Charlotte is bewildered as to how her Camry somehow got a for $896.80 ticket for parking in a handicapped spot in Las Vegas while it was sitting happily in New York State. Had her car been secretly running out of town to go galavant around Sin City behind her back?

UPDATE: Vegas Dismisses $896 Ticket They Gave Car Parked In New York

The first notice Charlotte got about it was a collection notice from the debt collector tracking down the ticket. She tried to resolve the problem through the city of Las Vegas, but the debt collector kept insisting she do it through them. The low-level city employee she got in touch with was befuddled and of no help.

She hasn’t been able to figure out how the ticket got issued. Did the police officer transpose an alphanumeric when writing the ticket? Did someone spoof her license plates and put them on their own car and then go around parking in handicapped spaces, like some kind of jerk?

A supervisor at the debt collection place told Charlotte that she was supposed to surrender her plates to Nevada when she left. “The fact that I called the DMV in 2009 specifically to ask if I needed to notify the agency of my departure doesn’t matter. I have no written record of the DMV representative’s response, which was that I didn’t need to do anything upon leaving,” Charlotte wrote on her blog. “Like most sane people, I didn’t ask for documentation of what I perceived to be a routine conversation. I’ll be more watchful in the future.”

Charlotte has requested vehicle registration histories. After she gets them she’s going to write letters to the City of Las Vegas and the debt collection agency that will include her supporting documentation.

The $896.80 Parking Ticket I Received While I Was 2,000 Miles Away [Hello, my name is Charlotte] (Thanks to Zachary!)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.