Seattle brings back late fees for unpaid tickets

In a blow for parking scofflaws, Seattle Municipal Court is ending the COVID-era suspension of late fees on unpaid tickets.

Driving the news: Late fees for unpaid parking, camera and traffic tickets will once again be added to the regular fines starting Monday, according to an announcement by Seattle Municipal Court.

• There are more than 350,000 currently unpaid infraction tickets that could be affected, the court said.
• The court suspended default late fees and stopped referring unpaid tickets to collections in March 2020, due to economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The late fee adds $25 to parking and camera tickets and an additional $52 to tickets for traffic violations, the city said. To avoid getting slapped with those extra charges, deal with your unpaid tickets before Monday.

• You can look up your tickets here, pay them here or request a payment or community service plan here. You can also request a hearing to dispute or mitigate your ticket here.