Everyone parked illegally — only she got $40,000 in tickets

A New York attorney discovered that hundreds of parking tickets totaling over $40,000 were mistakenly recorded in her name after the city's system identified the word 'BLANK' as her personal license plate. She had to appear before four judges in two days to have the tickets dismissed.

Carol Blank Brown, a New York attorney, discovered that over 400 parking tickets totaling more than $40,000 were mistakenly recorded in her name. The glitch occurred when enforcement officers did not enter a license plate number on the ticket, and the system identified the word 'BLANK' as Brown's personal license plate. To prove her innocence, she had to print the list of tickets at a cost of about $400 and appear before four judges over two days. Eventually, she gave up her personalized license plate and replaced it with a new one. The article is based on an interview she gave to The New York Times.