Is a property’s value reassessed when a bank takes ownership?
I bought a foreclosed property and I’m getting all sorts of supplemental tax bills because what I paid for the property is more than what the bank paid to close out the loan. But my purchase price is actually way less than what the property last sold for on the market… Does it matter?
I’m in San Diego, if it makes a difference…
Thanks!
Being in San Diego will make a difference because this is one of those questions that vary by locality, certainly by state, possibly by every community within that state. Answers that don’t specially apply to San Diego (or California if the state has blanket law on this) won’t help you.
Why not just call City Hall?
I bought a home in San Jose this year when my assesment came in it was for $310,000, I paid $250,000. I filed an appeal and it was dropped to $250,000.
Your house hould be assesed now for the price that you paid for it.
If your house was appraised for lets say $250,000 and you paid $300,000 the new assesed value should the be the $300,000. Depending on the time of year that you closed for a part of the year the taxes were paid on the lower value ao you will get a supplemental tax for the differance covering the part of year left.
If you have questions the City Hall is the wrong place to call. Direct your questions to the county tax assessor or treasure.
another thought go on the web to the tax assesor’s page. You should be able to get the current assesment and the last three years. That will give you an Idea of the changes. Also when you closed your real estate agent should have gone over the posibability of supplemental tax bill.
I should be geting a refund from the county or a credit, but it can take up to two years for the county to act when they have to return money, and months to bill for additional money.
I don’t know the structures out there, but in my area there is a property tax appeals process where you can protest the assessment used to figure your taxes. You would probably need to show cause…
In reality (and realty, lol), there are so many properties that they pretty much have to use statistical measures over time and space to assess properties. Imagine if every year or two someone from the city or county came out and had to do a walking tour of every single home and business, examining the foundations, walls, looking for pests, chipped paint, etc, all the while marking things on a long form and using that to compute the property’s value. Imaging the assessor seeing a few ants and knocking your property’s value down by $500, but then they see that you installed new tiles in the bathroom and upgraded the value by $100, then sees that the refrigerator is leaking and knocks it down $200, etc.
Basically, to succeed at appeal, you would probably need to show that the assessment was either monumentally unfair (based on incorrect or obsolete criteria), or that your home is different enough from similar properties (e.g. because, unlike the other homes in the neighborhood, you have a serious ant infestation and the foundation is cracked) that it is unfair to assume that your home is worth the same as the other homes in the neighborhood.
The assessment is not necessarily the price you paid for the house, nor is it always the actual value of the house.
In Calif It is based on the 1978 assessment or the price paid if purchased after 1978. That was why mine was lowered to the price I paid.