REOs, prop 13, and tax assessment‎

[bearishgurl]

[quote=pemeliza]This guy was very blunt and basically said if you don’t agree you need to file an appeal immediately and go in front of a board that will ultimately decide the value. . . I have to say the conversation with this guy was refreshing because at least he didn’t beat around the bush.

I am seriously tempted to try and take my story to the media. I think buyers have the right to know that if they buy a REO through the normal real estate process with a buyer’s agent and bidding wars that they are still going to be under a completely different level of scrutiny by the tax assessor. I also think the realtors involved in REOs should have an obligation to disclose this potential problem to buyers. Ironically, this would add further stigma to buying REOs and probably push tax valuations down even further. To be clear we are not talking about chump change here and the additional tax grows exponentially every year.[/quote]

pemeliza, I can identify with you. I don’t believe these realtors who handle REO’s are even aware of this themselves. Perhaps this *new* method of valuation counties are using to assess properties purchased from “distress sales” will invite more (writ of mandates) lawsuits and appeals. It will be interesting to see how the law evolves over the years on this issue. However, I don’t see the any CA justice panels using PAST PRACTICE in their interpretation of the law in this area.

Counties are taking it in the shorts right now in zips where there was a preponderance of foreclosures from “bubble-era” lending. The local government has grown to accomodate the influx of population in these new areas and now has to lay off. The MR bonds only paid for police/fire/schools/libraries/parks in *their own* neighborhoods but does not compensate the overall administration of a city (or county) because it’s population has grown from <80K in 2000 to 250K+ today, such as in Chula Vista. In addition, we only have 2.5 domestic courts down here to accomodate this huge population and it now takes 18 - 24 mos. to go to trial on a domestic case and the trial hours are NOT together but divided up into two consecutive Fridays, or even further apart. It's a mess.

I know the diff. is not "chump change." The assessor has probably been told by county counsel to play "hardball" in cases where a new owner got an "awesome" deal in a coveted area to keep their most *prized* tax base "shored up."

pemeliza, has there ever been any work done on the history of property you bought? Do you think it could qualify for a Mills Act application? I know the City of SD is broke and is probably not entertaining any MA applications right now, but maybe you could start with SOHO and figure out if you have a chance in the future, should the City's coffers become more stable. Are you or any co-buyers 55 years of age or older and sold a previous property in CA they owned to buy your property?? If so, you/they may qualify for their taxes to be lowered to the assessment of the property you/they recently sold, pursuant to Propositions 60 and 90.

Just some ideas while you're playing the waiting game on appeal.

[Kingside]

Plan on filing the appeal. The form is online, and not hard to fill out. Don’t get emotional about it.

I got supplemental assessed on a foreclosure property from last August, and one phone call made me realize that trying to resolve it without an appeal is a waste of time.

They are pretty backed up, but at some point a few months down the road, they will probably negotiate.

[Kingside]

Plan on filing the appeal. The form is online, and not hard to fill out. Don’t get emotional about it.

I got supplemental assessed on a foreclosure property from last August, and one phone call made me realize that trying to resolve it without an appeal is a waste of time.

They are pretty backed up, but at some point a few months down the road, they will probably negotiate.

[Kingside]

Plan on filing the appeal. The form is online, and not hard to fill out. Don’t get emotional about it.

I got supplemental assessed on a foreclosure property from last August, and one phone call made me realize that trying to resolve it without an appeal is a waste of time.

They are pretty backed up, but at some point a few months down the road, they will probably negotiate.

[Kingside]

Plan on filing the appeal. The form is online, and not hard to fill out. Don’t get emotional about it.

I got supplemental assessed on a foreclosure property from last August, and one phone call made me realize that trying to resolve it without an appeal is a waste of time.

They are pretty backed up, but at some point a few months down the road, they will probably negotiate.

[Kingside]

Plan on filing the appeal. The form is online, and not hard to fill out. Don’t get emotional about it.

