by Valerie Faltas, Property Tax Expert
Often the Assessor’s Office home records are not correct because the Assessor is a mass appraisal organization and either the work was done too quickly, or the information changed or there was information that slipped through the cracks and was never processed. There could be any number of reasons for this, however the good news is that the solution is simple. For every house there is a building record on file which includes at least a diagram of the shell of the building and a description.
Assessors maintain very detailed records based upon their tools, staff and workload. The records on your home are for the purpose of valuation even though other industry professionals use the data provided by the Assessor to substantiate property records. From the sketch of your property the square footage of the house is calculated, then the description includes the type of property, the use type, and any other details that may be pertinent to the assessment of the property.
These are the records that most real estate purchases and sales are based on even though the Assessor’s Office makes no representation of having complete information for valuation purposes. The information is meant for assessment purposes only, however in reality it is generally the practice of real estate professionals to use as official for purchases, sales, re-finances and other transactions. Which means having your records accurate will more than likely affect the value of your home since the banks, buyers, sellers, etc. all use these records to verify what is on your house.
If the records for your home are wrong, it easy to adjust and/or bring them up to date. Contact your county Assessors Office and your request will generate a public service request and ask to have the information updated. The public service request will be forwarded to an appraiser who will talk with you and/or make an appointment to possibly visit your property for measurements or find out from you over the phone what the differences are and then make the adjustments accordingly. Frequently, the Assessor will use the information you give them over the phone for something simple such as a bedroom or bathroom count adjustment. Generally, this is very easy for the Assessor’s Office to process. If there is some type of new contruction to your home that you constructed and has not been assessed yet, it may result in more propety taxes however, if the error is the Assessor’s fault there is a statute of limitations so ask about this when you speak to them and make sure you document their response. Remember, there are many facets to assessments and you want to be covered should you be misinformed.
Note that if differences were done prior to your purchase of the home it possibly is construction before transfer and if you acquire the house with the structure differences already there, often thre will be no rise in your property taxes that would result from the record update. The logic behind this is, is that you paid for those improvements at the time you purchased the house and so there is no change in worth. But, if you enhanced your residence then there could be an increase in the value. The Assessor may ask for information and documentation from when you purchased the home such as the listing documentation. Often, the Assessor’s Office will go based on your word and will update the records through a phone call especially for simple adjustments.
Always remember when thinking about this is that the Assessor’s Office is a different government entity from your city. The Assessor’s Office needs correct records so the assessments of your home are accurate. Generally they don’t care if what you have on your property is permitted or not because even when not permitted it may add worth to your property. The Assessor’s Office is not generally in the practice of telling your city what is on your property so this can be much simplier than you may think. When homeowners think of the Assessor or the City they often think these government entities as being in communication with one another, generally they aren’t. This would be good to find out for your own knowledge.
About the Author: Valerie Faltas, Property Tax Expert worked in assessments for over four years and assessed over 6,000 properties. Valerie is also a licensed appraiser, real estate investor and consultant. She left the Assessor to make information public she could not disclose while she worked there.
