Unpaid Parking Ticket Leads to Foreclosure

I have gotten more than a few parking tickets in my time, and tend to wait until the last minute to pay them. I am often tempted to not pay, just to see what might happen. It couldn’t be too bad, right? Lucky for me, I’ve never actually had the guts to find out. Unfortunately, Milwaukee’s Peter Tubic wasn’t as lucky, as he is currently facing foreclosure due to an unpaid parking ticket.

Pretty unbelievable, right? How can a parking ticket lead to foreclosure? According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, one thing led to another and Tubic found himself in the biggest jam of his life. Apparently, Tubic couldn’t afford to pay the ticket due to some medical issues he was having, and also due to the recent death of his father. City officials, while sympathetic, said their goal is only to collect fees and taxes, not to take someone’s house. But, the fine was unanswered since it was issued back in 2004 and with late fees, the fine escalated to $2,600. The moral of this story is to pay your fines, as unpleasant as they may be. And, if you see something weird in real estate, it’s probably related to foreclosure.

Don’t homeowners have enough to worry about these days?

(Hat tip to U.S. News & World Report’s The Home Front blog)

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Update: 8/6/08: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett he will work with the city treasurer’s office to make sure Tubic doesn’t lose his home over a $50 parking violation.