I got supplemental assessed on a foreclosure property from last August, and one phone call made me realize that trying to resolve it without an appeal is a waste of time.

They are pretty backed up, but at some point a few months down the road, they will probably negotiate.

[pemeliza]

Thanks Kingside. I got the same impression as you today but it did take me two phone calls 🙂 I am going to submit the appeal immediately.

[pemeliza]

Thanks Kingside. I got the same impression as you today but it did take me two phone calls 🙂 I am going to submit the appeal immediately.

[pemeliza]

Thanks Kingside. I got the same impression as you today but it did take me two phone calls 🙂 I am going to submit the appeal immediately.

[pemeliza]

Thanks Kingside. I got the same impression as you today but it did take me two phone calls 🙂 I am going to submit the appeal immediately.

[pemeliza]

Thanks Kingside. I got the same impression as you today but it did take me two phone calls 🙂 I am going to submit the appeal immediately.

[Anonymous]

i registered here because i am in a very similar situation as you are pemeliza, and plan to fight my county tax assessor with all means necessary. i know this is a san diego county based website, but i am in southern orange county (laguna hills).

we bought an reo that needed a lot of work last year at 325.5k in a neighborhood that most homes were selling in the mid 400’s. it was a true “arms length”, open market transaction – publicly listed on the mls, and was in and out of escrow for over a year, etc. we were the highest bidder against multiple offers. no one wanted this house at a higher price because of the condition. the previous owners did a lot of damage to it prior to being evicted; however, the property was still structurally sound.

we were under the impression that our base year value would reflect the purchase price, as it has always been. as others have mentioned, t&r code 110 states that real property is re-assessed at the time of a change of ownership, and taxed based on purchase price (unless it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the real property would not have transferred for that purchase price in an open market transaction.) the base year value is supposed to be set according to the purchase price.

however, at their discretion, the assessor’s office “decided” to appraise us at 440k, and set the base year value accordingly. now, like you say, this is no chump change, and translates to over $1300 extra per year, each year, that we would be paying in property taxes (plus exponential annual increases permitted under prop 13)!!

after a couple of calls to the assessors office, i was told that the time limit to make any changes was 3 months from date of purchase (i bought it in june 2009), and the only way to get it changed was to file a formal appeal. so, i gathered up my info and pictures and went down there to speak with someone in person.

their response was that since it was a distressed sale, my price was not truly representative of the market. they said the condition of the property didn’t matter too much, and that since the “bones” were good, it was mostly cosmetic and they look at square footage and location. they were pretty much only going by comps. i argued that the had many more upgrades and were far, far nicer than mine. i would need to put 100k into the house to get it to the same live in condition as the comps. i inquired if i paid 800k for the property, would they adjust down for the comps in the neighborhood!? ridiculous!!

frankly i could not believe i was in a government office, as the representative told me he would have to speak to his supervisor in the back room to “see what he could do”! he came back and said they could reduce it down to 380k, but no lower, and that i should be happy with that, “since i got such a good deal in a nice neighborhood”. it was like a car dealership!

it is not the county officials place to tell me to be happy i got a “good deal”!! i do not think that that should figure into their decision in the slightest!

i will appeal, and i am also considering taking this story to the media. they had no problem charging what people actually paid when the market was going up like crazy, now they do not want to do the same when the market is leveling out… i’m sorry – but it is flat wrong.

so as far as my research, is there anyone here who can tell me if the tax records for the other distressed properties i had been looking at availabe as public record? i think it would weigh heavily in my case to see those properties’ base year values were set at the purchase price.

pemeliza i wish you the best of luck with your case and am anxious to see your progress. i will post up here as my case moves along.

