What happens after I mail in my property tax appeal?

1. Informal Review:
Usually, you will receive a phone call in which the assessor's representative will attempt to settle your appeal without a formal appeal board hearing. You will discuss the information ValueAppeal has provided you with over the phone and attempt to come to an agreement for a lower value. For instance, you may have asked for a $100,000 reduction in your assessed value, and the county offers a $50,000 reduction, and you agree on $75,000.

This informal process is called “stipulating” a lower value. Because there are so many over-assessed homes these days, the Appeal Board (aka the Board of Equalization) has more formal hearings than they can handle. Therefore, the representative is often incentivized to settle with you in your informal review conversation. ValueAppeal has given you a strong case so don't let them talk you out of the full amount savings you're due.

2. Formal Review Hearing
If the informal review process is unsuccessful, you will receive a notice in the mail with your hearing date for you to present your case to a property tax appeals board. Do not be intimidated! Most counties do not require you to attend your appeal hearing. However, we STRONGLY recommend you attend your hearing which usually only lasts 15 to 20 minutes. If you don’t attend your hearing you are at a great disadvantage in winning your case. During the hearing your job is to point out all of the reasons why the ValueAppeal comps you submitted with your appeal form are better than the comps the assessor uses to support their case.

How do you do this?

ValueAppeal Comparative Analysis Tool
Prior to the appeal hearing, most county assessors will mail the homeowner a list of the four to five comps that the assessor will present during the appeal hearing to support their original assessment. The homeowner’s job during the appeal hearing is to explain why their comps (which the homeowner hopefully obtained from ValueAppeal) are better than the comps the assessor presents. How do you do this?

When you receive the letter in the mail from the assessor listing their comps which support their higher assessed value, login to your My Account page on the ValueAppeal.com website. Click on the button the button that says Comparative Analysis and enter the parcel IDs, or street addresses, of the comps the assessor is planning on presenting during the hearing. ValueAppeal’s Comparative Analysis Tool will instantly analyze the assessor’s comps and point out all of the reasons their comps are not similar to yours and unfairly support a higher value.

For instance, let’s say your home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and is assessed for about $400,000, and the assessor presents four comps that have five bedrooms, three bathrooms and that each sold for about $500,000. Our Comparative Analysis Tool will point out that the assessor’s comps are not similar enough to yours and therefore, unfairly support a higher assessed value.   Note: there is no additional charge for using the Comparative Analysis Tool. However, the tool may only be accessed by customers who have already purchased a ValueAppeal Report
 

Please refer to ValueAppeal's county specific FAQ’s for a more detailed description of the appeal process in your particular county.