Montgomery County Parking Ticket: Pay, Contest, or Miss Deadline

A Montgomery County parking ticket has to be paid or contested within 15 calendar days of the issuance date. Miss that window and a $25 late penalty is added automatically, with a second $25 penalty at day 45. The citations are civil, so they don’t put points on your license, but leaving one unpaid can block your vehicle registration and eventually get your car booted.¹

How to Pay

You’ll need the nine-digit citation number from the front of the ticket, or your license plate and state if the ticket has gone missing. The county offers four ways to pay:

Online, any time, through the county’s payment portal using a credit card. You’ll receive a digital confirmation number.²
By phone at 240-453-0113, using Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express through the automated system.¹
By mail, sending the completed violation notice with a check or money order payable to Montgomery County, MD to Citations Services, P.O. Box 1426, Rockville, MD 20849-1426. Write the violation number on your payment.¹
In person at a Parking Sales Store, at 801 Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring or 4720 Cheltenham Drive in Bethesda.¹

Keep the receipt or confirmation number. That’s your proof of a timely response if anything goes sideways later.

What Happens If You Miss the 15-Day Deadline

The clock runs from the issuance date, not from when you noticed the ticket on your windshield. If the county hasn’t received payment or a hearing request within 15 calendar days, the first $25 late penalty is added. If the ticket is still unresolved 45 days from the violation date, a second $25 penalty is added.¹

A $60 ticket can become a $110 balance in six weeks. And the county doesn’t stop there.

Registration Holds and Booting

Once Montgomery County reports an unpaid citation to the Maryland MVA, the MVA can refuse to register or transfer registration for the vehicle tied to that ticket. The hold stays until the county tells the MVA the charge has been satisfied.³

In practice, you can’t renew tags or sell the car until the fines and every late penalty are paid. For drivers the state classifies as chronic offenders, the MVA can suspend the registration outright.³ Even after you pay, the county’s notice to the MVA isn’t instantaneous, so build in some processing time before you head to renew your tags.

If unpaid citations keep piling up, the county can immobilize the vehicle with a boot. A caution sticker with a violation number will be left on the car. To get the boot removed, call 1-877-625-6309 and pay every outstanding parking violation in full.⁴ Partial payment doesn’t work at this stage. Everything gets cleared, or the boot stays on.

How to Contest the Ticket

There are two ways to challenge a Montgomery County parking citation, and choosing the wrong one is a common and costly mistake. Whichever you pick, sign the violation notice in the designated section, fill in your name and address, and mail it to the Citations Services address in Rockville. The court will send a date once the request is processed.¹

Waiver Hearing

A waiver hearing isn’t a trial. You’re admitting the violation and asking the judge to reduce or waive the fine because of extenuating circumstances. The officer who wrote the ticket won’t appear. The judge can lower the fine, keep it, or in some cases raise it up to $500. Requesting a waiver hearing gives up your right to a trial.⁵

Trial

If you believe the ticket was wrong and want to plead not guilty, ask for a trial. The case is heard in District Court, the officer who issued the citation testifies, and you present your side. If you request a trial and fail to appear, the court enters a judgment against you and the MVA can place a registration hold based on the failure to appear.⁵

If You’ve Lost the Ticket

The county’s online payment portal lets you search by state and license plate to pull up any outstanding citations, so a missing paper ticket isn’t a barrier to paying on time.² If you plan to contest by mail instead, you’ll need the physical notice, because your signature and the completed name and address section on the ticket are what start the hearing request.¹

1
Montgomery County Department of Transportation. Parking Ticket Payment
2
Montgomery County, MD. Montgomery County Online Ticket Payment Services
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Transportation Article 26-305
4
Montgomery County, MD 311. Parking Meter Violation Payment and Car Boot
5
Maryland Courts. Traffic Citation Information