This review covers my experience with parking in Downtown San Rafael, which may or may not be administered by the Marin County Parking Authority. I had several hours on my hands in Downtown San Rafael and either wanted to park free or prepay for a spot. I first looked at the business park lot around 2nd Street, drove past the "Private Property" signs, but chickened out after parking and watching a family looking for a car that they were sure that they parked here. If I were a resident or a more frequent visitor, I would know what I could get away with or not. And since I was in uncharted territory, I moved on. My answer was the top deck of the municipal structure that offered a very reasonable 75 cents/hour and the ability to buy a ticket to put in the dash. I also saw the little parking vehicle circling around, so I knew that there was Saturday enforcement. Other than that, it's all meters and the knowledge that San Rafael needs to catch up technologically with other cities in the Bay Area. Final Note: There's a small and touching memorial to a person who died on Flight 93 during 9/11 on the way to the parking structure. read more

There appears to be a change in attitude in the last year or so. The residential parking program used to be cooperative between the parking department and the residents. Now we seem to have officers who only are interested in ticketing even during the holidays and even though the only cars parked in this residential zone are the long term residents and their guests and then the $45 tickets get sent to Southern California for handling? What are we paying for here with our taxes!! read more

My boyfriend and I had been homeless living in Novato off of Diablo Ave in my our car for the past 6 months. My boyfriend was incarcerated on January 8th, 2025. My van stopped working altogether the next day January 9th. I was on my way to the Novato ER when my car abruptly stopped running in the middle of the road. It was early in the morning and no one had stopped to help me except a nice city worker who was kind enough to alert help since I didn't have a cellphone that had service to call for help. The police had helped push me out of the street and had warned me that I had 72 hours to figure out what to do with the car or it would get towed. The officers knowing my situation EXTREMELY WELL knowing I didn't have any way to do anything about the car financially or otherwise has left the car there in the same spot. Today is January 28th. I had received a letter in the mail on January 21st starting I owe $156.00 for CVC 22505(B), Posted Sign -No Parking. YOU OFFICERS ARE THE ONES WHO HELPED PUSH ME IN THAT DIRECTION INSTEAD OF OVER BY THE PARK AND RIDE WHERE WE ALL KNOW MY CAR WOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE UNTIL MY BOYFRIEND GOT RELEASED FROM JAIL! Also the Date for said "violation" is incorrect! Violation date states "11/13/2024"!?!?!? Shame on you Marin County! Talk about targeting and intimidation tactics to use on an extremely vulnerable population. You guys have been pretty cool up until this despicable action. read more

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A huge ripoff. Paid my ticket once. They said I didn't. I told them I could prove it with bank statement. They said a manager would call me. Meanwhile I paid same ticket twice because I didn't want a problem. Waited on phone call that never came. Then got notice saying I never paid ticket and now owe 175.00. No one answers 714 number. I'm wondering if LA rioters can go to Newport Beach and destroy their office read more

I forgot to place my Handicapped placard in the window. It happens. I sent them all the info they requested. ON TIME. And they immediately sent me a letter saying I was too late and now owe them $500. They have no office and no way to contact them. HORRIBLE. TERRIBLE. PATHETIC. Worthless wastes of oxygen. These people suck harder than a Hoover. read more

I may be taking them to small claims court. They gave me a ticket for $45. I appealed. Of course they upheld it. I paid the $45. Now they say I owe $95. This needs to be investigated because it has all the makings of a SCAM. read more

Trying to find out who controls the Marin Parking Authority and who they answer to. My husband is disabled. I take him to an Adapted PE class at College of Marin. We forgot to put his disabled parking tag up one day and rightfully received a ticket for parking in a disabled spot. HOWEVER, I then found out I would have to appeal this ticket IN WRITING and MAIL my appeal to Newport Beach. I have the resources to do this, but so many people do not. The "Citation Processing" website is terrible, hard to read (small print) and hard to understand. There is no excuse in this day and age to not have an electronic way to send documents and appeals. After mailing our appeal, WE HEARD NOTHING. I had to call, follow ridiculous instructions, and FINALLY figured out our appeal was approved but we STILL HAD TO PAY $28.50 for "administrative" fees. Ok. Here's my problem. This is unnecessarily convoluted and is no doubt causing many people with fewer resources lots of pain and suffering. Contacting Marin County Supervisors to try to figure out who this entity reports to. read more

