TroubleShooters: Action News working to help you

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- We all need some help now and then, don't we? And you can count on Action News to help you with our new TroubleShooters segment.

Today we're showing you what happens when we got a case involving the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

It's happened to all of us, right? You get a parking ticket you don't deserve? But the story of Dorian Redburn really takes the cake.

"I got a letter from the Philadelphia Parking Authority - an impound notice. It came in February 2014," Redburn explained.

That was the first of many letters.

"This one tells me I have five outstanding tickets and that I currently owe them $200."

The violation notices didn't stop there.

Redburn says, "So now, instead of $200 it's now going up to $525."

But here's the deal - these violation notices are for a car Dorian Redburn doesn't even own!

"The Mazda is one that we traded in three years ago," she said.

The dealership alerted the PPA by sending the Parking Authority a letter, which clearly says, "The vehicle was sold... Dorian would have no more ownership in this vehicle as of April 8, 2011 when she traded this vehicle in..."

"Hey, I thought it was fixed," Redburn said. "And the dealership said it wasn't the first time it had happened, so he knew exactly what to do."

But the notices kept on coming.

So finally, Dorian went to court and even the State Police, but no one could help her.

That's when Dorian called on Action News Troubleshooters - by this time she was pretty desperate to have the situation fixed.

"I could see myself getting arrested in Philadelphia because I have all these outstanding tickets," she said.

Action News Troubleshooters got to work. I called and emailed with the PPA, and two weeks later got results to take back to Dorian.

The PPA finally removed all the violations from her name!

She reacted by saying, "I can't believe they actually did that. You guys are great."

The PPA has also fixed its database, so her name is no longer associated with the vehicle.

We're so happy we could help Dorian and we want to thank the PPA for helping us.

By the way, the Parking Authority sent Dorian a letter, which reads in part:

"This agency did poorly... We deeply regret the inconvenience and aggravation that this case of mistaken identity has caused you. That our mishandling exacerbated that is inexcusable and for that we apologize."

And listen - we can all learn a lesson from this one. The PPA offers these tips to avoid this problem altogether:

1) Always remove your license plate when you sell or trade in your vehicle.

2) Always make sure the Bill of Sale shows the VIN, make, model and year of the vehicle; the date of the sale or trade-in; and the full names and contact info for the old and new owners.

3) Always list full name, address, city, state, zip code and phone numbers of old and new owners on the bill of sale.

4) Always keep copies of original paperwork for future reference.

If you have a problem, I'm ready to TroubleShoot it for you. Just reach me on the TroubleShooters page on 6abc.com or reach me through Call for Action at 1-866-978-4232.