Should I pay for this service?

[bivenator]

Here in TX you can protest you property tax assesment. There are many companies that will file the protest for you. I signed up with one about three years ago and they have lowered my tax bill. Their service will protest each year until you opt out of thier program
This year, following a rebuild of my house after a fire I requested that they not
file a protest. I have studied the process and felt it was simply enough that I could do it on my own.
I called them in Oct of last year to let them know that I no longer wanted them to protest on my behalf. The fella that I spoke with tried to hard sell me to get me to stay but ultimately agreed to discontinue working on my behalf.
Fast forward to June. I get a bill from the tax protest company for 400$. They filed a protest and lowered my tax bill by about 800$ and they will take half for thier trouble.
After recieving the bill I called to inform them that I had not wanted a protest filed. The person then told me that while they had a record of the Oct phone call, but the appropriate paperwork was not filed by me requesting a halt to the protest and that is why they continued the protest.
I stated that I did not want them to file for me any longer. He then discontinued my account and I have since recieved paperwork from them stating as much.
I am now getting nasty letters asking for payment of the 400$
WWPD (what would pelicans do)

[sammyg2]

I'd tell them to go pack sand "under advisement of my attorney".

They are playing a game and expect you to roll over. You'll have to play hardball but eventually they'll back off.

[stomachmonkey]

No, they acknowledged knowing your wishes. If they failed to send you the proper follow up paperwork that's their mistake/problem, not yours. I'd tell em to pound sand.

FWIW, I ignore those services. They will get a bigger reduction than you can get on your own but usually not as much as their service costs. If they got you $800 you can get easily get $400+ on your own.

[red-beard]

I've used to do the protest every year, but lately haven't had the time to spend waiting for my hearing, along with the paper work. I expect I'll sign up with one of the services, but I'm going to shop around and find one that is less than 50%.

[Por_sha911]

OK, let me get this straight. The gov't automatically overcharges you for your taxes and you then have to file paperwork (or pay someone else) every year to protest it down to the correct amount? Why wouldn't the protest carry over from year to year? Back in 2009 my county decided that they weren't collecting enough money and they raised everyone's property values by 10-20%. I was floored that in the middle of a housing bubble they wanted to raise my property value. Everyone said "you can't fight city hall"... I protested it and met with the appraisers with documented proof that values went down versus up. They adjusted my tax value down that year and it has stayed down at that level. Sorry, I got off the original question.
No, you don't owe them anything. They were notified (and admitted as much). You probably should have gotten something in writing to protect yourself. I suggest that you contact the company. Tell them you want to do what is fair and you will consider payment if they will send you a letter specifically stating that although they have it on record that you notified them however they went and did the protest anyway. Once you get the letter, consider it for 10 seconds and decide the fair thing is to not pay.

[red-beard]

Our local government property tax rates are pretty much fixed. The assessments are adjusted by the inflation rate every year, which is about how fast property tax has been rising.

I got into the habit of protesting the valuation. It is easy, since they houses around me are larger, and the lots are larger. I simply show the value of the properties, convert to $/sq ft, then multiply my house size by the same value. Add $19K for my pool, and there ya go. They typically don't give me the whole reduction.

Over the years, I got close to the same valuation numbers, except for land. For some reason, if the lot is under a certain size, they value the $/sq ft higher. I have a smaller yard than my next door neighbor, but it is valued higher?!? Yep, stupid rules.

The upshot of our system has been an ever increasing amount of money going to our local government. They should be readjusting the tax rate as well, to match the budget. They are instead, spending the money. Most people do not protest their taxes.

When I lived in Upstate NY, they adjusted both the value of the property and the tax rate, so that they matched the budget, plus whatever amount doesn't get paid each year. It made it hard to predict your tax bill.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I have a smaller yard than my next door neighbor, but it is valued higher?!? Yep, stupid rules.

Similar problem, I'm on an interior lot but my land is taxed at the same $ amount as the houses across the street which are greenbelt. Greenbelt lots cost $50k more, regardless of size.

[RWebb]

technically, you will need to read very very carefully the original contract - it may have a provision requiring you to request the paperwork to cancel, notarize it, and then do a double back flip in order to make a valid cancellation

or your state may have some consumer or contract req.s that limit "some men will rob you with a fountain pen" type shenanigans, but you are in TX right? don't expect much; if a large corp. they have certainly located in the most favorable state for them and might require you to fight a law suit there, not where you live

the federal consumer protection agency might have helped but has been hamstrung by people whom you likely voted for, so... (it may apply only to banks in the strict sense anyway)


practically, you can just send a fax or a written certified mailing that says "I dispute this charge." and IDs the charge; don't say much else and be sure to save it

you will file another one aftre they send it out for collection

then, the only thing they can do is to ding your credit rating or maybe file in small claims against you

they are a corporation so you cannot ding their credit rating

see how it works? little guy can be easily screwed by the big guy

do you have any relatives who are lawyers in TX?

[sck007]

I battled HCAD personally for the past 7 years as a result of having some rental properties in the Heights. Talk about highway robbery. They would jack up values by 50-70% since properties have no Homestead exemptions (10% cap). Each protest was won by lowering value but still 15-20% higher than the market.

Informal hearings were useless so I skipped those and went straight to the board hearings. I did the same with my personal home. The process is a joke (3 stooges +1). Thank goodness they froze value from last year! I guess they had to realize arbitrarily raising value in a down market was just blatant fraud.

You can definitely protest yourself. It's really not that big of deal. In fact, the HCAD site has the information they use that can be used too your advantage. 10-15 minute board hearing. Just have support and pictures. When you do the dog and pony show you will realize a few things while your there.........1) No wonder our government is so screwed up. 2) Ooh that's why there are so many property tax consultants out there! 3) Why am I swearing under oath that I have not been employed by HCAD for the past year?

Talk about long winded....actually I could go on and on with my ARB (Appraisal Review Board) meetings. I have seen it all. In truth, its hard to stomach.

Now back to your question.....I would not pay it at first glance. Looks like you signed an agreement that had an automatic renewal but you gave a verbal notice which maybe enough since it was documented. Did you get any paperwork directly from HCAD? Documents would have given you an opportunity to protest in writing or online (I-File). Or information from HCAD that someone has filed a protest on your behalf.....Get a copy of your original agreement. On the contract it usually has date of termination usually one year which is something you fill in.

I assume the fire may have had an impact on the value if it occurred in 2010 and you did the repair in 2011. I don't know all the specific dates of fire and repair. It was a low hanging fruit that the consultants jumped on when they ran the computer print outs and your value was overstated compared to properties in your neighborhood. A reduction of 25K-30K value netting $800 savings and charge of $400 probably took 5-10 minutes of work in the informal meeting...If your property has been impaired by fire, flood, etc. it is a great opportunity to protest yourself since value can be significant.

Good Luck!

[bivenator]

Thanks, thats is great information. Now get that 930 back on the road.

[sck007]

I bought my 930 recently (Feb 2011) after looking for a 911 for over a year. She is a beast when boost kicks end. Trying to keep her stock but I am pretty sure I will eventually put headers & exhaust. The 914 was a barn find. 1-owner with no rust. Just couldn't pass it up. Car had been sitting in his garage for the past 17 years..

Perhaps, we can go cruising sometime....