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Disputing a property tax assessment in Montgomery County
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Anonymous
| Has anyone successfully done this? Is it something that a layperson can do, or is it something that a lawyer with this specialty should do? What kind of evidence is needed? Does it make sense to do if we think the assessment is off by 10% or would it have to be a bigger percentage gap? What is the downside to disputing the assessment? Any help would be appreciated! |
Anonymous
| My parents successfully appealed. That same year, we lost our appeal, but we'll try again next time it comes up. My parents had good comps. We had a hard time finding similar properties. |
Anonymous
| Did your parents or you use a lawyer, or just go through the process of showing comps? |
Anonymous
| A neighbor of ours did it (herself) and recommended opting for the in-person option over the mail-in. She said her mail-in appeal was rejected, but then she requested an in-person appeal before the board and got a reduction on the assessment. |
Anonymous
|
Talk to my neighbors! HAH! |
Anonymous
Ummm, OK - that was not terribly helpful. I talk to many of my neighbors, but I don't think anyone has appealed, so I thought this board might offer insight. Which it has, thanks! |
Anonymous
|
My property asessment is off by 40%. I do not know how they managed this.
All I hear when I phone them is that I have to wait until January 5 when the assessments are redone and only then can I do something about it. This is a real strain on us. |
Anonymous
How do you know it is off 40%? I'm curious. |
Anonymous
|
i think we need to accept the fact that property values have declined and the assessments are really getting back to normal levels. many neighborhoods have dropped 40% since the high. you can appeal without a lawyer, call your assesors office and they will explain the process step by step. i just think you'll find the assessments to be more accurate than you think. i know it's hard to swallow.
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Anonymous
| I am the one whose parents won. They did an appeal in person, not mail. They did not use a lawyer, but they did talk to a real estate agent familiar with the neighborhood who helped them find comps. I think you can only dispute in the year that you are reassessed. Also, you are "reassessed" I think when the house is purchased. The comps are the purchase values of the houses around you. My parents won, and I think that was two years ago before the market really tanked. |
Anonymous
| I live in Bethesda now, but when I lived in AU park (2005-2008), we appealed our assessment and got it reduced. Then we sold and it was beyond what they orginally wanted on the property! Oops for them! We worked with our relator to get the recent sales in our neighborhood that were not already posted on the public DC website. This was really helpful because their MLS sheets show how many bedrooms, baths, fireplaces, garage, updated kitchen, lot size, etc. You need to show them apples to apples the comparisons to your home. We also recommended an assessment value of where ours should be. I think we got pretty close with a reduction of $180k. When you get your DC assessment notice, they offer you appeal and provide the assessor phone number. I called mine multiple times. I am not sure what it looks like in Maryland since my husband's been handling it. |
Anonymous
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I was the one who lived in AU Park. Just to clarify what's helpful.
1) We bought our house in 2005 and did renovations with an estimated cost. Right of the bat with the sale, our assessment went up. Then after the renovations, it went up again, reno. cost factored, plus year to year assessment (higher). At that point, we appealed since they were really screwing us. 2) You need recent comps to show what's happening in your neighboorhood NOW. The assessments are for the next year, so its helpful to have the current sales info which gets you closer to a picture of the current sales prices. Most assessors don't even have the current/ongoing sales info when they write the assessment number and by the time you receive yours other sales have happened that could help or hurt your fight for reduction. 3) You are proving that your home is not worth the assessed cost because identical houses in the neighboorhood have not sold at that price - looking at averages - and other homes identical have not been assessed at the same rate as yours (which could also be due to the fact that their home has not turned over). Good luck. Its worth appealing if you have the proper information. |
Anonymous
Um, I think most people would love it if their county tax assessment came back 40% lower--I think the problem people are having is that their assessment is too high. |
Anonymous
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Anyone know if you have any options left once the formal appeal window is closed? We got our assessment w/ appeal information last year sometime. At that point, the assessment seemed pretty fair (the paper sent late 2008 stated the value was what we paid for the house when we bought it in 2005 basically), so we didn't appeal. Earlier this year, we got the house appraised since we were trying to re-fi and it came in MUCH lower than the MD appraisal. Our official 2009 payments notice came in the mail the other day. I'm assuming we're screwed for this year.
But are we also screwed for the next 2 until it's our turn in the assessment cycle again or are there opportunities to protest the amount "mid-cycle"? |
Anonymous
| UMMMM..i think most people are complaining how much they've dropped. people can't sell or refi if it drops too low, duh... |