REOs, prop 13, and tax assessment‎

[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.

[Zeitgeist]

Turko files it. This is the government version of extortion. Too bad you did not have a witness with you to hear them tell you “you got a good deal.” This is outrageous conduct by people we employ! What is this, let’s make a deal?

[Zeitgeist]

Turko files it. This is the government version of extortion. Too bad you did not have a witness with you to hear them tell you “you got a good deal.” This is outrageous conduct by people we employ! What is this, let’s make a deal?

[Zeitgeist]

Turko files it. This is the government version of extortion. Too bad you did not have a witness with you to hear them tell you “you got a good deal.” This is outrageous conduct by people we employ! What is this, let’s make a deal?

[Zeitgeist]

Turko files it. This is the government version of extortion. Too bad you did not have a witness with you to hear them tell you “you got a good deal.” This is outrageous conduct by people we employ! What is this, let’s make a deal?

[Zeitgeist]

Turko files it. This is the government version of extortion. Too bad you did not have a witness with you to hear them tell you “you got a good deal.” This is outrageous conduct by people we employ! What is this, let’s make a deal?

[EconProf]

I’ve appealed several times and got my assessments lowered before the hearing occurs. They will call you well in advance of the hearing (which must happen within 2 years of your filing the appeal) and try to reach a compromise.
Right now over 40,000 appeals have been made in San Diego County. I’ve attended the hearings, where numerous well-paid county employees attend and only resolve about three cases per hour. If you do the math, less than 1% of appeals go to the hearing stage. That means they really, really want to come to an agreement with you. So hang tough and they will budge.

[EconProf]

I’ve appealed several times and got my assessments lowered before the hearing occurs. They will call you well in advance of the hearing (which must happen within 2 years of your filing the appeal) and try to reach a compromise.
Right now over 40,000 appeals have been made in San Diego County. I’ve attended the hearings, where numerous well-paid county employees attend and only resolve about three cases per hour. If you do the math, less than 1% of appeals go to the hearing stage. That means they really, really want to come to an agreement with you. So hang tough and they will budge.

[EconProf]

I’ve appealed several times and got my assessments lowered before the hearing occurs. They will call you well in advance of the hearing (which must happen within 2 years of your filing the appeal) and try to reach a compromise.
Right now over 40,000 appeals have been made in San Diego County. I’ve attended the hearings, where numerous well-paid county employees attend and only resolve about three cases per hour. If you do the math, less than 1% of appeals go to the hearing stage. That means they really, really want to come to an agreement with you. So hang tough and they will budge.

[EconProf]

I’ve appealed several times and got my assessments lowered before the hearing occurs. They will call you well in advance of the hearing (which must happen within 2 years of your filing the appeal) and try to reach a compromise.
Right now over 40,000 appeals have been made in San Diego County. I’ve attended the hearings, where numerous well-paid county employees attend and only resolve about three cases per hour. If you do the math, less than 1% of appeals go to the hearing stage. That means they really, really want to come to an agreement with you. So hang tough and they will budge.

[EconProf]

I’ve appealed several times and got my assessments lowered before the hearing occurs. They will call you well in advance of the hearing (which must happen within 2 years of your filing the appeal) and try to reach a compromise.
Right now over 40,000 appeals have been made in San Diego County. I’ve attended the hearings, where numerous well-paid county employees attend and only resolve about three cases per hour. If you do the math, less than 1% of appeals go to the hearing stage. That means they really, really want to come to an agreement with you. So hang tough and they will budge.

[fsbo]

I bought a REO last summer and just got supplemental bill with refund. The new assessment is the same as my purchase price.

[fsbo]

I bought a REO last summer and just got supplemental bill with refund. The new assessment is the same as my purchase price.

[fsbo]

I bought a REO last summer and just got supplemental bill with refund. The new assessment is the same as my purchase price.

[fsbo]

I bought a REO last summer and just got supplemental bill with refund. The new assessment is the same as my purchase price.

[Author]

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