Duplicating parking permits and reselling them is an underground business at the University of Miami as well as other institutions.
To avoid paying the full price for a parking permit or even making some money off of it, some students are willing to go great distances.
Richard Soboram, the director of parking and transportation at UM, explained how currently there is a student facing great consequences for making a duplicate permit.
This individual sold it to another student at $180, a low price compared to a commuter permit, which costs $444 a year or a discount permit at $226.
Sobaram remarked about the almost perfect duplication, the only thing missing was the hologram.
Most of the time these are discovered because the cars are parked illegally, however, Sobaram admits that most could probably get away with it if parked legally.
“For every one we find there are probably 10 undetected,” said Sobaram.
Twenty-five were found and confiscated during the last school year.
The risk, however, may not be worth it.
According to Soboram, this student is facing a $500 fine and the case is being taken to the dean of students. If the person is an employee, the case goes directly to human resources.
UM is not the only school where this is occurring. A friend of a UM student found herself in a similar situation.
Kirstin, a senior at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., duplicated her permit sophomore year. After contacting her friend through Facebook she told her story of what happened when she got caught.
When university police went to speak to her at her dorm, she soon found that it is not only considered theft, but also fraud, a felony.
Students can apply for a parking pass through the Life at UM tab on www.miami.edu/myum.