'Insanely old' city ticket wreaks havoc on Ottawa man's credit score

Richard McGrath says he got a “rude awakening” last Friday when he received an alert from his credit bureau that his credit score had unexpectedly taken a nosedive. 

The 57-year-old teacher soon learned from the City of Ottawa that, back in 2005, before his university-age daughter was even born, he’d been physically handed a $127 ticket on Elgin Street — and it remained unpaid to this day, he said. 

McGrath isn’t questioning the city’s account.

But he’s upset “an insanely old ticket” he has no memory of has resurfaced 19 years later, sending his credit score plummeting more than 100 points just as he was planning home renovations.

“They didn’t reach out in any