[Anonymous]

i registered here because i am in a very similar situation as you are pemeliza, and plan to fight my county tax assessor with all means necessary. i know this is a san diego county based website, but i am in southern orange county (laguna hills).

we bought an reo that needed a lot of work last year at 325.5k in a neighborhood that most homes were selling in the mid 400’s. it was a true “arms length”, open market transaction – publicly listed on the mls, and was in and out of escrow for over a year, etc. we were the highest bidder against multiple offers. no one wanted this house at a higher price because of the condition. the previous owners did a lot of damage to it prior to being evicted; however, the property was still structurally sound.

we were under the impression that our base year value would reflect the purchase price, as it has always been. as others have mentioned, t&r code 110 states that real property is re-assessed at the time of a change of ownership, and taxed based on purchase price (unless it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the real property would not have transferred for that purchase price in an open market transaction.) the base year value is supposed to be set according to the purchase price.

however, at their discretion, the assessor’s office “decided” to appraise us at 440k, and set the base year value accordingly. now, like you say, this is no chump change, and translates to over $1300 extra per year, each year, that we would be paying in property taxes (plus exponential annual increases permitted under prop 13)!!

after a couple of calls to the assessors office, i was told that the time limit to make any changes was 3 months from date of purchase (i bought it in june 2009), and the only way to get it changed was to file a formal appeal. so, i gathered up my info and pictures and went down there to speak with someone in person.

their response was that since it was a distressed sale, my price was not truly representative of the market. they said the condition of the property didn’t matter too much, and that since the “bones” were good, it was mostly cosmetic and they look at square footage and location. they were pretty much only going by comps. i argued that the had many more upgrades and were far, far nicer than mine. i would need to put 100k into the house to get it to the same live in condition as the comps. i inquired if i paid 800k for the property, would they adjust down for the comps in the neighborhood!? ridiculous!!

frankly i could not believe i was in a government office, as the representative told me he would have to speak to his supervisor in the back room to “see what he could do”! he came back and said they could reduce it down to 380k, but no lower, and that i should be happy with that, “since i got such a good deal in a nice neighborhood”. it was like a car dealership!

it is not the county officials place to tell me to be happy i got a “good deal”!! i do not think that that should figure into their decision in the slightest!

i will appeal, and i am also considering taking this story to the media. they had no problem charging what people actually paid when the market was going up like crazy, now they do not want to do the same when the market is leveling out… i’m sorry – but it is flat wrong.

so as far as my research, is there anyone here who can tell me if the tax records for the other distressed properties i had been looking at availabe as public record? i think it would weigh heavily in my case to see those properties’ base year values were set at the purchase price.

pemeliza i wish you the best of luck with your case and am anxious to see your progress. i will post up here as my case moves along.

[Anonymous]

i registered here because i am in a very similar situation as you are pemeliza, and plan to fight my county tax assessor with all means necessary. i know this is a san diego county based website, but i am in southern orange county (laguna hills).

we bought an reo that needed a lot of work last year at 325.5k in a neighborhood that most homes were selling in the mid 400’s. it was a true “arms length”, open market transaction – publicly listed on the mls, and was in and out of escrow for over a year, etc. we were the highest bidder against multiple offers. no one wanted this house at a higher price because of the condition. the previous owners did a lot of damage to it prior to being evicted; however, the property was still structurally sound.

we were under the impression that our base year value would reflect the purchase price, as it has always been. as others have mentioned, t&r code 110 states that real property is re-assessed at the time of a change of ownership, and taxed based on purchase price (unless it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the real property would not have transferred for that purchase price in an open market transaction.) the base year value is supposed to be set according to the purchase price.

however, at their discretion, the assessor’s office “decided” to appraise us at 440k, and set the base year value accordingly. now, like you say, this is no chump change, and translates to over $1300 extra per year, each year, that we would be paying in property taxes (plus exponential annual increases permitted under prop 13)!!

after a couple of calls to the assessors office, i was told that the time limit to make any changes was 3 months from date of purchase (i bought it in june 2009), and the only way to get it changed was to file a formal appeal. so, i gathered up my info and pictures and went down there to speak with someone in person.

