Rented a car in New York? Find out about the ticket before the rental company does.
Give us the plate and your rental dates. We check NYC's parking and camera ticket records every day during the rental and for 30 days after you return the car. The moment a ticket appears, you get an email with the summons number and how to pay it on nyc.gov. Pay it yourself and the rental company has nothing to add their fee to.
- Rental companies add their own fee on top of every ticket they pay for you: $25 at Enterprise, $30 at Zipcar, up to $42 at Hertz, up to $50 at Avis, Budget and Sixt, per ticket, from their own rental terms.
- NYC posts new tickets to its records one to three weeks after they are written, which is why we keep checking for 30 days after your return.
- Free during the beta. After that it is one flat fee per rental, a fraction of one admin fee.
How it works
- You enter the plate and dates. The plate is printed on the car and on your rental agreement.
- We check NYC's own records daily. The source is NYC Open Data's Open Parking and Camera Violations file, the same data behind the city's lookup. It covers parking tickets, speed cameras, red light cameras and bus lane cameras.
- You get an email when a ticket appears. Summons number, date, violation, the amount due, and the official nyc.gov page to pay or dispute it. We never text payment links.
- You pay NYC directly, before the rental company. Avis's own rental terms tell renters to pay the agency directly and send proof to avoid the extra charges. Their fee only applies when they pay the ticket for you.
Questions people ask
Why 30 days after the return?
NYC says it can take up to three weeks for a ticket to appear in its online system. Camera tickets are mailed later than that in some cases. Thirty days covers nearly all of them.
Will the rental company still find out?
Yes, NYC mails the notice to the registered owner, which is the rental company. If you have already paid the ticket by then, there is nothing for them to pay and usually nothing for them to bill you. Keep the payment confirmation.
Can I dispute instead of paying?
Yes. The same nyc.gov page lets you dispute within 30 days of the issue date. A dispute still stops the rental company from paying it for you in the meantime in most cases, but check your rental agreement.
Do you store my card or pay tickets for me?
No. Rental Watch only watches and emails. You pay NYC yourself on nyc.gov. We never ask you to pay us for a ticket.
What about other cities?
New York City only for now. Other cities will be added where the data is public.
I run a fleet or rent out cars.
Email us. The same watch works per plate with a fleet plan and a CSV export.