The city of Denver this week began imposing new requirements on operators of private parking spaces to be more transparent.

In particular, the city now requires parking operators to clearly post the following information beginning on June 12:

• Fine and citation amounts associated with violating parking terms. The city said that, for example, the signs must show “all potential penalties” for parking over the reserved time or for parking without payment.
• The operator’s business license number.
• Contact information in case customers want to dispute penalties.
• The parking lot’s address.
• Specifics of payment instructions, including whether a customer must place a payment stub on the dashboard; whether there is a limited grace period; and, whether a customer will be charged for driving through.
• Instructions if the payment kiosk is not working.

Officials considered the changes following what they earlier described as a “surge” in complaints from consumers.

In particular, consumers have complained about the lack of transparency and expensive parking penalties, the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses earlier said. 

“Automated enforcement technology used by private parking operators has improved in recent years and has resulted in an increase in citations issued to consumers and complaints received by the city,” Molly Duplechian, executive director of the Department of Excise and Licenses, earlier said. “Our goal is to increase accountability for the parking lot license holders and transparency for consumers as they decide where to park in Denver.”