Palos Verdes Source

Owners of Palos Verdes real estate who  purchased a home after July 1, 2003, may have seen a decline in value in which case they may apply to the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor for a reduction in property taxes. Below is a new posting from the Assessor’s website:

“Effective January 1, 2010 there are two significant changes in the filing process for decline-in-value reviews.

1. The new filing period will be from June 1 through November 30, 2010.
2. The property owner or authorized agent will be able to submit a request for a decline-in-value review online.”

Property owners may check the LA Tax Assessor’s website after March 1, 2010 to see if their home was one of the hundreds of thousands of homes included in the proactive  review by the Assessor.   The results of that review will be posted by June 30th.  If your home was not listed and you feel you have experienced a decline in value, you may apply after June 1, 2010 (and before November 30).   And applications may be done on-line which will be easier.

Last year, the property owner’s application had to show 3 comparable properties that sold between January 1 and March 30 which was tough for some homeowners as there generally are not as many closed sales in the first quarter  compared to the second or third quarter .   It will be interesting to see if the Assessor has the same requirements for 2010.  Click here to read entire article from Los Angeles County Tax Assessor’s website.

Carol Quan, Special Assistant, Los Angeles Tax Assessor, spoke at our Palos Verdes real estate Remax office meeting and gave us an update on property tax reassessment. Before June, the Tax Assessor’s Office will pro-actively review 400,000 Los Angeles County single family residences, townhomes and condos purchased between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2008 to ascertain if there has been a decline in value.

These reviews will be done in the office; there will not be any field checks. Notices will be sent out to property owners in June. If you believe you should have your property taxes reduced and do not receive a notice (or receive one but disagree with the results), you may file a “Decline-in-Value Reassessment Application (Prop 8)” which can be downloaded from the Tax Assessors Website under “Forms“. They will accept 2 comparable sales but that comparable property must have closed escrow between January 1, 2009 and March 30, 2009. The form must be filed by December 31, 2009.

The Special Assistant said that a homeowner does not have to pay anyone to file a Proposition 8 Application. She warned there were 13 companies sending out official looking letters requesting a fee to apply. She recommended ignoring them and going directly to the Tax Assessor’s website. If the Assessor approves a reduction in taxes, you will receive a reduction to your next tax bill.

I was recently asked about reduction in property taxes for areas of declining values. Although statistics show that Palos Verdes real estate has only declined 6.2% in 2008, it might be worthwhile to request a reassessment from the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor if you have purchased your home in the last few years. By the way, you really can do this yourself and do not need to hire one of the “services” that have popped up that want to charge you for this service.

Go to the Tax Assessor Assessor’s website (can be accessed by clicking here). Locate the Quick Links on the right-hand side and choose “Download Forms – Assessment Forms”. Then choose the first form “Application for Decline in Value Reassessment Proposition 8 RP-87.” You need to have 2 Comparable Sales that support your position. You must show that current values are below your assessed value. I recommend that you contact a Realtor or you can search the Tax Assessor’s site yourself by choosing the “Property Sales & Maps” option under Quick Links, filling in your address then searching for recent sales. The challenge is that the Tax Assessor wants “two comparable sales that sold as close to January 1, 2009 as possible, but no later than March 31, 2009.” A Realtor may be able to find better comps for you.