The following article is from our CAPTA Property Tax Reduction Site:
State of the Market
Much has been written by Agents, Consultants and Attorneys about the situation we find in the California Real Estate Market today. It is in serious trouble. I saw this current cycle coming years ago as I had watched a similar scenario which began in 1989, when I first started my property tax consulting business and worked as an agent/consultant for literally thousands of Clients in the real estate ‘crash’ of the 1990’s. You can read the property tax consultant/agent’s historical comparison here.
But make no mistake about it; the market is bad. Many individuals have recently started their own company to take advantage of the wholesale depreciation in values. The offers are as varied as the companies: $95 up front and a guaranteed reduction; $295 for three years; $495 now and your money will be returned if there is no reduction; the list goes on. How does one decide which attorney, agent or consultant can assist property owners and help in the process, which are legitimate and which are simply paper mills, filing papers and hoping for the best? First, let’s identify the need.
Houses and Homes - Single Family Residential
What is the need of a property tax agent, consultant or lawyer to the average homeowner? The goal is to see the assessed value reduced for a given year, resulting in a property tax reduction. The task is simple enough; convince an appraiser at the local county assessors office that your property is over-assessed, resulting in the appraiser adjusting the value downwards, which then results in a reduced property tax bill. But herein lies the problem. Sometimes the appraiser doesn’t have the time or the desire to offer much help. What do you do? File an appeal. But how? Can anyone do it? The answer is yes, but…
Let me offer several quotes from an article written by an attorney on the internet at Cal-Tax.org, an organization founded in 1926 “to protect taxpayers from unnecessary taxes and to promote government efficiency.” The article is titled “Why Taxpayers Hate the Property Tax System” and was written some time ago, but still rings true today:
“…the property tax appeals process has become a system of rubber-stamping assessor values, even when those values are arbitrarily determined.”
“The property tax appeals system is inherently unfair, and is designed to provide maximum revenue collection and de minimus due process for taxpayers.”
“…once an application for reduction in assessment is filed, the counties have taken the position that no amendments to that application can be made.”
“Most of the Property Tax Rules and Assessor Handbooks, which provide the backbone of California’s property tax appeals system, have not been substantially revised in over 20 years. Some are so obsolete that they are simply not used, while others reflect assessment practices based on a regulatory and business environment that has not existed for over a decade. The continued use of these documents has confounded taxpayers and has directly benefitted assessors who are able to avoid an objective body of authority to challenge their subjective assessments.”
These are but a few of the comments he makes. I strongly encourage you to read his whole article. Suffice it to say there are different rules and procedures in every county and it takes a good deal of understanding the system to know how to win a complex case.
But yours is a simple house you say. Alright then, here is your process for a Proposition 8, temporary decline in value:
- Decide the value of your home as of January 1, 2008 (for the 2008 fiscal year)
- Call or (better yet) drive to the local Office of the Assessor and speak to the appraiser on duty
- Follow their instructions
- If they need a form fill out the form
- If they tell you they can do nothing, file an appeal
- If they tell you they have already reduced the value decide if it’s enough
- If it’s enough you win
- If it’s not enough you must file the appeal
Simple enough. Read the entire “Do it Yourself” Prop 8 Appeal guide here for free. Good luck.
Was that enough information for you to do it yourself? That is where the process starts. Rest assured that whatever you may achieve in this discourse in the way of a reduction will seldom be enough. A good strategy if you are successful with this process is to NOW hire an agent or consultant or attorney who will attempt to gain further reductions by following the formal appeals process. Hire us, CAPTA. With a contingency agreement you have nothing to lose! NO SAVINGS, NO FEE!
Commercial Property or Vacant Land - Anything Other Than Single Family Residences
For SFR’s the process presented above is fairly straightforward. But what about property other than homes, properties like vacant land, apartment buildings, distribution centers, shopping centers, office buildings, medical buildings, industrial and warehouse properties? Can the same process be used? Doubtful. Here’s why.
Income producing properties are valued in large part based on the income they produce. But what about a new Wickes Furniture Store building that now sits vacant due to bankruptcy? Who wants to rent it? What about a vacant Macy’s in a shopping center? And the biggest nightmare; what about vacant development property?
These properties present the biggest challenge to a property owner who knows that the value of his property has dramatically fallen but cannot prove it. Why? The market is in a constant state of change, and today that change is for the worse. A good agent or consultant or attorney will recognize the limitations of the property and the market, and will develop a case based on upon the accepted procedures of the county where the property is located. That’s a lot of work, work that can only be accomplished by an experienced agent or consultant or attorney. And one that will work on a contingency arrangement with no up-front fee or cost is one who is sure of his or her ability to win. You need CAPTA-California Property Tax Consultants.
Call now (888) 678-9TAX