This series has covered a lot of official terminology — NOL, OATH, poundage, scofflaw, judgment. Here's every term in one place, defined plainly, so you never have to guess what a notice or a city letter actually means.

The basics

__Notice of Liability (NOL): __the official name for a camera violation ticket — red light, speed, or bus lane. Your specific NOL number is printed on the notice, labeled "NOL #" or "Notice #."

__Violation: __the general term for any parking or camera ticket, whether or not it's been resolved.

__Plea of guilty: __an admission of liability, paired with payment of the fine.

__Plea of guilty with an explanation: __an admission of liability, but with a statement offered in mitigation — you're not contesting the ticket, but explaining circumstances that might reduce the penalty.

__Plea of not guilty: __a formal denial of the violation — this is what "disputing" a ticket actually means in official terms.

Deadlines and escalation

__The 30-day window: __the period from issuance during which you can pay or dispute a ticket without late penalties being added.

__Default judgment: __what's automatically entered against you if you never respond — pay, dispute, or appear — within the required time. A default judgment is treated as an admission of liability, whether or not you intended it that way.

__Judgment: __the status a violation reaches, generally around 100 days after issuance if left unpaid and undisputed, at which point interest starts accruing and it begins counting toward your $350 boot threshold.

__Hearing After Judgment: __a special, narrower path to dispute a ticket that's already reached judgment — available only within one year of the judgment date, and only if you can show a valid reason you didn't respond earlier.

__Article 78 proceeding: __a further legal challenge available only after an appeal hearing decision has upheld the original ruling, or after an appeal request was denied — the last formal step past the city's own hearing system.

Enforcement

__Boot: __a locked wheel clamp placed once your judgment debt (aggregated across every vehicle you own) reaches $350, making the vehicle impossible to drive.

__Marshal or Sheriff boot: __a boot placed by the city's marshals/Sheriff's Office specifically for judgment debt — generally green, with a keypad, and self-releasable once paid.

__NYPD boot: __a boot placed by police for illegal parking rather than judgment debt — a different color, no keypad, and subject to immediate tow with no waiting period.

__Poundage fee: __a percentage-based fee, charged on top of your fines and penalties, as part of the cost of releasing a booted or towed vehicle.

__Execution fee: __a fee charged for the marshal's or sheriff's action in placing a boot or executing a tow.

__Scofflaw law: __New York State's rule (Vehicle and Traffic Law §401) blocking vehicle registration renewal for anyone with three or more unresolved tickets within 18 months — a ticket-count rule, separate from and in addition to the dollar-based boot threshold.

Agencies and bodies

__DOF (Department of Finance): __the NYC agency that collects and processes parking ticket and camera violation payments, and administers boots, judgments, and payment plans.

__OATH (Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings): __New York City's central, independent administrative law court, which hears and decides disputed violations from many different city agencies — not just parking and camera tickets, but citations like idling violations as well.

__TVB (Traffic Violations Bureau): __the part of the New York State DMV that handles non-criminal moving violations issued in the five boroughs — a different system from DOF's parking and camera violations.

__DEP (Department of Environmental Protection): __the agency that enforces NYC's anti-idling law, including citizen-submitted video complaints.

__BIC (Business Integrity Commission): __the agency regulating who may legally haul construction and demolition debris in NYC — a completely separate system from parking and camera violations.

A correction worth noting

__Grace period: __New York City Administrative Code §19-213 establishes a genuine 5-minute grace period as an affirmative defense — but specifically for meter violations (failing to purchase or display valid parking time), proven with a valid payment receipt for the ticketed time or up to five minutes afterward. This grace period is specific to meter payment, not a general grace period for every violation type, including alternate side parking.

One reference for the whole series

Every term above shows up somewhere across this series — bookmark this page as a quick reference whenever a city notice uses language that isn't immediately clear.

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