Embarrassment for LA as city admits massive parking ticket lie

Los Angeles transportation officials have been forced to audit the city’s street sweeping ticket system after thousands of drivers were apparently slapped with bogus fines that the city previously claimed it was proactively dismissing.

The embarrassing reversal comes after an L.A. Material investigation found the Los Angeles Department of Transportation issued more than 12,500 street sweeping tickets on days when no sweeping was scheduled, amounting to nearly $1 million in fines.

LADOT initially downplayed the problem, saying it occasionally dismissed tickets issued in error “proactively” and sent reimbursement instructions to motorists who had already paid.

But new data obtained and analyzed by L.A. Material found thousands of the questionable citations apparently remained on the books. The outlet initially found only about 1,800 of the more than 12,500 tickets it identified as erroneous had been canceled.

When questioned about the discrepancy, LADOT said it had discovered nearly 4,600 additional cancellations but could not explain why they were missing from the data it had previously provided, L.A. Material reported.

Hours later, the department announced it would audit the citations.

“The department is conducting an audit of sweeping citations and will reimburse any paid citations determined to have been issued in error,” LADOT spokesperson Colin Sweeney told the outlet.

“LADOT is committed to fair and transparent parking enforcement policies,” Sweeney added.

The agency said roughly 350 motorists who paid erroneous citations in 2025 were never reimbursed for various reasons, including some drivers failing to respond to city notices, according to L.A. Material.

The impact was particularly pronounced in South Park — one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

“I can’t buy food if I have to pay a ticket,” South Park resident Rufina Estrada, 64, who earns money redeeming cans and bottles at recycling centers, told the outlet.

Fewer than 5% of the roughly 2,000 questionable citations issued in South Park were dismissed.

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