their response was that since it was a distressed sale, my price was not truly representative of the market. they said the condition of the property didn’t matter too much, and that since the “bones” were good, it was mostly cosmetic and they look at square footage and location. they were pretty much only going by comps. i argued that the had many more upgrades and were far, far nicer than mine. i would need to put 100k into the house to get it to the same live in condition as the comps. i inquired if i paid 800k for the property, would they adjust down for the comps in the neighborhood!? ridiculous!!

frankly i could not believe i was in a government office, as the representative told me he would have to speak to his supervisor in the back room to “see what he could do”! he came back and said they could reduce it down to 380k, but no lower, and that i should be happy with that, “since i got such a good deal in a nice neighborhood”. it was like a car dealership!

it is not the county officials place to tell me to be happy i got a “good deal”!! i do not think that that should figure into their decision in the slightest!

i will appeal, and i am also considering taking this story to the media. they had no problem charging what people actually paid when the market was going up like crazy, now they do not want to do the same when the market is leveling out… i’m sorry – but it is flat wrong.

so as far as my research, is there anyone here who can tell me if the tax records for the other distressed properties i had been looking at availabe as public record? i think it would weigh heavily in my case to see those properties’ base year values were set at the purchase price.

pemeliza i wish you the best of luck with your case and am anxious to see your progress. i will post up here as my case moves along.

[Anonymous]

i registered here because i am in a very similar situation as you are pemeliza, and plan to fight my county tax assessor with all means necessary. i know this is a san diego county based website, but i am in southern orange county (laguna hills).

we bought an reo that needed a lot of work last year at 325.5k in a neighborhood that most homes were selling in the mid 400’s. it was a true “arms length”, open market transaction – publicly listed on the mls, and was in and out of escrow for over a year, etc. we were the highest bidder against multiple offers. no one wanted this house at a higher price because of the condition. the previous owners did a lot of damage to it prior to being evicted; however, the property was still structurally sound.

we were under the impression that our base year value would reflect the purchase price, as it has always been. as others have mentioned, t&r code 110 states that real property is re-assessed at the time of a change of ownership, and taxed based on purchase price (unless it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the real property would not have transferred for that purchase price in an open market transaction.) the base year value is supposed to be set according to the purchase price.

however, at their discretion, the assessor’s office “decided” to appraise us at 440k, and set the base year value accordingly. now, like you say, this is no chump change, and translates to over $1300 extra per year, each year, that we would be paying in property taxes (plus exponential annual increases permitted under prop 13)!!

after a couple of calls to the assessors office, i was told that the time limit to make any changes was 3 months from date of purchase (i bought it in june 2009), and the only way to get it changed was to file a formal appeal. so, i gathered up my info and pictures and went down there to speak with someone in person.

their response was that since it was a distressed sale, my price was not truly representative of the market. they said the condition of the property didn’t matter too much, and that since the “bones” were good, it was mostly cosmetic and they look at square footage and location. they were pretty much only going by comps. i argued that the had many more upgrades and were far, far nicer than mine. i would need to put 100k into the house to get it to the same live in condition as the comps. i inquired if i paid 800k for the property, would they adjust down for the comps in the neighborhood!? ridiculous!!

frankly i could not believe i was in a government office, as the representative told me he would have to speak to his supervisor in the back room to “see what he could do”! he came back and said they could reduce it down to 380k, but no lower, and that i should be happy with that, “since i got such a good deal in a nice neighborhood”. it was like a car dealership!

it is not the county officials place to tell me to be happy i got a “good deal”!! i do not think that that should figure into their decision in the slightest!

i will appeal, and i am also considering taking this story to the media. they had no problem charging what people actually paid when the market was going up like crazy, now they do not want to do the same when the market is leveling out… i’m sorry – but it is flat wrong.

so as far as my research, is there anyone here who can tell me if the tax records for the other distressed properties i had been looking at availabe as public record? i think it would weigh heavily in my case to see those properties’ base year values were set at the purchase price.

pemeliza i wish you the best of luck with your case and am anxious to see your progress. i will post up here as my case moves along.

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