CINCINNATI — Rebecca Killion thought she was getting a bargain on Jan. 6 when she paid $5 to park at a downtown garage operated by LAZ Parking.
Eight days later, she got a notice demanding $92 for being “in breach of the posted rules” at 150 E. Third Street. The notice said her “vehicle may be subject to towing or booting” and if she didn’t pay in 30 days her account would be assigned to a debt collector.
“It was intimidating,” Killion said. “Most people would pay this just because of the terminology they use and the fear factor.”
Instead of paying, Killion appealed the notice. And she complained to Cincinnati’s Better Business Bureau, Ohio’s Attorney General and the WCPO 9 I-Team. On March 22, LAZ Parking told the I-Team about 70 people were “erroneously sent notices” from its garage at Third and Main streets between January and March of this year.
"We appreciate that this matter was brought to our attention,” spokeswoman Mary Brennan Coursey wrote via email. “All notices have been voided, and we are contacting all patrons and refunding them for any payment made.”
But the story doesn’t end there because the notices weren’t sent by LAZ Parking.
They came from Parking Revenue Recovery Services Inc., a Colorado company that uses camera systems powered by artificial intelligence to catch people who park but don’t pay. Its website says the company’s Automatic Revenue Collection System increased revenue by more than 300% for more than 800 parking facilities, issuing more than 100,000 payment notices per month.
Connecticut-based LAZ Parking is one of the nation’s largest operators of parking facilities. It has seven locations downtown, two of which use “license plate recognition technology” from PRRS, according to signs posted near the entrance of each location.
LAZ Parking has an ‘F’ rating from the Better Business Bureau in Cincinnati, with 26 complaints in the last three years. Ohio’s attorney general has received 16 Cincinnati complaints in the last three years against PRRS, according to public records obtained by the I-Team.
“We believe that PRRS is engaged in a business practice that violates federal law,” said Scott Kamber, a Colorado attorney who is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the company. “There is a federal statute. It’s called the Drivers Privacy Protection Act. It lists very specific circumstances about when companies can use your license plate to find out who you are and where you live. They don’t bother going through any of the hoops required in that federal statute to get peoples’ permission.”
The company has denied that allegation in court filings. Co-founder John Conway said its “parking compliance” rules are clearly posted near the entrance of every lot and garage where it operates. He said those rules are an “implied contract” that violates no laws.
“We’ve been in business for 23 years,” Conway said. “We’ve been litigated. We’ve been sued. We’ve been blued and tattooed over 23 years. Our business practice is solid.”
Issues raised by 'frictionless parking'
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser doesn’t see it that way. His office investigated PRRS debt collection practices before announcing a $106,298 settlement on behalf of 442 consumers last August. The company denied the allegations but agreed to modify its business practices as part of the settlement.
“Whether they were told to pay meritless fines for parking they already paid for, or they received a notice in the mail from somewhere they never even parked, hundreds of consumers fell victim to this company’s dishonest tactics,” Weiser said in a press release. “After reviewing numerous complaints, my office investigated their conduct and took action to stop these unfair and deceptive practices in their tracks.”
Kamber’s lawsuit alleges PRRS violated the privacy rights of more than 100 people, including one from Colorado and another from Kansas, whose “personal information was obtained, used and disclosed” by PRRS in violation of the Drivers Privacy Protection Act, or DPPA. The federal law, enacted in 1994, lists 14 permissible uses for personal information held by state departments of motor vehicles.
“We are not in violation,” Conway said. “Matter of fact, we probably check two or three boxes that’s on there.”
Conway said the company uses license plate numbers to obtain names and addresses from “a provider that’s authorized, who gives us information that’s authorized by the state.” He wouldn’t identify its providers but said they monitor PRRS compliance with privacy rules.
“Our organization is audited probably three to four times a year,” he said.
PRRS uses technology developed by Asura Technologies, a Hungarian company that touted “a new generation of video analytics systems” in a 2017 YouTube video. Its “frictionless parking” system uses license plate recognition software and artificial intelligence to handle “automatic parking enforcement, citation management and monitoring parking zones for free spaces (in) real-time.”
In 2021, Asura Technologies bought a majority stake in PRRS to expand the use of its technology in the U.S. Conway said PRRS has deployed Asura’s technology at more than 1,000 locations nationwide.
