License Plate Mix-Up Sends Multiple Tickets to Car's Former Owner

Graduation is a time for celebration and for some people that means a new vehicle. But before the “new car smell” even wore off in his new truck, Josh Johnson of Bradley, Illinois, found himself stuck with hundreds of dollars in tickets attached to his old car.

Johnson received his doctoral degree in May and traded-in an Infiniti for a GMC truck later that month.

“I decided it was time to upgrade my vehicle,” Johnson said.

But a few months later he received a parking ticket from the City of Chicago for an alleged violation that occurred in July. A photo of the Infiniti’s new license plate number was included in the $65 citation.

“I couldn’t believe I was getting a ticket for a car that I don’t own, a license plate I’ve never seen and yet it was my name and my address on there,” Johnson said.

Johnson called the City of Chicago to explain that he no longer owned the Infiniti. But he said the city told him he was responsible for the ticket.

Johnson said he contacted the Illinois Secretary of State regarding the mix-up and later received a letter stating that while the state acknowledged he had sold the Infiniti, the vehicle’s license plates were registered to him.

“Everyone’s pointing the finger to the other person,” Johnson said. “No one wants to take responsibility for who made the mistake.”

NBC 5 Responds contacted the city, which later dismissed the parking ticket. According to a city spokesperson, the city receives all vehicle information from the Illinois Secretary of State.

However, Johnson received another $65 parking ticket and a $100 speed camera ticket for violations that are alleged to have occurred in Chicago in August. Both tickets included photos of the vehicle he traded-in to an Indiana auto dealer months earlier.

Johnson said the dealer assured him the vehicle’s title had changed with the new buyer.

NBC 5 Responds contacted the Secretary of State, which investigated the issue further.

A spokesperson said the state had missed the Infiniti’s title change, due to the different title and registration requirements Indiana auto dealers are required to follow compared to Illinois auto dealers.

The Secretary of State corrected the license plate registration and also apologized to Johnson.

The City of Chicago also dismissed the additional parking and speeding tickets.

“Huge thank you from my wife and I on taking this on and getting it fixed,” Johnson emailed NBC 5 Responds.

The Secretary of State urges private auto sellers to provide the state a “notice of sale”, which could help avoid license plate confusion. However, filing a “notice of sale”, which can be completed and detached from a vehicle’s title or completed on the “Cyberdrive Illinois” website, is not mandatory.

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