Today I had a property assessment appeal hearing with the County of Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Board. My hearing was with an assessment hearing officer and a Los Angeles County Assessor. I applied for the hearing almost a year ago in an attempt to lower my property tax. Since property values in most of Los Angeles have declined (along with the most of the country), I was hoping that my property taxes might decline, as well.
I applied for this hearing almost a year ago. It’s amazing how slow a big city can process these things. Nevertheless the day finally came.
I set out to prepare for my big hearing, but I didn’t where to start. The county assessor’s office had sent me a pamphlets entitled “How to Prepare for your Assessment Appeals Hearing” and “Assessment Appeals Board Rules” plus a “Comparable Sales Information Worksheet.” These materials were dry and horrible, written in legalese and very hard to follow. I Googled “How to prepare for an assessment appeals board hearing in Los Angeles.” and “how to find comparable home sales for an assessment board hearing.” I had hoped that some nice person had gone through the process and had written tips about their experience, but unfortunately the well was dry.
Next, I visited www.zillow.com , www.redfin.com , www.themls.com and also the LA County Assessor’s office website in search of a list of comparable sales (“comps”) to use as evidence, but the dates I was required to present were from almost 2 years ago, and I couldn’t find records of comparable sales that old. Finally, I opted to use a local appraiser I found on the internet.
For $50, the appraiser emailed me a list of three (yes 3) comparable properties, a breakdown of cost per square foot, and distance from my house. They were all within .6 miles from my house. Armed with that list and data, I went off to the hearing.
When appearing at an Assessors Appeal Hearing (or any type of civic hearing, even a traffic ticket), I believe it pays to dress nice because it shows respect (whether you mean it or not). Remember that local government officials generally don’t get paid much, so their biggest perk is in asserting the their authority. I would have liked to show my contempt for their authority by wearing ripped jeans and a biker/skull t-shirt, but I also wanted to save thousands of dollars…so even though I did ride my Harley, I wore a nice suit instead (but no tie).
I also believe it pays to be early for these types of events. I showed up ninety minutes early. Not only did I get the best parking, but I was able to see the officials arrive. I watched them chat outside with their coffee, and that helped to remind me that they were just people and nothing to fear (hopefully).
The other nice thing about arriving so early was that it showed respect and commitment. When it came time for the hearings to begin, they acknowledged that I had arrived ninety minutes early and they asked me to enter first. Most of the other seventy five or so people showed up at about five minutes before it started. I know this sounds little and insignificant, but when it comes down to your word against a County Assessor, every little bit helps.
I expected the hearing to be similar to a courtroom in the movies, but instead it was set up with 10 or 15 tables all around the room. Each table had one hearing officer and one LA County assessor. I sat down at the table I was assigned and introduced myself. The hearing officer asked for my evidence…and I handed her my list of 3 “comps.” I also handed a copy to the LA county assessor.
The assessor started the proceedings by reading off her list of comparable sales near my house. She rattled off three properties in a very close proximity to my house, and all more valuable than my house. She sounded very official, as she explained how these facts and figures proved the taxable assessed value of my house.
The hearing officer said it was my turn to cross examine. I’m not an attorney or an authority on real estate values, so I knew I wasn’t going to wow them by trying to play Perry Mason. I knew my key was to be real. So I looked at the county assessor and said “wow, you’re really good at that! I guess you get good at that by doing this every day. I’ve never done this before and I don’t know much about pulling comps, but I can tell you this: in the couple of months I have been studying this process in order to prepare for today, I have learned one thing: you can find comps of just about any number you’re looking for. Because I didn’t feel confident in my own ability to pull comparable sales, I hired a professional appraiser and here are the comparable sales that he ran.” I pointed to the paperwork I had given them. “I can’t tell you any fancy facts or figures about these comps, but the numbers all are here and you can look at them for yourselves” and I pointed to the bottom of the sheet where it showed that my figures were considerably less than the assessor’s comparable sales.
First the Assessor said that my comparable sales were all too far away from my peoperty. I pulled out a map I had prepared, and showed that they were all within half a mile or so. Next she tried to say that the sizes were different. That’s when the hearing officer jumped in to take my side. That’s when I said “I also know those three houses you mentioned. They are all really fancy. My house is really crummy. It was really messed up when I bought it, but little by little I’m trying to make it nice.”
In the end, the Hearing Officer sided with me and lowered my property tax considerably. Victory! I was very happy and said “thank you! That is very fair. So does this mean I can pay less when my taxes are due again in December?” And the Hearing Officer said “oh no! This hearing only applies to last year’s taxes. And you’ll get a check in about 6 months. I encourage you to file and do this again for this year.”
After all this work, preparation, waking up early and wearing a monkey suit, I thought that a victory would mean paying less in property taxes each year, but unfortunately in the financially troubled state of California, the property value on record stays the same, and you must appeal for a refund each and every year…and if you do, you’ll get a hearing 6-12 months later, and if you win, you get a check 6 months after that.
It’s not a very good system, but at least I scored a small victory, learned a new skill and rode a Harley in my suit.
Daniel Rosen is an author, consumer advocate and founder of Credit-Aid Software.
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