Chicago man abandoned a car in his ex-gf’s name at an employee-only airport parking. 3 years later, she owed $105,000 in fines

When Jennifer Fitzgerald‘s relationship ended with her boyfriend, Brandon Preveau, it brought a parking nightmare along. The Chicago woman got stuck with the world’s most expensive parking ticket in 2008, thanks to a car she couldn’t even touch.

In 2008, Brandon Preveau bought a used 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo for about $600 from his girlfriend, Jennifer Fitzgerald’s uncle. The couple had been dating for several years and even had a young daughter together. Though he bought the car with his tax refund, he registered it under Fitzgerald’s name. And she never knew.

Preveau used the car regularly to travel to work at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. He was a ground-operations employee, and used to park the car in the secure employee-only parking lot. But when his relationship with Fitzerald fell apart, he parked the car there in Nov. 2009, and never came back for it.

Because it remained parked in an employee-only lot, inaccessible to Fitzerald, the car began racking up tickets. By December, it was booked for expired lot violation, dilapidated condition, abandoned property, you name it. Parking regulations at that airport should’ve caused impounding of the car after 30 days. But somehow, the Monte Carlo stayed put for almost three years.

Over that period, the fines ballooned to 678 violations, culminating in over $105,000 in parking penalties, more than any parking fine in the city’s history at the time (via CBS). Fitzgerald argued with authorities that she had no control over the car and didn’t have the keys. She also repeatedly asked her ex to move it. But all her efforts went in vain.

Bizarrely, Preveau never gave her any reason for not moving the car even though he knew she was accumulating insane debt. Finally, in Oct. 2012, the car was removed from the United Airlines parking lot. But by then, Fitzerald’s fine totalled to $105,761. And who has an emergency parking ticket fund to pay that kind of money? So, she took the matter to the Cook County Circuit Court.

Fitzerald’s civil suit named Brandon Preveau, United Airlines, and the City of Chicago as defendants. Her lawyer contended that she was never the true operator, even though her name was on the title. But the airline argued that the car had been in an employee-only parking and that Brandon was still an employee, allowed to park.

Eventually, the case made headlines as a legal and administrative absurdity in late 2012. This helped Fitzerald’s case and prompted the City of Chicago to open settlement talks (via ABC). After much litigation, the city and her ex reached a settlement. The fines were dramatically reduced, but still left her with a modest balance due.

Preveau had to pay a $1,600 down payment, while she agreed to cover $2,870 through monthly installments of about $78/month (via PA). The case became a cautionary tale on how a simple signature on a title can trap someone in a financial nightmare for years.