Homeowners and property tax question

• thavoice

  GOt a letter from the local auditor about the appraisal values of the house. It show it is worth less than when it was purchased, no surprised. I was wondering...does that change the property tax?
  
  If so.....how does one go about getting that changed?
• LJ

  

  thavoice;885059 wrote:GOt a letter from the local auditor about the appraisal values of the house. It show it is worth less than when it was purchased, no surprised. I was wondering...does that change the property tax?
  
  If so.....how does one go about getting that changed?

  The auditor asseses the property tax and the value, so it will automatically go down. If you are escrowed (fail) when your bank gets the first tax bill, they will notify you of a surplus and lower your payment.
• FatHobbit

  

  LJ;885066 wrote:The auditor asseses the property tax and the value, so it will automatically go down. If you are escrowed (fail) when your bank gets the first tax bill, they will notify you of a surplus and lower your payment.

  Let me know if that happens. I've only ever gotten the other letter. (My payment was going up.)
• LJ

  

  FatHobbit;885076 wrote:Let me know if that happens. I've only ever gotten the other letter. (My payment was going up.)

  It has to happen. They can't charge you for taxes that don't exist. Maybe your value has ever only gone up?
  
  Escrowing property taxes is a mega fail anyways, so I don't do it.
• DeyDurkie5

  

  Your wife sucks and so do you
• Steel Valley Football

  What county are you in? If you are in Franklin county, I can show how to determine your taxes right on their website depending on your change in value.
  
  To get your taxes lowered, the forms to apply for that is also on their website. You'll need to submit a licensed appraisal to do that however.
• FatHobbit

  

  LJ;885079 wrote:It has to happen. They can't charge you for taxes that don't exist. Maybe your value has ever only gone up?

  My payments have gone up because of an increase in school taxes or an increase in home owners insurance.
  

  LJ;885079 wrote:Escrowing property taxes is a mega fail anyways, so I don't do it.

  Is that because the bank is collecting interest on your escrowed money? I think I'm required to escrow my property taxes by my mortgage, but I might be mistaken.
• thavoice

  LJ, why is escrowing the taxes a fail? Just wondering.
• LJ

  

  FatHobbit;885092 wrote:My payments have gone up because of an increase in school taxes or an increase in home owners insurance.

  Ah yes the dreaded school taxes. You gotta watch some of those levies. Some of them guarantee a certain amount of money per year to the district, so while property value may go down say 15%, your taxes may only go down 8% because of having to still pay your "share" of the levy.
  
  
  

  Is that because the bank is collecting interest on your escrowed money? I think I'm required to escrow my property taxes by my mortgage, but I might be mistaken.

  Yeah, and they are constantly escrowing too much or too little. It's best just to keep the money in a money market, earn what little interest you can, and just deal with it yourself. A lot of times they will require escrow if you have less than 20% equity.
• LJ

  

  thavoice;885094 wrote:LJ, why is escrowing the taxes a fail? Just wondering.

  Why do you want someone else earning money off of your money, as well as mis-managing it so terribly that they are always sending refunds and requiring deficit spreads? It's just an all around pain in the ass.
• LJ

  

  Also, if you are escrowing your insurance, watch the bank. There is some new law about you having to forward your insurance bill to the bank, they can't bill the bank directly. So what happens is, you technically get a lapse in coverage because no one realizes it is a bill they have to forward, and the bank picks insurance for you from one of their subsidiaries and charges you 50% more.
• WebFire

  If that's a law, my bank breaks it. I just switched insurance companies in May/June. The new company sent the bill to the bank and it was paid.
• LJ

  

  WebFire;885106 wrote:If that's a law, my bank breaks it. I just switched insurance companies in May/June. The new company sent the bill to the bank and it was paid.

  I think it's for renewal, and I think it is either only for certain states (and banks changed their policy to fit all states) or it is phasing in. I am pretty sure the former is the case. That's why I said to just pay close attention.
• WebFire

  Well, my dumbass bank paid my renewel and the new one. :thumbdown: Like you said, pain in the ass.
• LJ

  

  WebFire;885128 wrote:Well, my dumbass bank paid my renewel and the new one. :thumbdown: Like you said, pain in the ass.

  lol, they paid 2 policies then told you that you had a deficit?
• Steel Valley Football

  So did his question get answered?
• WebFire

  LJ;885172 wrote:lol, they paid 2 policies then told you that you had a deficit?

  No, it was more complicated, but all their fault. We were paying our insurance monthly, and when we refinanced, we had to escrow. They thought our insurance was paid for the year (which I told them we paid monthly and even gave them bills) so they didn't pay it. Luckily the insurance company sent me a cancellation notice so it didn't lapse. During that I change insurance companies, and even though they knew that (their guy is the one that recommended the new insurance company even), they paid the old one and the new one both. Then I had to request a refund for the old one and deposit that to our escrow.
  
  I doubt our escrow payment is even correct at this point.
• LJ

  

  WebFire;885241 wrote:No, it was more complicated, but all their fault. We were paying our insurance monthly, and when we refinanced, we had to escrow. They thought our insurance was paid for the year (which I told them we paid monthly and even gave them bills) so they didn't pay it. Luckily the insurance company sent me a cancellation notice so it didn't lapse. During that I change insurance companies, and even though they knew that (their guy is the one that recommended the new insurance company even), they paid the old one and the new one both. Then I had to request a refund for the old one and deposit that to our escrow.
  
  I doubt our escrow payment is even correct at this point.

  Yep, sound like escrow alright, lol
• j_crazy

  

  read the OP and LJ's answer seemed to clear it all up.
  
  a word to the wise, don't fight them on their appraisal. I bought my house in august for 220, in november it was appraised by the state at 230. i did some quick research and found that the previous year it was appraised for 216 and that comparable homes in my area were going for 218. so i called and fought it, they sent another dude out and appraised it for 237. it's a scam to get more property taxes from you. don't fight it because then they really jam it up your poop chute.
• Steel Valley Football

  j_crazy;885348 wrote:read the OP and LJ's answer seemed to clear it all up.
  
  a word to the wise, don't fight them on their appraisal. I bought my house in august for 220, in november it was appraised by the state at 230. i did some quick research and found that the previous year it was appraised for 216 and that comparable homes in my area were going for 218. so i called and fought it, they sent another dude out and appraised it for 237. it's a scam to get more property taxes from you. don't fight it because then they really jam it up your poop chute.

  
  Why would the state be appraising your house?
  
  A word to the wise: DISPUTE YOUR APPRAISAL!
  
  The county reassessment boards are so backed up right now that, if you provide the correct sales data, they will lower your assessed value with no questions asked. The forms to do this are on your county auditor website. AND calling on the phone is not the correct process.
• Skyhook79

  

  Steel Valley Football;885544 wrote:Why would the state be appraising your house?
  
  A word to the wise: DISPUTE YOUR APPRAISAL!
  
  The county reassessment boards are so backed up right now that, if you provide the correct sales data, they will lower your assessed value with no questions asked. The forms to do this are on your county auditor website. AND calling on the phone is not the correct process.

  Did that 2 years ago but had to go to a 'hearing", not too big a deal, but they did lower my taxes by about 1600 a year between 2 properties. Well worth the time and effort.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Why is escrow a fail? B/c I've failed twice then.
• FatHobbit

  

  ernest_t_bass;886042 wrote:Why is escrow a fail? B/c I've failed twice then.

  Because the bank collects interest instead of you and then they manage it poorly.
• Con_Alma

  Don't you have to prepay in escrow?
• LJ

  

  Con_Alma;886057 wrote:Don't you have to prepay in escrow?

  Yep.