How can I challenge a real estate assessment?

February 2, 2006 12:24 PM

Gadzooks--I just received a "Notice of Real Estate Assessment Change" telling me that there is a 65% increase in the assessment of my home since the last one was done two years ago. Assuming this is not a mistake, do you have any advice for appealing? I haven't really done anything to my property, but there is a lot of development going on, but this seems awfully steep and unfair.
posted by carlowe to Law & Government (26 answers total)

Carlowe - where are you? That will help us help you.
posted by MeetMegan at 12:27 PM on February 2, 2006

Response by poster: I'm in Fredericksburg, VA.
posted by carlowe at 12:29 PM on February 2, 2006

I have no idea where you're located, carlowe, but in Toronto property value assessments arrive with information on how to challenge them. If you haven't got that kind of brochure with yours, check the appropriate website.

In any case, in Toronto, you can either request for reconsideration (for free) or file an appeal (fee involved). I've requested reconsideration twice, and was successful both times.

The brochure warned that the danger of having your assessment revisited is that the assessment may go up, but I wouldn't worry about that in your situation.
posted by orange swan at 12:31 PM on February 2, 2006

There probably is an appeals board. Call up whoever the taxing authority is and ask them about the appeals process.

Also (stab in the dark) is it possible this is a scam? Your property valuation is public record, so they could even stick in your old valuation to make it look more credible. I know there are a lot of scam artists that send out very official-looking documents trying (for example) to get you to pay them to file your homestead exemption papers.
posted by adamrice at 12:35 PM on February 2, 2006

hey! that's my town you're living in! i would like to stress to the metafilter community that "there is a lot of development going on" is almost an understatement, so an increase shouldn't be unheard of. there was an article in the free lance star a week or so ago that says that spotsylvania residents had an average increase of 50%, so i wouldn't put too much faith in your ability to stop this.
posted by soma lkzx at 12:37 PM on February 2, 2006

Response by poster: I am looking for the website, but I fear it is only going to provide procedural information and not strategic reasoning for laying out my case. I don't know what to aruge or how to argue that this seems wrong, so I am hoping that people will come forward with those sorts of suggestions.
posted by carlowe at 12:38 PM on February 2, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the info, soma lkzk. That'll teach me to go with a Washington Post subscription instead of the local paper! I still think this is an outrage, though.
posted by carlowe at 12:41 PM on February 2, 2006

Carlowe, I agree with adamrice. This might be one of those fake official looking documents that is really about getting a home loan, or buying some kind of "insurance". Since I bought my mother's house in California, I continually get documents that look frighteningly real and that seem to be about an appraisal of my house value or an assessor's notice, but on close inspection (really, really close) I could see that they were fakes trying to dupe me into buying something, or providing them with personal information. They are absolutely ingenious in how official they seem, right down to the right color of envelope.

If they are real, yes, there absolutely should be information on the forms detailing who to call and how to proceed with challenging the new assessment.
posted by generic230 at 12:45 PM on February 2, 2006

Germantown, MD here, mine went up about 40 or 45.

Maybe the basis of your appeal can be that your increase of 65% is 30% higher than the average Spotslyvania increease of 50%.
posted by poppo at 12:47 PM on February 2, 2006

I don't know how much your arguments will have have to do with changing an assessment. Your valuation is based on the prices fetched by roughly equivalent, recently sold properties in your area. In a reassessment, the officials take another look at the prices of these properties. In an appeal, they actually come to your property and assess it individually.

Here are the arguments I used, though they probably won't be very useful to you:

After I bought my apartment, the assessment I received about nine months later was dated for the very day I bought my place - only the value was $26,000 more than I had paid. I argued that the assessment should only be what I paid. They lowered the value.

The next time they assessed was only a year or two later, and I argued that it was too high a percentage of increase (no building going on in my area). Again, they lowered it.
posted by orange swan at 12:51 PM on February 2, 2006

Best answer: Just because the city or town is hiking assessments all over the place is no reason not to appeal. I appealed an assessment that was much higher than what I paid for the property (in the same year) and won.

What you need is information on what comparable properties are selling for now. If the assessment is much more than those numbers, you'll probably win your appeal. A real estate agent can help you find the information, or you can do Web searches. The R.E. agent's market survey might carry more weight.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:55 PM on February 2, 2006

If your assessment has gone up substantially, there should be a reason; that may be the basis of a successful appeal. I once appealed an increase in my assessment based on the fact that somehow they had increased the square footage of my house (probably by mistaking a porch for enclosed living area on an aerial photo) despite my having done no remodeling. I gathered all of the documentation I could find, carefully followed the procedure, noting deadlines and required forms, and was polite and respectful to everyone involved. They granted my appeal, and it was really pretty painless. My mother sits on the board of assessors in a neighboring county and says people appeal all the time; whether they are successful depends on how well they present their case. The assessors aren't looking to screw anybody; they just want to make sure everyone pays their fair share. Like many people they base their decisions on the information they have available, which may or may not be accurate.
posted by TedW at 1:02 PM on February 2, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks, Kirth. This is good advice I can act upon. I suppose that leads to a second part to my original question: does it seem unusual that the county has given only until Feb. 22 to appeal? That's less than a month to research, etc., and taking the time to speak with a real estate agent AND do the appeal have to be done during non-work hours. This does not seem reasonable. The citizens of Spotsylvania County are getting hosed!
posted by carlowe at 1:08 PM on February 2, 2006

