Astrid Alecio and her family were living with her mother in 2024 when a record-breaking storm hit San Diego. Their home flooded, leaving Alecio, her husband and their two small children with nowhere to go.
The county provided them with hotel rooms until June of 2024. They moved around until Jan. 3, 2025, the day they officially became homeless.
Alecio was able to use tax refunds to purchase the RV her family now calls home in a Mission Bay parking lot. They collect cans in large bags that sit on top of their RV to earn some money. Bicycles, skateboards, home supplies and lawn chairs surround the small camper. Alecio’s nine and 11-year-old daughters play by the water with some of the other kids who live there.
But living here means getting parking citations almost daily.
“We don't have enough money to go and get our registers up to date, our tags up to date,” Alecio said. “And with that and the tickets and feeding our kids, it's really hard. I wish they could do something about it.”
In an effort to alleviate some of the strain that parking citations put on people like Alecio, a new California law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. It emphasizes that local jurisdictions can implement policies reducing or waiving parking fees for people who prove their circumstances are extreme. This includes documented homelessness and financial hardship. Some local governments are open to citation waivers or reductions, while others are holding off for now.
A spokesperson said the city of San Diego is not changing their policy. The city offers fee reductions or waivers only through the Homeless Court Program, which helps unhoused individuals get misdemeanor offenses waived by participating in classes, counseling or similar activities.
Lieutenant VT Do with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department evaluates parking citation appeals. He said the county has started offering reductions in response to the law, but is not waiving fees.
“We have to balance compassion, fairness with accountability,” Do said. “If we don't have a form of accountability with a flat waiver, then it's tough for us to be that balanced approach.”
Representatives from Oceanside and Lemon Grove told KPBS their cities are also now offering reductions. But La Mesa and Escondido are embracing both options that the legislation provides. Officials from both cities said they now offer waivers and reductions for qualifying individuals.
Santee, National City, Coronado, Del Mar, San Marcos, El Cajon and Vista officials said their cities had already waived or reduced fees on a case-by-case basis. El Cajon, Vista and Chula Vista representatives said they use the Homeless Court Program.
Rebecca Miller is a senior attorney with the Western Center on Law & Poverty, a co-sponsor of the law. Miller said there can be limitations to homeless court programs. She said jurisdictions who utilize the new law can better address an individual’s specific needs.
While some San Diego cities have already chosen to reduce or waive parking citations for low-income individuals, others are still deciding.
Carlsbad, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, Solana Beach and Poway representatives said their cities are still evaluating the legislation and have not updated their policy.
Miller said the goal of the law is to support local governments by giving them more options, while helping Californians avoid falling into cycles of debt.
“The hope here is that a parking ticket shouldn't get in the way of a family's economic stability,” Miller said.
She hopes local jurisdictions can utilize all aspects of the legislation.
“We have parking enforcement for a reason, there's an important accountability there,” Miller said. “And with a reduction, that makes it more equitable if that's the appropriate response. Sometimes individuals might be trapped under such or have such compelling circumstances that waiver is really the just result.”
For Alecio, she said, parking tickets have become like paying rent. At the beginning of January, she had accumulated about $1,000 worth of tickets in less than three weeks.
Alecio’s RV is broken down, and they don’t have the money to fix it. Even when it was running, she didn’t have the gas money to get to work.
She said often she’ll wake up in the early morning to talk to officers when she knows they come to ticket. Parking is prohibited at Mission Bay Park every day from 2-4 a.m. Alecio is usually asked to go to a parking lot that’s meant for overnight stays before being ticketed, but she said it would cost too much in gas to get there, and it’s too far from her kids’ school.
“We're not taking anything from anybody, we are hardworking people, and I think they should be more lenient of people that have families,” Alecio said. “We want to make it. I don't want to make this my forever home. I want to have something steady for my kids.”
They’ve gotten warnings that their vehicle could be towed. Now her youngest daughter stays up at night, worrying the police will take her parents or her home.
“I'm afraid to lose my RV because it's the only thing I have,” Alecio said. “And if they take my RV, where am I going to go with my kids?”
The legislation also lifts any time limits on when a person can request a payment plan after receiving a parking citation in any jurisdiction. Previously, most local authorities had a 120-day window. Alecio thinks this will help, but maybe not enough.
“That's great,” she said. “But think about it. Yes, I can get a payment plan. I can say I can only pay $25 a month, right, but in the meantime, I'm making these payments, but they come every single day. When am I going to finish paying those tickets?”
Lieutenant Do said San Diego County offers parking citation payment plans for people who are low-income or receiving public benefits under California law. He recommends calling the phone number on their website before mailing in an application.
And now people with county parking tickets can request a reduction online or in person. Do said the form on their website asks for all relevant information to determine if someone meets the standards for a reduction based on the same California law. This includes someone who’s receiving public benefits under a program like Supplemental Security Income, or someone whose monthly income is at or below 200% of the poverty line.
More information on how to apply for a payment plan or citation reduction for a parking ticket from an individual city can be found on each city’s website.
