Diamond will refund late fees added to parking tickets

Thousands of people who overstayed their visit at Diamond Parking lots in Seattle and throughout the state, and then were tardy paying their fines, may be entitled to refunds.

The parking-lot company has agreed, in a preliminary settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last year, to refund hundreds of thousands of dollars in "collection fees" it tacked on to 57,000 fines.

Those who received tickets at Diamond Parking lots in the past four years — that is, tickets still contestable under the statute of limitations — are being sent letters informing them of the lawsuit brought by Michelle Hansen of Seattle, said her attorney Harish Bharti.

In the preliminary agreement, Diamond Parking said it will pay $2.2 million in refunds and attorneys fees, said Bharti. The case will go before U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly on Jan. 15 for final approval.

James Stoetzer, attorney for Diamond Parking, which has been in business since 1922 and operates hundreds of parking lots in Washington, could not be reached for comment last night.

Bharti said that when drivers fail to pay or don't pay enough for parking at a Diamond lot, they are given a ticket, usually $25 in the Seattle area. If the ticket isn't paid within 15 days, the company sends a "delinquency" letter, asking for the original fine plus a collection fee, usually $30, bringing the total to $55, court documents said.

"In the state of Washington, it's illegal to collect any collection fee," said Bharti. "It's totally illegal."

State law requires that additional fees imposed by collection agencies must be "expressly authorized by statute," court documents said.

Gina Kim: 206-464-2761 or gkim@seattletimes.com.