This is a total scam - these fuckers sent me a parking ticket for a car I have owned in over 10 years. If they had taken ant time at all to check w/ the DMV, they would have found the current owner, but instead, the scam is to intentionally put in former Owners and try to just get them to pay - rather than going through the brain damage of appealing. THIS CALL FOR A LAWSUIT AGAINST MARIN COUNTY!!! read more

We were scammed a few years back in downtown San Rafael by a meter person, who placed the ticket ONE HOUR prior to the meter expiring! Fortunately we arrived back at our car with TWO minutes left on the meter, took a picture of the meter time, the ticket, AND the meter guy (we chased him on foot!) and posted about the experience on Facebook. One of our friends brought our complaint to the city council and the ticket was dismissed. Moral of the story: stay away from downtown SR, and if you can't, pay attention to the time on the meter. Total fraud! read more

A very evil and unresponsible entity. Took $803 from my 2021 tax refund to pay for a ticket that was issued a month after I sold the car. DMV showed a valid registration for the buyer of the car which was in effect at the time of the parking citation for the new owner. This citation occured in 2018. This is government tyranny for not checking with DMV before they attached my tax refund. Brad Curry read more

How is it possible that the parking authority earn anything but ire from it's fair citizens? I got a parking ticket in the Walgreens parking lot that these goons love trolling and the worst part was that it was at about 7:30pm. Ok, this is just about ridiculous. What other municipality has their drones shaking down honest tax-paying citizens while they try to enjoy their dinner? In fact, they continue to do this all week from 8am to 8pm, AND on Saturdays to boot. You've got to be kidding me... It would seem that the city has become truly morally bankrupt at this point, while standing behind the rallying cry that they simply trying to turn over the parked cars to make room for others. Like this one-star rating represents, "Eek! Methinks not." Please, take my humble $30 and buy some dignity. Thanks for nothing. read more

I just went through the same exact thing everyone else is complaining about. I went to pay the ticket within a few days of the citation and nothing was showing up. Two weeks later, the ticket DOUBLES and absolutely no way to appeal it. The crooks behind this? Data Tickets Inc. (https://dataticket.com/introduction.html) They care ONLY about turning a profit for their "clients" rather than being fair like how law enforcement SHOULD be! Here is a quote directly from their website: "12.5% average revenue increase 130+ million in payments collected 15+ million citations processed 400+ clients served across the United States 298+ million transactions processed" So thats why there is next to no support staff, have 3 week long deadlines before tickets DOUBLE and short cut off dates to appeal tickets. I am sure this list goes on for their corruption, but I'm praying I will never have to deal with them. If you guys have further complaints, take it to the source at DATA TICKETS INC read more

HIGHWAY ROBBERY!! This company is a bunch of con-artists scamming during the pandemic. I received a parking ticket in an empty field while going for a hike. The only sign posted said "no overnight." I was parked for 2 hours. The ticket stated "public health". When I received the ticket in the mail, it had no reason, just said "violation". I sent in an appeal but they said it was not in the allotted time frame... When I got the notice in the mail the day it was due. $200 SCAMMERS! Marin County shame on you! read more

