Hector Colon works as a maintenance supervisor for a gated community in Ronkonkoma, New York. It’s a quiet, fairly secluded area that’s about 40 miles away from the Big Apple. He rarely makes his way into the city, largely because there isn’t a pressing need to—and to avoid parking tickets.

In May of 2024, he decided to sell his 1999 Ford F-150 and downsize to something smaller. He’d done everything write—he wrote up a bill of sale, kept copies of the release of liability to the DMV, surrendered his plates, and canceled his insurance for it.

A $127.72 parking ticket for downtown New York City in August left Colon shocked. Soon after, nearly 10 more tickets followed. Then, a notice came from the city saying he had an overdue balance of almost $1,000.

Colon, a diabetic, says $1,000 is way too expensive, especially considering the cost of his medicine.

“I can’t afford $1,000 that I could be using for my bills for something that I didn’t even do,” he told CBS.

So, Colon went to court to contest the tickets… And lost?

He gathered a substantial amount of paperwork to prove he had sold the truck months before the citations arrived, confident it would be an easy win. He was wrong.

A judge denied his claim and said he was guilty, making him responsible for the tickets.

“They, basically, said that it was insufficient evidence,” he recalled. He and his wife felt defeated and decided for some of the tickets to avoid any additional fines or legal penalties.

“My wife paid about, I would say, about $600 worth of it,” he said. “She was like, ‘You know what, let me just pay some of them, so they don’t garnish his check.’ She was just scared it was going to be more of a hindrance for me.”

Someone connected him to an advocate who could help

A DMV spokesperson told reporters that the city fails to use real-time registration data as required, often relying on outdated information when issuing tickets.

Several social media posts from the city tagged Anthony Tse, a Parking Summons Advocate, claiming his office could help.

A reporter introduced Colon to Tse, who was eager to help. He’s confident he can not only have the charges dismissed, but earn Colon’s wife a refund.

“He says he’s going to submit all the tickets, even the ones that I paid, and they should, once it’s dismissed, I should receive a refund,” said Colon.