RPC Property Tax Advisors

Assessment Appeal FAQs

 

• Why do I need to appeal my property tax assessment?

 

• What is the tax appeal process?

 

• How long will it take?

 

• What is RPC's role in the process?

 

• What do you need from me?

 

• Why use RPC for the appeals work?

 

• How does RPC get paid?

 

• What happens to my assessed value next year if you are successful in reducing the value this year?

 

• Is it too late to file an appeal for my 2009 assessments?

 

• How can I file my 2010 appeal when I haven't seen the 2010 assessed value yet from the assessor's office?

 

• Shouldn't we just wait while property values continue to decline so we get a lower assessment?

 

• What if I disagree with the appeals board's final decision?

 

• Do you do single family residence appeals too?

 

• Isn't this just a scam?

 

• We have already filed our appeal. Is it too late for RPC to help?

 

• My staff or legal dept. is already doing this for me (for free), or my law firm or CPA said they can do this for me too. Why do I need RPC?

 

• We already have a relationship with a property tax consulting firm for our ongoing work in states without California's Prop. 13-type legislation. Why wouldn't we just use them for our California Properties too?

 

• We're fighting to justify our asset equity value. How will this affect our lender appraisals and loan ratios?

 

 

 

• Why do I need to appeal my property tax assessment?

If you believe the value of your property has declined for any reason then you should review your tax assessments to make sure they do not exceed the current market value. It is prudent to review your property tax assessments annually.

• What is the tax appeal process?

The tax appeal is your legal right to protect you from undue or unfair taxation and provides a means for you to receive proper representation before the taxing authorities.

• How long will it take?

It all depends on when you decide to investigate the possibilities of reducing your property taxes. The sooner the taxpayer begins the process the better. There are annual deadlines and once they are missed there is no recourse for excessive property taxes. California Revenue and Taxation codes state that the county has to resolve an assessment appeal within 2 years.

• What is RPC's role in the process?

RPC is a professional taxpayer advocacy firm and represents the taxpayer before the various taxing authorities. We are assigned by the taxpayer to handle all aspects in investigating, consulting and taking the proper actions to reduce one of the largest expenses property owners face, property taxes.

• What do you need from me?

Initially all we need is for you to request a no-cost assessment appeal review from RPC to determine the size and scope of your property tax savings. Complete the simple and secure form on our website and allow 3 – 5 business days for your no-cost review.

• Why use RPC for the appeals work?

20 years of experience, professional relationships with various county assessors and hundreds of successfully prosecuted assessment appeals statewide means that we get better results than anyone else. Commercial tax appeal negotiations can be complex and very time consuming. Mistakes resulting from inexperience or incompetence can cost the taxpayer thousands of dollars and can actually result in even higher property tax assessments.

• How does RPC get paid?

RPC's professional fees are success driven, based on a percentage of the actual tax savings.

• What happens to my assessed value next year if you are successful in reducing the value this year?

Most assessment reductions are temporary based on market conditions and the county assessor is supposed to review them annually. Unfortunately, since there are hundreds of thousands of assessed parcels nearly all automatically revert to the proposition 13 value indexed by 2% increase a year. Also in a declining market last year's lowered assessment may be excessive this year.

• Is it too late to file an appeal for my 2009 assessments?

Yes, the deadline to appeal the 1-1-09 valuation was 11-30-09.

• How can I file my 2010 appeal when I haven't seen the 2010 assessed value yet from the assessor's office?

RPC can provide you with that information. Please contact us to discuss your unique situation.

• Shouldn't we just wait while property values continue to decline so we get a lower assessment?

Every tax year is separate and distinct and savings may be available for every year. Once the filing deadline passes any tax relief for that year is lost forever. For instance, to appeal the 2009 assessment, we can only use data prior to 3-31-09. There is no reason to delay beyond that date.

• What if I disagree with the appeals board's final decision?

A motion can be filed in superior court to over turn an assessment appeals board decision. RPC provides this service as well.

• Do you do single family residence appeals too?

Complex Commercial appeals are our specialty but we also provide services for individual home owners as well.

• Isn't this just a scam?

Unfortunately, the tremendous increase in demand for property tax reductions has attracted some unscrupulous people preying on homeowners with up front fees and not performing the services as promised. RPC is a professional business that has been around for 20 years and has saved our clients millions of dollars in property taxes. We have been a member of the Better Business Bureau since 1997 without a single complaint and provide a high level of specialized, professional services that others simply cannot provide. We are happy to provide references and real world examples of how we earn every penny of our fees.

• We have already filed our appeal. Is it too late for RPC to help?

No. We receive many calls from property management firms and taxpayers who have filed an appeal only to discover the complexity and large amounts of time an appeal can consume. They simply assign the appeal to RPC and we take it from there.

• My staff or legal dept. is already doing this for me (for free), or my law firm or CPA said they can do this for me too. Why do I need RPC?

We have spent the last 20 years building personal and professional relationships with assessors' offices throughout the state of California. We have example after example of getting the most favorable possible ruling, in the minimum of time (often ahead of all of the others') because we know how the process works, we know how to meet the assessors' needs, and the assessors know that when they see an RPC represented appeal they can process it with a minimum of hassle and move on to the mountain of problem cases they have to contend with. Your staff can do many things well, but we have the experience to get this done better and faster than any other way

• We already have a relationship with a property tax consulting firm for our ongoing work in states without California's Prop. 13-type legislation. Why wouldn't we just use them for our California Properties too?

For many of the same reasons above. RPC has spent 20 years building the relationships with the California Tax Assessors' offices and we know how the California-specific process works better than anyone else. We can get better results quicker for your California properties.

• We're fighting to justify our asset equity value. How will this affect our lender appraisals and loan ratios?

An assessment appeal will not affect any lender appraisals and/or corresponding loan ratios. In fact, any successful assessment appeal lowers expenses and improves net operating income, which increases an asset's value.