This company is disgusting, at best. Last week we received the first notice stating that my daughter had received a ticket for parking without a permit at College of Marin (she has a permit and did at the time of the ticket, a ticket that was not left on her windshield). When I saw received this notice I immediately called to find out what the $140 fee was about and how did she get a ticket when she has a permit etc. I was told this was the final notice, it couldn't be contested. It turns out the original ticket was for $40 or $45 (notice didn't say but the very unhelpful Deana told me) and there rest, close to $100, all fees. And this is during the COVID SIP situation, so I can think of a hundred ways this $100 could have been better used. Disgusting. read more

i'm not going to waste my or your time recounting the details of my ticket, but i will say that the $3.50 "convenience fee" they charged me to pay said ticket online really pushed me over the edge. F*CK YOU, MCPA. and i mean that from the bottom of my heart. read more

Incompetent and borderline malicious. I have now gotten 2 tickets for supposedly parking in a 'No parking anytime' zone. I have appealed both tickets because my vehicle has clearly been outside the two signs that indicate there being no parking anytime. Furthermore, the tickets state 'pictures taken.' Wonderful. You've provided evidence to support your inability to perform your job. Officer number 8094 has been the one to enforce both these tickets unjustly. FYI: just because residents don't like that I park where I do, doesn't mean me doing so is illegal. It is a public street. First come, first serve. Jerks. read more

If I could give 0 stars I would, this organization is here to steal your money legally. I parked my vehicle near College of Marin on my first day of class, I unfortunately hadn't purchased the parking permit,I should've just paid $4 to park in the lot. Anyways I parked on the street next to the apartments and looked around for any signs prohibiting me, well the overgrown trees and bushes were hiding a sign which I was then ticketed for $45.00 plus $3.50 for paying online. Not only did I appeal the citation and provided a picture as proof of the over grown trees that were covering the sign but I tried calling. Customer service, why don't you call it victim service and state "we will not take your call, don't try your appeal will be denied." They have quotas to meet and don't care about students and the ridiculous fees we pay to the government already.#rats read more

Less than one--awful, frustrating, they don't give a damn--gives an 800 number to call and hang-ups. This is unacceptable and a disgrace. Get with it Marin County!! read more

This place is a scam just looking for a way to get money out of people. Gave me a parking ticket for no registration when mine was clearly paid. This place and all their workers are a piece of shit read more

Got a parking ticket in San Rafael, in N San Pedro drive area which is a unincorporated area of San Rafael and sheriff department of county of Marin issue the ticket. For something registration fee not paid for $198 dollars added to the drama I did not aware I got the ticket , and did not realize I got the ticket until DMV placed a hold on my registration , which by the time it become a $398 dollars. I double check my record, I did paid DMV on time, and they cashed the check 7 months ago, and request me proof of insurance about 5 month ago, which I also provide. so I went to Novato DMV is inquire what happen why I did not received my registration sticker, turn out their system had a glitch, that even though they received my insurance the sticker was never mail out, so they print out my payment receipt and ask me to show the ticket issuer, which is Marin Parking Authority. Google Marin parking authority, listed the address right on the website http://www.marincourt.org/traffic_parking_cit.htm and clearly stated the Location: Civic Center, Hall of Justice, Room C-10 Office Hours: 8:00am - 4:00pm. Here come even more crazy drama, went to the Court room C-10, the lady clerk insist they don't handle parking, and keep saying I am like crazy or accusing of lying seeing the contact for Marin parking citation listed on county of Marin Court website. Will not give me any assistant, insist me to call the the 800 number (which is the payment contractor they hire to process the payment) Call the 800 number they said I have to talk to Marin County Court, put the whole motion into limbo. Now I have no choice but waste more time to go DMV , seem they remedy the issue for false citation, since their system clearly show that I did pay my fee on time, and it was a glitch that cause the sticker never mailed to me. Hopefully they will waive or deduct the amount that was lien on my registration. The worst agency ever. Dont expect you can talked a human which any authority or know what they doing. read more

Marin County Parking Authority - Website shows the Address is court c-10. The court clerk was very cranky. Insist that is not possible. Their sloppy website. Misleading. - Public Services & Government Near Me

