ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall is looking at booting in the city at private parking lots.
Hall said he has received numerous complaints from people who pay to park but don't get a receipt to prove they paid. Their car is later booted with no proof to show they paid. It's $75 to get the boot off.
"I pay every single time. I still cross my fingers hoping that somebody doesn't come by thinking I didn't pay," driver Darchelle Young said.
That's a problem Hall said he hears over and over again. People that paid to park but still get booted.
"There's some lots that have machines that do not produce receipts, so they're basically cash operated machines. When you put your cash in, you can't prove that you put your cash in and neither can the company prove that you did not put your cash in," Hall said.
Hall said the breaking point to look into changing the ordinance was in July when a man said he paid to park at a Buckhead lot where you don't get a receipt. His car was booted, then damaged, and left without the wheel on when the booting company couldn't get the boot off.
"If you pay for something and don't get a receipt, you can be taken advantage of," Hall said.
Hall would like to require that every pay to park lot offers receipts. People parking in the city agree something needs to be done.
"Overall, it's just a total fail," driver Steve Pomberg said.
"I think whatever they decide there should be a way to figure out if it's done incorrectly. You should have a way to prove with a receipt or some way you can prove you paid for it," driver Chris Kerzel said.
Hall said another option on the table is banning booting in the city all together. The new ordinance will be drafted in the next few weeks. It will still need to be approved by the council.
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