. FML
I agree, your life sucks 5 402
You deserved it 281

Same thing different taste

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There are often incentives for the people in those government offices to collect fines and penalties. They generally care not at all if the proper person pays the the money, as long as they can check the "paid" box and get one more step toward their bonus threshold. You can try contacting whatever local news station's version of "Seven On Your Side" might be, and if that fails, get an attorney. Should get straightened out with a letter.

Filing a lawsuit is a long, time consuming, and often expensive process. Unless you're rich or are a large entity (like a city or a corporation) there's no such thing as an "easy lawsuit". Justice is not easy, equal, or cheap.

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Filing a lawsuit is a long, time consuming, and often expensive process. Unless you're rich or are a large entity (like a city or a corporation) there's no such thing as an "easy lawsuit". Justice is not easy, equal, or cheap.

There are often incentives for the people in those government offices to collect fines and penalties. They generally care not at all if the proper person pays the the money, as long as they can check the "paid" box and get one more step toward their bonus threshold. You can try contacting whatever local news station's version of "Seven On Your Side" might be, and if that fails, get an attorney. Should get straightened out with a letter.

KingAdrock 16

Exactly. Talk to your local news station, write to your local paper, and/or spread the story on social media. If folks get outraged, you may embarrass city hall into fixing the problem.

Whynotthis 0

What are the fines and supposed violations? I'm sorry, it seems hard to believe that you were just slapped with this for no reason. Do you mean the wrong types of violations are listed on the paperwork? I live in Indy as well and a friend works in the code enforcement office downtown. This seems very strange, or even false, without more detail.

'even though they got the address wrong.' meaning the OP got the fines because they sent it to the wrong address.

You should be able to contest the fines in court and if there is such an easy mistake as them getting your adress wrong you should win it easily.

Exactly! They won't put anyone in jail unless there is a hearing. And no judge is going to put you in jail or make you pay fines because of an error like that. Get the name of the person who told you that and bring it up in court.

Time to lawyer up. You may not even have to sue, as another poster alluded. Receipt of a letter on a legal firm's letterhead is often enough to get the most obstreperous bureaucrats to get their head out of their ass and do what needs to be done to put things right.

AspieGirl88 7

The fact that they've already admitted that there is something to correct, it shows that they can be held liable for this & you are definitely entitled to legal help. With any luck, you can sue them for false accusations & undue stress. After all; THEY are the ones in the wrong, not you.

TheyCallMeDamien 17