Reading all of these other reviews, I'm bothered by the fact you all have been having difficulty trying to get proper tickets taken care of. Unfortunately for me, I don't live anywhere near there plus I was working that night in Los Angeles. Mt wife is live in caregiver for her mother and was at our home on the date of the citation. The vehicle cited was in our garage at the time of the ticket. Someone is NOT doing their job properly up there. $65 ticket. Don't wanna pay it but really have no supporting documentation to prove they are in the wrong. read more

I want to make you aware of an extremely upsetting experience concerning the Parking situation at Sky Oaks in Fairfax. I so regret ever having purchased the annual pass now. We purchased the annual pass in April 2017 for $60 in an effort to be supportive of our open spaces as we like to hike locally. We have used it no more than half a dozen times. On 11/7/2017 I went for a short hike and parked at Sky Oaks. A few minutes into the walk I realized that I had forgotten to display my pass so I raced back to my car but it was too late - I had been issued a ticket which implies that someone must have literally been watching and waiting to pounce as only a few minutes ensued. I sent the ticket in explaining the circumstance and that I have paid for an annual pass, and therefore not cheating, and I was offered a reduction from $50 to $25 which I immediately went online to pay. The online service would not accept my payment as it said my citation "could not be found" so I paid it on the 800 phone # with my credit card for an additional $3.50 service charge - a total of $28.50. Now I have received a notice charging me $125 saying that I did not pay the $28.50. Indeed they did not process it - but I DID pay it as far as I knew. In fact the phone line THANKED ME FOR MY PAYMENT at the time. I just called them and they said there is no proof that I paid it and therefore I must pay $125 (more than double the fee fir my annual pass) I am beyond upset. Daylight robbery they obviously didn't process my payment and now increased it by $100 !! read more

WORST experince I have ever had. Not only do they only give you 14 days to pay for a citation, if you don't your penatly is double the ticket cost. Customer service rarely answers and are not nice. SHOCKED that Marin uses this non-local company that has just horrible service, fees on top of fees and then charges you a transaction fee to pay it again. Based on all the reviews, clearly no one from customer service cares. read more

This a total shake down. Paid my ticket via mail on time only to be contacted 7 months later saying my credit card did not process. They refuse to send me a copy of my form so I can prove I filled it out correctly. Now I have to pay an additional $118. Spoke with a supervisor who said there is nothing anyone can do about the additional fee and if I don't pay in full in 15 days they'll put a tax lien on me. Government sanctioned crooks. read more

Marin Parking Authority is responsible for parking at College of Marin. Unfortunately, they hold parkers hostage to their ticket-writing quotas! I had a valid parking permit for the fall semester, and parked legally in the COM lot every day. Twice, I received parking violations for parking without a permit in the student area. Appeal attempts were futile as the Marin Parking Authority website did not allow me to upload the photo showing the parking permit clearly visible in my windshield. When I sent a written appeal with supporting photo in the mail, they claimed not to have received it. And tripled the amount due during the appeals process! There is no local address to go to in person, and the whole process is incredibly frustrating. Very disappointing! read more

I paid for parking on the C street lot in san rafael. I couldnt believe I got a ticket so I went across the street to the parking authority to contest it. I showed them my payment receipt and they told me I had paid for a different parking garage 5 blocks away. I got really upset and asked how I could have done that in the 10 minutes it took me to pick up food. They told me there was nothing they could do, and I needed to be more dilligent about paying my meter. Now I'm thinking they intentionally had the machine print incorrect info so they could ticket people. read more

This is the biggest scam! The City of Mill Valley should not use them. I sold my car a month before I got a ticket and I live no where near Mill Valley. In fact, I was on the east coast when they said that I driving the car. They refused to listen to me and want me to go to the DMV to get it sorted out. WTF!!!!!!!! I will never go to Mill Valley again to spend any money. read more