There are real estate attorneys that focus their practice on arguments before the board of assessors (or whatever the authority in your area is called). They generally base their fees as a percentage of the money they save you, that way, you don't pay if they don't get your assessment adjusted. There should be some nice ads for those folks in your local phone book. If you aren't well-informed on the issue (and it sounds like you may not be) then hire the lawyer. At the worst, s/he won't save you any money and you won't have to pay them (provided their fee structure works out that way). At best, they get your assessment reduced considerably and you pay them way less than what you would have had to pay anyways.

That said, though, follow the advice of other posters and make sure that this is NOT a scam.
posted by MeetMegan at 1:18 PM on February 2, 2006

Did you see the part in the article about them probably dropping the tax rate to compensate for the property value increases?
posted by smackfu at 1:19 PM on February 2, 2006

Forgive a renter's ignorance, but isn't this a good thing? Don't all homeowners desire increased property values? Seems like you're trading a small, immediate discomfort (higher tax bill) for a large happiness down the road (a higher selling price).

Your case seems excessive, but just a manifestaytion of the real estate bubble boom.
posted by Rash at 1:22 PM on February 2, 2006

We got ours reduced by pointing out the cost of homes selling in our *immediate* neighborhood, and having their appraiser take a second (or possibly first) look at our home.

Then we moved and now I can't afford our mortgage, but that's another long and boring story.
posted by craniac at 1:28 PM on February 2, 2006

Response by poster: I saw the part in the article about "probably" dropping the tax rate, but they can't do that forever, and I'm really not prepared for a big jump in my tax bill right now if it happens. Maybe in the future when my financial situation isn't so precarious I can rejoice over increased property values, but right now I'm kind of worried.
posted by carlowe at 1:31 PM on February 2, 2006

Don't forget that if you plan to sell your house soon, your buyer will need to have the house assessed at what he/she pays for it in order to get financing approved. If you succeed in keeping your property value down well below what you want it to be worth a short time period later, it could cause a problem with the appraisal.
posted by deadfather at 1:42 PM on February 2, 2006

Unless the appeals process is very complex (and I have no idea about VA), you don't need a lawyer. Ask the assessors office what the procedure is, and file the papers. I did not have to do any more than that (and show up at a hearing). The MA state Appeals Board did the research.

Rash, no. The assessment is not the same as the price you'll get when you sell later. One costs you money now when it goes up. The other one gets you money later.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:48 PM on February 2, 2006

Kirth - Yes, but there should be a correlation (if the assessment is accurate) - here (Alexandria) assessments seem to lag behind value, but you should be able to assume that if your home has been assessed for 100k, for example, that you would be able to sell it for 100k (or more.)

The 65% seems steep, but it could be accurate given the rise in home values in Northern Virginia. Alexandria and Arlington have certainly seen some dramatic increases in the last two years. But I'd still appeal it.
posted by drobot at 1:58 PM on February 2, 2006

Yes there's a correlation/ratio. But if they re-evaluate all the houses, the sell to assessment ratio will change too. They aren't actually adding any value to your house.
posted by smackfu at 2:25 PM on February 2, 2006

Rash--It's not a good thing if you want to keep your house.

It's also not a good thing if you're a renter, because your landlord is going to pass on those increases to you.

I'm also curious about something in this whole issue: many states have a limit on how much a homestead's property valuation can be raised on one year—in some states, it's as low as 1% ; here in Texas (where no income tax makes the gummint especially dependent on property taxes) it's 10%. Doesn't VA have a similar limit?
posted by adamrice at 2:48 PM on February 2, 2006

Say what you will about the negative effects of Prop 13 in California, it sure is nice not having to worry about this particular problem.
posted by letitrain at 3:25 PM on February 2, 2006

BC's assessments are all online and provide previous-year/current-year comparison. My assessment went up a bunch, but so did my neighbours. Unless it's a mass conspiracy, things are cool.

And I'm suffering huge deja vu here. I am positive this self-same question was asked the first February AskMe was operating.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:51 PM on February 2, 2006

I attended an appeals board meeting, and the people who were successful went through the property finding fault with it--foundations, fencing, roofing, concrete work that needed repairs. They had obtained estimates--two or three for each problem, and the total of all the repair work that needed to be done was the reduction in appraisal value.

Just going by the comparison to other properties did very little good.
posted by gg at 3:03 PM on February 5, 2006