The rumor is true! The San Diego County Tax Assessor’s office is allowing homeowner’s who feel that the recorded assessed value of their home is no longer accurate to appeal for tax relief!
This is how it works – if you believe the value of your home has decreased from the value the Assessor has on file, you are able to petition to the assessor’s office for a recalculation of taxes owed on your home.
It is not an automatic approval by the assessor, and it does require some groundwork by the homeowner – even if you think you will win the appeal PAY your taxes on time and the amount requested unless you hear otherwise from the Assessor’s office – they still expect you to pay what they have requested on time!
The Assessor’s website doesn’t make it easy to find out how to do it but we’ll give you the steps to get there here:
• Go to the County Tax Assessor’s website
• On the left side of the page click on the “Forms” link and choose the “Reappraisals” option
• You will then select from the center of the page the link for Application for Changed Assessment Instructions and Form (Assessment Appeals)
• A new page will open called Assessment Appeals Board where you can find all relative information and forms that you will need to make your appeal.
• Remember to still pay your taxes on time even if making an appeal.
Written by Shawn McDonald
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow. this is excellent thanks for posting this. I’m going to get right on this. nice blog.
Theres a company I am going to have do my property tax appeal. http://www.cataxrefunds.com
Seemed pretty reasonable, there are local in San Diego & they have appraisers that work the case for you.
Has anyone ever used a service before?
John ~ Thank you for the information about the property tax appeal company. Our team has not used them. Be sure to let us know how your appeal goes, we’d love an update.
Actually, I decided to use a service to do this for me, and I’m pleased. There is an effort required, and might as well deal with knowledgeable folks. Here is the link I found, and I enjoy your blog!
http://sandiegohomerescue.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/property-tax-relief/
Michael ~ Thanks for sharing with us the company that you will be working with! If you have time, please follow up with us and let us know how your property tax appeal went…. I am happy to hear that you enjoy our blog, thanks for the kudos!
I used the guys at California Tax Refunds as well. They got my assesed value down about $138K. Expecting a check back for $1725 or so & even a bigger reduction for the future, since they refile a review for the next tax year.
I knew I could do it on my own but didn’t know how or really have the time. Best money I have ever spent.
I am a Mortgage Expert for Lanoiger Lending. California Tax Refunds are the only ones I refer my clients to. Not only do they provide exceptional service for the tax refunds but if you ever need an appraiser to get the job done , Jason Scheiner comes highly recommended. The customer service they provide is excellent and you won’t be disappointed.
Shot in the dark, but does anyone do the property tax reassessment free??
Hi Marlene! Gosh wouldn’t that be nice? Not that we know of, but perhaps one of our readers may know of something. Be sure to let us know should you find anything out. Best Wishes!
Some of my clients told me they posted and some people had some questions on this blog site so I thought I would give some info.
Marlene, unfortunately anyone that does the paperwork for you is going to ask for a fee. And depending on the fee may depend on how much work they will do for you.
The same way you have an accountant or CPA do your taxes. You can do them on your own but you hire a professional to make sure they maximize the refund your entitled to.
You can do appeals on your own, but most likely a company like ours will be much more successful since this is “what we do” all the time.
Also please be careful if you pick a company. This business is not regulated so you have many non-qualified people doing this. At California Tax Refunds, all applications are review by licensed California appraisers. We already have a proven track record of successful refunds for clients, and we are BBB accredited.
I would be more than happy to answer any other questions anyone may have.
Here is some more info that was published in the San Diego Business Journal yesterday.
http://www.sdbj.com/article.asp?aID=123787&link=perm
Feel free to use my company’s site, http://www.easytaxfix.com, to check for FREE whether you are overpaying property taxes. We can automatically fill out the paperwork for a low fee of $39.99.
As reported in this 11/7/2008 Union Tribune (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081107/news_1b7appeals.html) article, we have determined that 1 in 4 San Diego property owners stand to save an average of >$1,000 a year.
Remember, the 2008 appeal deadline is November 30th.
Any real estate agents can sign up as affiliates for a commission or price reduction: http://www.easytaxfix.com/affiliate/signup.aspx.
Hi Jeff~Thanks for the information regarding your services. If any of our readers end up using his company’s program, please let us know how it went for you! We have not used the company’s services, so we are not able to endorse it please do so at your own discretion.
I found this blog (great information) and called California Tax Refunds. Thurs out they have lowered their prices by over 50% and even offer a contingency. For $129 I signed up for their 100% guaranteed service. I like the fact that someone represents me and will follow through for the entire tax year.
They were a wealth of information and their customer service was great.
I have been using california tax refunds. Got a refund check for my 2007 property taxes for just over 2,300. They were able to lower my property taxes for 2008 buy another $1,100 per year. And they got it done before I got the bill so I didn’t have to lay out the higher amount. I have them working on my 2009 taxes right now.
Everyone at the office is professional and they always take the time to answer any questions and really make sure I understand what they were doing for me.
If your thinking of hiring a company to help you with your property taxes call callifornia tax refunds. You will be glad you did, I sure was.
I just saw a NEWS8 piece on a new LA based company that is pandering this service via an official looking marketing piece. Coincidentally I just tossed that mailer this afternoon!
NEWS8 reminded me the deadline is May 30th. I used California Tax Refunds for the 2008 tax year and it saved me $1575 in taxes. I’ll have Jason submit again for this year. They took care of everything last time with no issues and it went exactly as they thought it would.
Pay less taxes and Fire Congress.
People, you can do this yourselves! It really isn’t that hard and it doesn’t take that much time. All you really need is a CMA from your realtor or even recent comparables from Zillow.com will work. It took me maybe a half hour to throw the appeal together using Zillow comparables and my taxes were reduced 20%. The only thing i would do differently next year is to ask my realtor for a CMA, which should have more up to date info then Zillow. Just follow the exact directions outlined in this article. It’s so simple, I really don’t see why everyone is paying someone to do this.
I was just thinking about San Diego Property Tax Relief for lost value and you’ve really helped out. Thanks!
I strongly advise AGAINST using this company or the services of any of the several companies associated with its president, JASON SCHEINER. He talks a good game but does not deliver and lies to avoid living up to the terms of his contract. He and his cohort, Shane Allen failed to show up to the County property tax appeals board to represent my case and I was subsequently denied a tax reduction for the tax year in question. They then tried to tell me that they had negotiated a reduction prior to the hearing so their presence at the board was not required. The notice from the County Tax assessor’s office clearly states that there was no tax reduction. Several phone calls, emails and almost a month after being denied by the County appeals board, I am still trying to collect the 100% money back guaranteed fee that I paid to them. They’ve returned only one phone call (to try and pitch the lie about having negotiated a tax reduction prior to the board) and have been avoiding all other correspondence. In fact, when I tracked down JASON SCHEINER at another business where he apparently hides, he tried to tell me that he was not associated with California Tax Refunds any more. JASON SCHEINER is not to be trusted.
Good day!
I would like to know what is your charging fee for a Property Change Assesment.
Please let me know.
Thank you,
Andrea Arizona
Hi, Thanks for sharing such a wonderful piece of information. I must say that while reading your post I found my thoughts in agreement with the topic that you have discussed, which happens very rare.
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