Marin Parking Authority appears to be a criminal organization. We live in a semi rural area of San Rafael and of course being Marin there is almost zero off street parking available so we had one of our cars parked below our house as far as possible off the street which is a cul de sac and has very little traffic. the car was there for about 3 hors during which time we got a ticket saying we were" Obstructing traffic" even though the occasional car would have plenty of room to drive past our car. question is since so many streets in Marin are narrow and have little to no shoulder for off street parking how exactly are people supposed to park near their houses if the driveway is not available? seems like a classic catch 22 scam so that Marin county can fill their coffers and then not fix the streets. But, MPA is not even located in the county and when I contested the $68 ticket they denied it and sent another form saying I could ask for a hearing but would have to submit the payment or the hearing would be denied! wonder how much of the ticket money actually ends up back in Marin County? probably not a lot! Frikkin crooks read more

I pulled up to the busines I work at . I put two quaters in the meter and was about to walk away when I saw it was showing 0 I didnt have anymore quaters . So I ran down the street to a local busines and got more quarters . I was gone for 5 minutes when I returned I had a ticket. I hate San Rafael this is not the first time that the meter has failed its just the first time I got a ticket. I pay monthly to park in this rotten town . This makes me so mad I wish I could make someone from the parking athoriity eat this ticket read more

Organized crime. Period. I received a ticket for partially blocking my own driveway to accommodate a Stanley Steemer van on a dead end street. No response to phone calls, letters or email, so I paid my ticket to avoid the consequesces they threatened me with. A month later I receive a notice saying my ticket was dismissed, but had no success reaching anybody to receive a refund. I would like to know the hell who awarded these goons with this contract. If you Google the Marin Parking Authority's contact number (800) 989-2058 it's also the contact number for similar parking "services" across the state of California and beyond.It's also likely that the cities who award these contracts are getting pennies on the dollar for citations issued in their own communities. What a bloody shame. read more

I recieved a long note from Meter Maid Debbie Yates informing me that I had a screw in my tire. It must have taken her 2 minutes or so to write a lovely note to help me head off a potential problem. I will never look at a Meter Maid the same way again. A wonderful person. read more

How is it possible that I get an 72 Hour Abandoned Car citation for $155, when I was parked at my spot for less than four hours, and it was the first time ever that I had parked in that spot? read more

6 month to finally dismiss a parking ticket. I literally had to harass them to keep them moving along.

I got a ticket for "Obstructing traffic". I had one wheel 2 inches onto the road. The other side of my vehicle was within 2 inches of a cliff. Am I supposed to endanger my life and property to avoid being 2 inches on the street. This is a government scam to encourage people to go out and enjoy the wilderness then give them nowhere "legal" to park and charge them $71 for a complete nonsense offence. Hundreds of cars had the same ticket on the day I visited. It's cunningly priced so that no-one can be bothered to contest this extortion racket. read more

Agree with all of the other 1 star reviews. Had a similar experience as many of the other reviews, so will spare you a long review- suffice it to say they now want $98 for a $24 questionable to begin with ticket, due to their incompetence. Has anyone had any luck dealing with these robbers? read more

You have got to be kidding me! Don't you have more important things to do with your time? On July 10 at 8:00 AM I parked my old truck at the small parking lot located at Atherton Avenue and Highway 37. When I returned at 4:00 I had a citation on my windshield. Because I am disabled I always place my placard on the rearview mirror even if I am not in a disabled parking place. At first, I thought it must have been a joke. I was in a legal spot. Sadly, it wasn't a joke. The ticket was for not having a front license plate.....NOT HAVING A FRONT LICENSE PLATE! Are you kidding?! My truck is a 1991 Silverado. I lost the plate somewhere on Highway 5 in 1992! I'm guessing maybe 10,000 real law enforcement personnel have seen it since then. What makes this even more incredible is that in order to actually even see the front of my truck the officer had to crawl between my front bumper and a chain link fence.....this took quite an effort! And it was given during the noon hour so my thinking is that this officer was eating doughnuts at the time and had nothing better to do. Or perhaps on a sugar high. What a joke. A citation for this offense costs $114.00. The only infraction that costs more is for parking illegally in a handicapped parking place. Ironic isn't it since I am disabled and can't replace my plate even if I wanted to do so. So, with all due respect, perhaps the officer, who has so much time on his/her hands can put down the box of doughnuts for a few minutes, meet me at the lot, and help me install my new front license plate. read more

