Vermont Attorney General settles with private parking company after they ‘trick consumers’ into paying fines

A parking company with more than two dozen private lots in the Burlington area has agreed to pay a hefty fine after the Vermont attorney general found it was using deceptive ticketing practices.

Unified Parking Partners — a New England parking company acquired by hospitality and parking giant Towne Park in 2024 — is set to pay the state $150,000, according to a June 5 press release from Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark’s office.

The attorney general’s investigation found that the company violated the Vermont Consumer Protection Act by using government-style language like “citations” and “fines” on notices sent to drivers for violations made in its private lots.

The company’s notices also mischaracterized the penalties for not paying fees, suggesting that it could impact someone’s credit rating, vehicle registration, license renewal and ability to rent a car.

In the settlement, Clark wrote that Unified Parking Partners is a “private commercial entity with no governmental authority.”

“Companies have a right to charge for services rendered, but not to trick consumers into paying out of fear that disputing a charge could come with consequences the company has no power to impose,” Clark said.

Clark mandated that the parking company stop “making any representation that may cause a reasonable consumer to believe that a notice of violation is issued by a municipality or governmental authority.”

The settlement between the attorney general and Unified Parking Partners is enforced through an Assurance of Discontinuance, a common way for attorney generals to resolve conflicts. The company plans to pay the $150,000 fine by June 20.

Clark is not the first attorney general to go after the company. Last summer, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha filed a complaint against UPP Global LLC — Unified Parking Partners’ parent company — accusing it of “a pattern of unfair and deceptive conduct including charging customers fees disguised as a ‘tax,’ charging junk ‘service fees,’ failing to disclose parking rates until customers have already parked, and issuing ‘citations’ that mimic government-issued parking tickets and falsely threaten consequences from the Division of Motor Vehicles.”

United Parking Partners has faced criticism from Vermonters for years. In 2017, Seven Days wrote a column about the company’s potentially deceptive ticketing practices.

When reached for comment, United Parking Partners spokesperson Bev Drivin said, “UPP is committed to complying with all applicable local laws and regulations. All practices, policies, signage, and enforcement notices are fully compliant with applicable laws.”