Fighting your property tax bill, without the fight
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Life gets more complicated every day, we’re all too busy, no one has time. That’s why this post will be short.
Because of falling housing prices, just about everybody in America believes they’re paying too much in property taxes. But fighting City Hall takes time and effort, which we don’t have.
Enter companies like Tax Appeal Express: ‘Home values have fallen drastically in the past three years. As a result, many of you are over assessed which means you are PAYING TOO MUCH in property taxes. Tax Appeal Express is in the business of reducing your assessed value, lowering your property taxes, and in many cases getting a refund from the County Assessor’s Office.’
Your could also try reducetaxnow.com, which offers a similar service.
Tax Appeal Express will charge you between $149 and $249. ReduceTaxNow will charge you 1/10th of 1% of the value of your home -- $600 for a $600,0000 home.
An update, and a caveat: The office of the assessor in L.A. County is conducting a blanket review of homes purchased between July 2004 and June 2007, with an eye toward reducing assessed values when appropriate. The assessor’s website notes that homeowners are also being solicited by private firms (like those mentioned here) offering to file appeals: ‘Solicitations of this type may not be illegal, but property owners should be aware that the Assessor’s Office provides a simple filing process for a reduction in their property taxes at no charge.’ You can find that statement, plus a link to the ‘reassessment’ application form, here.
Two observations: If the Boston Tea Party were held today, I can guarantee you the patriots would hire some day laborers to go down to the harbor and dump the tea for them. Nobody does anything themselves any more.
Second: I heard a Tax Appeal Express ad on AM radio yesterday. If federal regulators had listened to more AM radio over the last five years, they would have known exactly what was going on in the mortgage business. AM radio ads leave nothing to the imagination.
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.