A Malden parking ticket gives you 21 days from the date of issuance to pay or appeal before a $5 late fee is added and the city reports the unpaid balance to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. How you pay depends on the ticket’s color: white tickets (meter violations) can be paid online, while orange tickets (everything else) must be paid by mail or in person.1City of Malden. Parking Tickets2City of Malden. Pay A Ticket
Check the Color of Your Ticket First
The color determines everything that follows. White tickets cover parking meter violations and are processed by Kelley Ryan Associates, the city’s third-party vendor. Orange tickets are issued by city enforcement officers for permit violations, street sweeping, blocked hydrants, winter parking, and similar offenses.2City of Malden. Pay A Ticket
The specific fine for your violation is printed on the citation. Two of the most commonly cited amounts are $50 for blocking a street sweeper and $50 for parking within 10 feet of a fire hydrant.3City of Malden. Traffic Regulations
How to Pay
For a white ticket, pay online through the Kelley Ryan Associates website. It can take several days after issuance for the ticket to appear in that system, so if you don’t see it right away, wait and check again rather than assuming nothing was recorded.1City of Malden. Parking Tickets White tickets can also be paid by mail or in person at the Treasurer’s Office.
For an orange ticket, online payment is not an option. Mail a check to the City of Malden Treasurer’s Office, 215 Pleasant Street, Suite 210, Malden, MA 02148, or pay in person at that address or at the Parking Department Office at 7 Jackson Street. Cash and checks are accepted for orange tickets; credit cards are not.2City of Malden. Pay A Ticket
Keep your receipt or proof of mailing. If a payment ever goes missing and the ticket escalates to the RMV, documentation that you paid on time is what gets the mark removed without a fight.
How to Appeal Within 21 Days
Any ticket can be appealed by filling out the city’s appeal form and submitting it to the Parking Clerk within 21 days of the ticket date. After 21 days, your appeal will not be considered.4City of Malden. Appeal a Ticket
Submit the completed form by email, by mail, or in person to the Treasurer’s Office at 215 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148. On the form you choose between an in-person hearing or having the Parking Clerk decide based on the written information you provide.4City of Malden. Appeal a Ticket
Appeals that succeed tend to come with concrete evidence: photos of the signage at the location, a copy of your valid resident permit, or anything else showing the citation was issued incorrectly. A missing or obscured sign, or proof that a valid permit was displayed at the time, is the kind of factual basis the clerk can act on. General disagreement with the officer’s judgment rarely works.
If the Clerk Upholds the Ticket
You can file an appeal with the Middlesex County Superior Court at 200 Trade Center, Woburn, MA. The court charges a $275 filing fee, which makes this route practical only when the principle matters more than the fine.4City of Malden. Appeal a Ticket
What Happens If You Ignore the Ticket
A ticket not paid within 21 days picks up a $5 late fee.1City of Malden. Parking Tickets If the balance stays unpaid after that, the city reports it to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles through the Non-Renewal Program, which places a mark on your vehicle’s registration record.5Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Non-Renewal Program
Once the mark is there, you cannot renew your vehicle registration or the first registered owner’s driver’s license until every outstanding ticket, late fee, and RMV clearance fee is paid. The RMV adds a $20 clearance fee per incident to lift the non-renewal.5Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Non-Renewal Program A $50 street sweeping ticket can quietly grow into a much larger problem if left alone.
Before You Decide to Pay or Appeal
Knowing what the citation is really for helps you judge whether an appeal has a shot. Street sweeping is the single most common source of tickets in Malden. The program runs from May 1 through November 1, and during that period vehicles must be moved from the scheduled side of the street or face a $50 fine. Schedules are posted on signs that vary by street.6City of Malden. New Residents Guide – Section: Street Sweeping7City of Malden. Street Sweeping
Winter parking is the other heavy source. Malden restricts parking to one side of the street 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the winter, regardless of whether snow is actually falling. The permitted side alternates each year between even and odd addresses; for the 2025–2026 winter season, parking is allowed only on the odd-numbered side. Snow emergencies add further restrictions, and vehicles on the wrong side may be ticketed and towed. If your car has been towed, call the Malden Police Department at 781-322-1212 for retrieval instructions.8City of Malden. Winter Weather Central
Many Malden streets require a residential parking permit Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Area 8 enforces its permit requirement around the clock, seven days a week. Household visitor passes must be displayed on the dashboard and used only by actual visitors; misuse can bring a fine along with revocation of both the visitor pass and the resident stickers on your account.9City of Malden. Parking Permits Information If the ticket involves a permit zone and you had a valid permit displayed, that’s the kind of fact an appeal can turn on.