Received a ticket for no permit at College of Marin. We had a valid permit. We appealed and received NO RESPONSE from them at all. Two months later we received a delinquency notice with an exhorbitant late fee threatening to impound the car. This is a scam and I am appalled they get away with it. I don't mind paying a ticket I've earned, but do NOT condone deviant behavior exhibited by the lack of response and subsequent late fees attached thereto. Their telephone support is lackluster at best and business practices are on par with our government. VERY dismal experience. read more

Working in San Rafael sucks!!!!!! HORRIBLE CITY MANAGEMENT because I never bother tio go down town..maybe for the Creperie and Rafael Film Center?!the City (and the contractor who got the biz, architect who designed it) built a three story garage on 3rd and C street. Lame location. I only pick up food to go at my favorite restaurant which is located at the scuzzy part of San Rafael (Lincoln and fourth). Crappy parking lot. Got a parking ticket. Thoght I paid payment on time so I ignored the notice that the ticket had gone to the next penalty. I'm working 7 days a week to try and make ends meet. I didn't contact the parking authority until the ticket made its way to $150.00. I called the "billing office" who has nothing to do with City regulations. They told me I can pay the penalty in payments because it wouldn't go any higher. G thanks. Now I can try to squeeze more out of income that doesn't even cover my food. Trust me. I have no cable, minimal cell phone service so I have an emergency phone. I have to contact the City and speak to someone about paying a lower fine. If nothing else, It will give me more BS to ad to this review. DON' boher dng busies in San Rafael. Unless you're one of the good old boys, your screwed! read more

Worst experience ever. Why is the county using these people. I am writing to supervisors and considering a civic case just to get rid of these people. I mailed my payment on 3/30/20. It was due 4/3/20. The parking ticket was $50. I was 2 inches over white line but I was over it guilty Where my problem is the Citation Processing Center who is behindMarin parking Authority charged me late fee of $100. There a pandemic going on and they charge me a late fee twice the amount of the ticket. Thought it was a mistake called on hold 34 minutes then computer disconnects. They say call at 4 you get in easier. On hold 25 computer cuts me off time out 4:30. I finally get through after 23 minute hold. I have processed check I say must be mistake. Elvira says that they go by process date not postmark. I look on back of check it took them 8 days to process. I say how many people were off of work because of conoravirus? Sorry sir I can't answer that. Why is fee so high where does money go? Sir I already explained this you should of listen. They just egg on so they can hang up and make you look like the bad person. They are treating to impound my vehicle so trapped. I am writing to my supervisor they have to get rid of these rip offs. How many people are being cheated even when there is not a pandemic. Best way is to pay online it will process right away. Wish I knew that. WRITE YOUR SUPERVISOR read more

This company is the WORST I've ever had to deal with. I got a ticket in a private parking lot (ok..it was handicapped-my error) I tried to fight the 275.00 ticket to no avail. So I sent in a check which after one month didn't come to my bank. I was nervous and called the marin p. Authority and asked them if they had the check. They said no. They told me to send another. I cancelled the first check and sent them a replacement. They sent me back the second check saying that the ticket had been paid. I said it hadn't. I went to Europe and when I came back they had sent me a letter charging me an addition 23.00 for late payment. Now today I'm trying to pay.. and now I have to pay an additional 14.00 to pay by credit card. I've called and tried to talk to someone about this. There's no supervisor, there's no office, only people demanding money and more money. I'm soooooo pissed off. So beware all you wonderful people out there. If you get a ticket from this company...better to go directly to DMV and pay and not deal with the Marin County Parking Authority if you don't have to. Terrible experience. read more