MonkeyParking has been served with a cease and desist order by the San Francisco city attorney.

MonkeyParking CEO Paolo Dobrowolny said the cease-and-desist demand from the city attorney should not apply because the app lets users communicate information about parking spots, not buy or sell them directly.

“MonkeyParking is not selling the parking space, we are selling the convenience of someone alerting another to an open space.”

People can bid on public parking spots occupied by other users. The app lets users broadcast where they are parked and others can bid on those spots within the app.

The city attorney cites the police code that prohibits people and companies from buying, selling or leasing public on-street parking.

MonkeyParking is consulting with legal counsel.