He wouldn’t identify its Greater Cincinnati customers, but the I-Team found PRRS signs at four downtown locations, two of them operated by LAZ Parking. The red signs with white letters have similar language. They say customers “must pay within 10 minutes of entering the lot.” They say “license plate detection technology” may be used to monitor compliance with “rules and use limitations” of the lot.
“Vehicles failing to comply with facility rules will be charged additional parking fees up to $250 per violation and may be subject to towing or booting,” said one sign at 415 E. Court Street. “By parking on this facility, you hereby agree that the sole remedy for an unresolved dispute is binding arbitration and specifically waive the right to a jury trial, class action and/or class arbitration.”
In its response to Kamber’s lawsuit, PRRS asked a federal judge in Denver to delay the case for binding arbitration – claiming customers created “a valid and enforceable contract” by choosing to park in a lot where a similar sign was posted.
“The arbitration provision that they place in the sign do not comply with any state or federal rules regarding the formation of contracts,” Kamber said. “And that’s assuming people see it, because a lot of people are driving, and they’re not necessarily focused on the sign.”
'I think it's false advertising'
Denise McCabe said she didn’t notice the PRRS sign when she entered the LAZ Parking garage at Third and Main streets, on her way to a Cincinnati Cyclones game Jan. 6.
“We chose to park there because they had a sign outside that said $5 event parking,” McCabe said. “There was a QR code and an app that you had to download to pay for the parking because it was not manned.”
The payment app prompted her to enter the number of hours she wanted to park.
“It was a Cyclones game. We guessed four hours,” McCabe said. “There were a few extenuating circumstances that made it last a little bit longer that night. We had the teddy bear toss. It went into overtime. A few weeks later, we received a letter in the mail that said we owed $92 for being late in leaving the garage. It said that we arrived at 6:42 and we left at 10:59 p.m., per their cameras.”
McCabe provided emails showing she appealed the fine on Jan. 31. The company answered that appeal with two automated responses before rejecting it on Feb. 26.
“The timeframe you paid for expired,” the email said. “If you pay $72 within 14 days of the date of this letter, we will consider this notice paid.”
The rejection email came two days after the company’s attorney wrote McCabe to say the debt had been turned over to collections. She wrote a second appeal saying she only chose a specific time period because there was no option for event parking in the payment app.
“I think it’s false advertising,” McCabe said. “I have a feeling that there’s a lot of people who go and pay it because they don’t want to deal with it or take the time to respond back or further kind of keep an eye on this.”
Killion said the reference to “towing or booting” made her think twice about fighting the fee.
“I’d go out every morning and wonder if there’s going to be a boot on my car. Because that was part of the verbiage in the letter,” Killion said. “You know, if my car’s going to be towed from my house. So, yeah, it’s a worry and causes a lot of unnecessary anxiety.”
Searching for solutions
Although PRRS and LAZ Parking say notices from the Third and Main garage will be voided, Killion and McCabe have yet to receive written confirmation that collection efforts have ceased. And it isn’t clear how the companies determined which customers were erroneously billed.
Better Business Bureau complaints allege similar problems at other LAZ Parking locations before the January to March timeframe mentioned in LAZ Parking’s response to the I-Team. The company declined to answer additional questions.
“We have checked all other dates and have confirmed that no other patrons have been affected,” LAZ Parking said in its email response. “We encourage any other customers who believe they received a notice in error to email LAZ directly at cincinnati@lazparking.com or call 513-381-0767 during normal business hours.”
The Better Business Bureau is talking to LAZ Parking about improving its signage, said Christine Hayley, vice president of operations.
“That could be deception if the sign is luring you into the lot at that $5 rate, but then you’re charged additional money,” Hayley said.
Consumers can protect themselves by looking for all signs posted in the lot or garage they choose, Hayley added.
“Read the signs. Understand the signs. Obey the rules of the lot,” Hayley said. “If it says that the parking is limited for a certain number of hours, make sure you’re out before that time.”
The attorney suing PRRS in Denver agrees that consumers should look for signs on parking lots. But only long enough to drive past lots with red signs, white letters and a PRRS logo.
“They’re dishing out 100,000 fines a month,” Kamber said. “That seems to be that their revenue model is not to have people pay for parking. Their revenue model is to have people not pay for parking, OK? And to get a notice. And I think unless somebody calls them out on it, they’re going to keep doing it."
