Only Poor slobs pay retail

[farbet]

LA JOLLA – Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, asked San Diego County for property tax relief after paying cash for their $12 million Mediterranean-style beachfront La Jolla home in 2008, it was reported today.

San Diego County assessor records show the Romneys’ asked that their 2009 assessment, $12.24 million, be reduced to $6.8 million, maintaining that their home had lost about 45 percent of its value in the first seven months they owned it, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Thirteen months later, after hiring an attorney to guide them, the Romneys filed an amended appeal, contending the home had suffered a less-dramatic fall of 27.3 percent, to $8.9 million, the newspaper reported.

The Times reported that the couple filed an appeal for the 2010 tax year, claiming the house had dropped further, to $7.5 million, 38.7 percent less than the home’s assessed value. As a result, the Romneys have saved about $109,000 in property taxes over four years, according to The Times.

Romney’s wealth is estimated at $250 million. He has rejected calls from Democrats and Republicans to release his income tax returns prior to 2010.

Since the real estate market crashed, about 250,000 San Diego County homes have been reassessed at lower values.

[sdsurfer]

I’m not that privy to the going rate for the caliber of representation he has anything, but do you think he spent more than the 109k on his attorney’s fees so save the 109k along the way? Not that funny, but kinda.

[sdduuuude]

[quote=sdsurfer]I’m not that privy to the going rate for the caliber of representation he has anything, but do you think he spent more than the 109k on his attorney’s fees so save the 109k along the way? Not that funny, but kinda.[/quote]

I seriously doubt it. It isn’t the kind of problem that an attorney would have to work more than a few hours on. Just write up the application and send it in. Maybe make a few phone calls to the right clerk to make sure everything is in order.

At $250/hr, which is a pretty high rate, a lawyer would have to spend 10 full-time weeks on it.

[poorgradstudent]

Meh?
I’m no fan of Romney, but none of this strikes me as that outrageous. Property values fell from 2009 to 2010. As noted, a lot of people had their property taxes reassessed. This isn’t like having $21m in your IRA… having their property taxes reassessed is both within the spirit and letter of the law.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=poorgradstudent]Meh?
I’m no fan of Romney, but none of this strikes me as that outrageous. Property values fell from 2009 to 2010. As noted, a lot of people had their property taxes reassessed. This isn’t like having $21m in your IRA… having their property taxes reassessed is both within the spirit and letter of the law.[/quote]

Yeah, but we’re in one of the nastiest election cycles in years and everything is now grist for the mill, especially if it smacks of elitism or classism.

To the average Joe/Jane, who does not own real estate in La Jolla, this can be spun to make it appear that the Romneys are “getting away with something” or “pulling a fast one”. It may be well within both the spirit and the letter of the law, but it’s now all about the spin that can be put on it.

[ocrenter]

I thought we were suppose to vote for him because he’s got good money sense. But here he is buying at peak pricing…and fully admitting he bought something that lost value by 50% after a year…

[ocrenter]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=poorgradstudent]Meh?
I’m no fan of Romney, but none of this strikes me as that outrageous. Property values fell from 2009 to 2010. As noted, a lot of people had their property taxes reassessed. This isn’t like having $21m in your IRA… having their property taxes reassessed is both within the spirit and letter of the law.[/quote]

Yeah, but we’re in one of the nastiest election cycles in years and everything is now grist for the mill, especially if it smacks of elitism or classism.

To the average Joe/Jane, who does not own real estate in La Jolla, this can be spun to make it appear that the Romneys are “getting away with something” or “pulling a fast one”. It may be well within both the spirit and the letter of the law, but it’s now all about the spin that can be put on it.[/quote]

This election is quite nasty alright. The UT editorial board’s is in full nasty right wing propaganda mode, it is essentially FOX News in print these days.

[EconProf]

I fail to see where Romney did anything wrong.
He bought near the peak of the market (OK, his timing was certainly wrong), and then when his property value went down he went through the established process to lower his assessment to a more correct amount. It appears he did it more than once as the market kept falling.
Is that ethically wrong? Is that economically irrational? Of course not. If he had not corrected his assessment in line with a falling market, he would be stupid. I don’t want a stupid guy as president.

[Coronita]

[quote=ocrenter]I thought we were suppose to vote for him because he’s got good money sense. But here he is buying at peak pricing…and fully admitting he bought something that lost value by 50% after a year…[/quote]

He has so much money he doesn’t care.

[ocrenter]

[quote=flu][quote=ocrenter]I thought we were suppose to vote for him because he’s got good money sense. But here he is buying at peak pricing…and fully admitting he bought something that lost value by 50% after a year…[/quote]

He has so much money he doesn’t care.[/quote]

So then why spend the lawyer fee to fight the county assessor for $100k when he doesn’t care about a $6 million dollar loss? That’s 240 years of extra property tax.

Why would a man care about $25k in property tax saving yearly when he doesn’t care about $6 million.

Am I just not thinking like a rich person?

[ocrenter]

[quote=EconProf]. If he had not corrected his assessment in line with a falling market, he would be stupid. I don’t want a stupid guy as president.[/quote]

That’s what I’m saying. His astute economic sense is suppose to be his strength. This is suppose to be the reason in picking him. And he just bought something that lost 50% value within a year. Not very astute IMHO.

[Anonymous]

[quote=ocrenter]I thought we were suppose to vote for him because he’s got good money sense.[/quote]

We are supposed to vote for him because he’s not Obama.

The OP doesn’t include a link, but it appears the cite is from this LA times article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-property-tax-20120806,0,4926772.story?page=1

The article doesn’t really hint at any ethical issues, the point is just to illustrate that even Romney got caught in the housing bust.

Now I seem to recall some stories about Obama’s condo back in 2008. But those were from sources that practice “legitimate” journalism.

My daughter bought some school clothes that look sorta 1980s. Apparently “elitist” is now back in fashion as well.

[Reality]

2008 wasn’t the peak. It is impossible that his home’s value dropped 45% in 7 months. He probably both overpaid and tried to get a lower assessment than justified. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

[scaredyclassic]

$250 is a low attorney rate. I find it extremely unlikely that Romney pays any attorney less than $600/hr to do anything.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=squat250]$250 is a low attorney rate. I find it extremely unlikely that Romney pays any attorney less than $600/hr to do anything.[/quote]

Scaredy: Yup. You know he’s got some senior partner at Skadden, or Jones Day or some white shoe Big Law firm billing out at $750+/hr.

He who dies with the most representation wins.

[Author]

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