In case you missed my warning last week on this subject, Attorney General Brown today issued the following warning about Property Tax Scams. There is a company right here in Murrieta offering this same service (at least there was one last year). Why somebody would pay for something they can get for free is beyond me but these shysters make it sound like if you don’t use them you don’t get the tax relief.
Please pass this along to your clients. Use it as an opportunity to get in touch with them and offer to run comps for them at the end of March. They can go online to the Riverside County Assessors Office, Prop 8 Application, download the form for free, plug in two comps that you provide them and see what happens.
Attorney General Brown: Homeowners Should be on High Alert for Property Tax Scams
Sacramento—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a Consumer Alert to California homeowners about a “blatant and costly scam” targeting homeowners with declining property values.
“This blatant and costly scam holds out hope to homeowners that their property taxes will be reduced if they pay hundreds of dollars to a middleman to have their property re-evaluated,” Attorney General Brown said. “In point of fact, homeowners can seek relief directly from their county assessor free of charge. Homeowners should be on high alert.”
Companies are sending deceptive mailers to homeowners offering help in reducing property tax assessments, if the homeowner pays the company hundreds of dollars in fees. The companies use official-sounding names such as “Tax Adjusters,” “Tax Readjustment” or “Tax Review” to make victims believe the company is a government agency.
Property tax reassessment is a free service provided by county tax assessors. If homeowners believe their property value has declined and they are paying too much in property taxes, the local tax assessor will review the property value for free for a possible downward assessment.
To avoid becoming a victim, homeowners should:
• Never pay money for something they did not ask for.
• Avoid a middleman—they should contact their local tax assessor’s office for property value reassessment.
Homeowners who believe they are a victim of this scam should contact the Attorney General’s Office by either calling 1-800-952-5225 or by writing to P.O. Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244.
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2 Responses
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There are some legitimate companies out there that can help reduce property tax. You are obviously unware of a recent class action suit wherein county assessors where blatantly ignoring true home values and only reduced property taxes slightly.
I’m well aware of the problems – but in Riverside County our Assessor is very pro-active and more than fair. There are always legitimate companies out there that can help – unfortunately they are frequently outnumbered by the illegitimate ones. In our area we provided comps to over 90 clients last year looking for a reduction. We did this free of charge and gave them a link to the Assessors form to fill out. In all but 2 cases their automatic reduction from the assessor came back within a few bucks of what the comps showed to be fair so they didn’t even have to file the paperwork.