About a year ago, I got a parking ticket in the mail. Well, not me, but someone who’s car was apparently registered to our address. We rented out our house prior to remodeling and moving in ourselves, so we do get mail for past tenants once in a while. But we’ve now lived here for almost 4  years so to get a parking ticket for someone other than PW or myself seemed odd.

I put the ticket back in the mailbox with a big note that the person on the ticket did not live at this address. I’m sure the City of Scottsdale was thinking “riiight. A likely story”. But I never got another copy and it all seemed to go away. Until this past January. Yet another parking ticket for the same person showed up at our door.

Because I’m paranoid by nature, I instantly flipped into “someone is trying to steal our identity! Scam us! Rob us!” mode. So I looked up the motor vehicle department’s number for fraud. I talked to a very nice, albeit confused woman and explained my problem. Without giving me too much information, she confirmed that the city had the wrong address for this guy and that his car was actually registered to an address other than mine. Phew. At least now I knew I wasn’t the target of some elaborate and strange scam. When I asked what I should do, she said put it back in the mail and tell the City of Scottsdale on the envelope that the person does not live at my address. And so I did.

Now, almost 3 months later, yet another notice has surfaced. This time it was a letter telling the parking violator that he now has a court date for not paying the ticket. Crap. Apparently the city does not believe me when I say this offender doesn’t live at my address and they also must not have gotten the memo on checking with the DMV once in a while.

So I’m left with the conundrum; what do I do? I’ve already called the DMV, sent multiple notes back to the city regarding the fact they’ve got the wrong address, tried to look the guy up online to give him a call and let him know what’s up – what else is there to do? I decided last night I would call the city today (in all my spare time) and try to find someone to explain my problem to…but now I can’t find the ticket. My lawyering, “don’t get involved” husband claims not to know what happened to it. I suspect foul play, but I can’t prove it. So now I don’t have the ticket number or anything but the guy’s name, which I’m sure the city will not be helpful with.

I don’t know why I care. But I feel terrible to think this person may get a warrant out for their arrest for not showing up at a court date that he had no idea he was supposed to be at.

All I can say is that there better be some sort of amazing karmic energy coming my way for all this trouble for a stranger…