[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!