Spallco v. City of Wilmington.

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IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY SPALLCO ENTERPRISES, INC., a New Jersey corporation, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY OF WILMINGTON, a municipal corporation of the State of Delaware, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) C.A. No. 99C-08-161 ) ) ) ) ) Date Submitted: July 25, 2002 Date Decided: August 28, 2002 ORDER UPON CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT DEFENDANT S MOTION GRANTED PLAINTIFF S MOTION DENIED Thomas C. Marconi, Esq. of Losco & Marconi, P.A., Wilmington, Delaware 19899, Attorney for Plaintiff. Rosamaria Ta ssone, Esq. of City of W ilmington Law D epartment, Wilming ton, Delaware 19899, A ttorney for D efendan t. ALFORD , J. Spallco Enterprises, Inc. v. The City of Wilmington C.A. No. 99C-08-161 HLA August 28, 2002 Page 2 On this 28th day of August 2002, upon consideration of the Cross Motions for Summ ary Judgme nt and the re cord, it appe ars to the Co urt that: (1) Spallco Enterprises, Inc. ( Spallco ) filed this declaratory judgment action on August 18, 1999 seeking to determine whether § 37-68 of the Wilmington Code, which holds that the registered owner of a motor vehicle is prima facie responsible for parking v iolations, is con stitutional. (2) Spallco is in the business of renting motor vehicles to individual and corporate customers on a daily and multiple day basis. Between 1989 and present, the City of Wilmington ( City ) issued numerous citations for parking violations committed on veh icles ow ned by S pallco a nd ope rated by S pallco c ustom ers with in the C ity limits. The origin al tickets we re left on the m otor vehicle s by the issuing o fficer. Wh en the City failed to receive paymen t of the f ine, the C ity notified Spallco of the d elinque ncies. Despite Spallco s contrary argument, the City did try to collect these delinquencies from Sp allco. The C ity began collec tion procee dings by send ing delinqu ency notices to Spallco. Fu rther in Ap ril of 1999, th e City booted one of S pallco s veh icles pursua nt to section 37-125(a) of the Wilmington City Code. Instead of paying the due fines in order to have the boot rem oved, Sp allco illegally towe d the vehic le and rem oved the boot itself in violation of section 37-125 (c). Spallco Enterprises, Inc. v. The City of Wilmington C.A. No. 99C-08-161 HLA August 28, 2002 Page 3 Spallco has offered to provide the City with the identities of the persons to whom the vehicles were rented on days the tickets were issued. The City argues that section 3768's presum ption that the r egistered ow ner is respon sible canno t be rebutted and insists that Sp allco pa y the due fines. (3) The City argues that the rental agency, as the registered owner of the vehicles, is strictly or v icariously liable fo r violations of section 37- 68, thus resp onsible for the payment of the fines and penalties associated with the violations, notwithstanding Spallco s ability to provide the City with names of the lessees. Further, the City contends that Spallco can pursue a claim against its lessee s for the monies its pays for the parking violatio ns und er their le ase agr eemen t. Spallco argues that section 37-68 violates its substantive due process rights by allowing the City to convict Spallco of a criminal offense when the violation was in fact committed by another party. Spallco argues that the City could learn the identity of the driver wh o was issu ed the ticket. M oreover, it arg ues that vica rious liability can on ly attach if the driv er cann ot be as certaine d. This a rgume nt fails. (4) Previously the Municipal Court of Wilmington as well as various other jurisdictions have held similar statutes constitutional. The Municipal Court held that registered owners are strictly or vicariously liable and responsible for the fines and/or Spallco Enterprises, Inc. v. The City of Wilmington C.A. No. 99C-08-161 HLA August 28, 2002 Page 4 penalties of the vehicles they own, reg ardless of th e owne r s ability and willin gness to provid e the C ity with the name s of the lessees. The Matter of Union Park Pontiac, Wilming ton Mu nicipal Co urt, Mem orandum Op., Fracz kowsk i, J. (Nov. 7, 19 94). This Municipal Co urt opinion is the only interpretation of section 37 -68 in Delawa re. It accepts the reasoning of the vario us other jurisd ictions wh ich have b een conf ronted w ith this issue . See City of Chicago v. Hertz Commercial Leasing Corp., 375 N.E. 2d 1285 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 19 78); City of Kansas City v. Hertz Corp., 499 S.W . 2d 449 (M o. Supr. C t. 1973); Commonwealth v. Minicost Car Rental Inc., 242 N.E . 2d 411 (M ass. Supr. C t. 1968); Commonwealth v. Rudinski, 555 A.2d 931 (Pa. Supr. Ct. 1988). Th is court concludes that Spallco as the registered owner of the vehicles which received the parking violatio ns is resp onsible for the p ayment o f those due fin es. (5) Spallco further contends that its procedural due process rights are violated as section 37-68 does not allow Spallco the opportunity to contest the tickets and defend itself against the offense. Spallco s procedural due process rights were not violated. An individual only has two defenses to a parking violation: (1) the vehicle was not parked illegally and (2) the individual is not the owner of the vehicle. There is no violation of due process in imposing vicarious liability on a registered owner because the owner can Spallco Enterprises, Inc. v. The City of Wilmington C.A. No. 99C-08-161 HLA August 28, 2002 Page 5 come forward with evidence controverting the City s prima fac ie case. City of Chicago, 375 N.E. 2d 1285. For the afo remention ed reason s, Defend ant s Mo tion for Su mmary Jud gment is Hereby GRANTED and Plaintiff s Motion for Summary Judgment is Hereby DENIED. IT IS SO ORDERED. ___________________________ ALFORD , J. Origin al: Proth onotar y s Offic e - Civil D iv.

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