I just called him and did some research. He did a lot of research, he went to the tax office, called the county, the city, the escrow company, agents, etc. They all had the same answer.

Basically, the homes are assessed every time they are sold, IF the sales price is MORE than before. Since they didn’t really plan on homes decreasing in value, and it would bankrupt the county, they don’t really have a plan to address the huge housing correction yet.

You basically have to fill out this form… http://riverside.asrclkrec.com/acr/forms/755P-AS3RS0%20Owners%20Request%20for%20Review.pdf
on this webpage..
http://riverside.asrclkrec.com/ACR/INassessment.asp#prop8
.. and ask for your home to be re-assessed. I know this sounds crazy, but in this declining market, you have to pay the SAME prop taxes that the guy before you did, regardless of how high his taxes were, until you can get your home re-assessed, which currently is taking a year due to high demand.

This is going to come as a shock to many, and as I start looking for homes, I will definitely look at what the last guy paid last year.

P.S. This has nothing to do with REO homes BTW, just that homes are declining in value. My friend said that there were 20 other people behind him who were shocked to find out that they have to pay taxes on an old sales price, until they can have it re-assessed.