Thousands Dispute South Florida’s Property Assessments...
SUCCESSFUL APPEALS ARE SAVING PROPERTY OWNERS HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS A MONTH! CAN YOU BENEFIT THIS SUMMER/FALL FROM APPEALING YOUR ASSESSED PROPERTY VALUE??
Currently, the Miami-Dade Value Adjustment Board is overwhelmed. More than 70,000 property owner appeals were filed for 2008 and they are currently in review. And Broward's VAP is dealing with over 29,000 appeals.
In 2008, median prices for single-family homes in Broward fell 23 percent, and 29 percent for condos. In Miami-Dade, median prices for single-family homes fell 27 percent and 12 percent for condos. Those amounts are huge… and many owners are now arguing don’t match the property taxes they are paying.
The VAB can overrule the county's property appraisers, which can mean big tax savings to the property owner.
However, it's important for property owners to understand that property assessments are NOT based on today's value, or the future... they look backward. Which means many of the 2008 foreclosures and short sales and low selling prices in your neighborhood most likely wouldn't have made a difference for this past cycle of VAP appeals. Additionally, the criteria for determining if short sales/foreclosures should be considered continues to change. To date, Broward is factoring these in, and Miami-Dade is not. Mortgage fraud cases are being considered (which typically is a cause of inflated property assessments).
For Miami-Dade, look for your Proposed Property Tax assessment in August, mailed to your home. There is only a small window of time to file for an appeal. To read more on the process visit:
MIami-Dade, Property Tax Appeals
For Broward, visit: http://www.bcpa.net/value.asp
Broward County Property Tax Disputes
to learn more. Though the appeal deadline was in March, you may have reason to file a late petition which has a deadline in September.
***we have valuable information from professionals in the fields of assessments and appeals, and will be bringing you more information on the appeal process as we get closer to the window of time given for such appeals.
We believe owners will benefit GREATLY by filing appeals this coming summer/fall... when lower sales prices on conventional closings are recorded. And better rules for appraisers on how to deal with foreclosures and short sales should be made more concrete by then, and hopefully more fair to the property owner.
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