“I’d call it a scam, but it’s not a scam,” L.A. County Assessor Jeff Prang told columnist Davidlaz. “It’s legal.”
The typical Los Angeles County home is worth nearly $817,000, up 22% over the last year, according to the county assessor’s office., increases in assessed values can rise no more than 2% annually, meaning that property tax increases are similarly limited.
He also estimates that, because the high volume of assessment appeals has meant a greater number are getting approved without sufficient scrutiny, L.A. County may be losing about $15 million a year in property tax revenue. Prang said about 70% of appeals submitted by Property Tax Advisors and similar tax agents are withdrawn as soon as his office challenges the claim, or the appeal comes to an abrupt halt when the tax agent doesn’t show up for a scheduled hearing.
Kim said his firm, like most other high-volume tax agents, assumes all the costs of filing an appeal. The payoff, he said, is a one-time commission of 30% of whatever tax reduction he can secure for a client.Column: Don’t just accept a cut to your credit limit. You can fight back I asked if he was motivated in part by a proposal from the executive branch of the county Board of Supervisors that a $46 filing fee be imposed on all assessment appeals.Such a cost would undermine the pay-us-only-if-we-succeed business model. In the case of Property Tax Advisors, its 3,600 recent filings would have cost the company $165,600 in upfront fees.
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