NOTE: These instructions are for parking citations issued by the City of Lancaster ("City of Lancaster" will appear at the top of the citation).  For parking citations issued outside of City limits, please refer to the instructions on the back of your citation or contact the issuing agency listed on the citation.

If you have received a parking citation, it is important that you pay it in a timely manner to avoid penalties that may affect your vehicle registration and/or your state tax refunds.

There are four ways to pay your citation:

1. You may pay in-person at the Finance counter inside City Hall. All in-person visits will be by appointment only. Please call or email to make an appointment. Business hours are Mon through Thurs from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Fri 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding holidays). Payment methods accepted are cash, check, money order, or credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express).
2. You may mail your payment to the City's processing center at City of Lancaster, PO Box 3540, Tustin, CA 92781-3540.  Payments must be postmarked within 21 days of the citation issue date or they will not be accepted as paid-in-full.  Include the citation with your payment.  Payment methods accepted are check or money order - DO NOT send cash.
3. You may pay online anytime at http://www.pticket.com/lancaster.  Payment methods accepted are Visa, Mastercard, or Discover.
4. You may make a payment over the phone anytime by calling the City's processing center at (888) 372-2040.  Payment methods accepted are Visa, Mastercard, or Discover.

You will need to have the citation with you when paying in-person, online, or over the phone, as information from the citation is required to process the payment.  Citations cannot be paid at the courthouse or at DMV (unless a DMV hold has been placed - see below).

If you choose to pay online or by phone, please allow at least 3-5 business days from the date of issuance for the citation to be processed before paying electronically printed citations.  For handwritten citations, please allow up to seven business days when paying online, by phone, or in-person.

Whichever method you choose, your citation must be paid within 21 calendar days of issuance.  Failure to pay your citation within 21 calendar days will result in additional penalties, and may result in a DMV hold being placed on your vehicle.  A DMV hold will prevent you from registering your vehicle or filing a planned non-operational status permit (PNO) until all fees, including deliquency penalties, have been paid.  You may also have your state tax refunds intercepted until the unpaid citation and all deliquency penalties have been satisfied.

If a DMV hold has been placed on your vehicle, you will be required to pay your citation and penalty fees to DMV, or provide satisfactory proof that you have already paid these fees to the City, before you can register your vehicle or file a PNO.  If these fees are not paid before your registration is due, you will be assessed additional penalties for late registration.

Vehicles that have five or more unpaid parking citations that are at least 21 days old may be impounded per California Vehicle Code section 22651(i), and additional fees will be assessed.  If you do not pay all the fees within a certain period of time (generally 60 days), including all citations, any deliquency fees, and fees relating to the impound and storage of your vehicle, the storage facility may conduct a lien sale of your vehicle to satisfy your obligations.

While in some cases a reminder notice may be mailed to you prior to the end of the 21 day payment/contest period, this is not guaranteed.  Failure to receive a reminder notice does not relieve you of any legal obligation to pay your citation within the 21 day period.

If you would like to speak with someone about your citation before paying or contesting it, please call (661) 723-5992 to schedule an appointment.  Appointments are available Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at City Hall.