Property Tax value increase after purchase? (water heater, contractors, inspection)

[Shawn_Estrada]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

Lenders have become downright persnickety about permits over the past 3 years. For years our building department would throw out permits when their file cabinet was full, so we have places that were built with a permit, but we have no evidence of that.

Wow.. unbelievable. I know cities and counties by law are not required to keep the plan sets on file after 2 years, but are required to keep at least the record of permit. Even the State records details that the permit card/application should be kept.

Per the California Health and Safety Code Section 19850

The building department of every city or county shall maintain an official copy, which may be on microfilm or other type of photographic copy, of the plans of every building, during the life of the building, for which the department issued a building permit.

Except for plans of a common interest development as defined in Section 1351 of the Civil Code, plans need not be filed for:
a) Single or multiple dwellings not more than two stories and
basement in height.
b) Garages and other structures appurtenant to buildings
described under subdivision (a).
(c) Farm or ranch buildings.
(d) Any one-story building where the span between bearing walls does not exceed 25 feet. The exemption in this subdivision does not, however, apply to a steel frame or concrete building.

General rule of thumb for my clients when they ask if they need a permit for what they are doing i tell them to contact their local building department. If it's more than 120 sf and you are moving walls, adding new electrical or adding rooms.. your going to need a permit.

[DynamoLA]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Prop 13 was passed by the Voters in 1978...

As far as assessed value goes... it does not matter if you had owned the property for 40, 50 or 60 years...

I bought my home from the couple that built it in 1956... they last tax bill was $1200 and change... I went to $9,000 too.

It was not a surprise...

What has been a surprise is values have fallen by a third and the County Tax Collector still maintains my home is worth what I paid for it... Appeal has been filed and the county has 24 months to act while I must continue paying the full amount as billed

Yeah, it definitely wasn't a surprise about the tax bill. Thank goodness for escrow accounts because I wouldn't want to be shelling out two checks for $4500 plus twice a year. It's easier to pay it monthly.

Interestingly a huge number of homes in our neighborhood are owned by trusts, and there are a lot of very long-time homeowners. I have to think the city of Glendale will be benefitting from additional property tax revenue if/when they pass on and their trustees sell the homes. A surprisingly large number of homes here haven't changed hands in over a generation (or at least since Prop 13 was enacted).

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

Lenders have become downright persnickety about permits over the past 3 years. For years our building department would throw out permits when their file cabinet was full, so we have places that were built with a permit, but we have no evidence of that.

We also have places that followed the old saw "If you can't see it from the public road, you don't need a permit".

I ran into this with a photo studio addition in Pittsburg CA...

The home and studio date from the 1940's

The lender/appraiser required a permit for the structure to fund...

City had nothing... went to the Assessor and they had nothing on their computer... someone behind the desk said they had some dusty old files in the basement...

He told me to come back in hour... and luck was with me... he had produced the permit number and a sketch for the addition with notation "Finaled"

With my new info... the city was able to "Find" everything requested... earlier that moring I was told I needed to file for a variance and a bunch of other stuff and it could take 6 to 9 months...

That evening, the appraiser had the documentation and all was good...

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

And apparently they are unfamiliar with the willing buyer/willing seller concept.

I really think it is a tactic used to discourage and/or stall the process in hopes finances improve down the road.

No other way I can explain it when better than 2 out of every 3 sales are not counted because they are "Distressed"

I submitted 21 comps and 19 were distressed...

Maybe time for a new Proposition in my county compelling the Assessor to accept "Distress Sales"?

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Maybe time for a new Proposition in my county compelling the Assessor to accept "Distress Sales"?

I'm pretty good friends with our county assessor. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of the property tax law. She's also been criticized for her application of the state law because "Other counties don't do X or Y"

I don't know the state law (I guess I could look it up) on it, but all assessors in the state are supposed to apply the law the same way (It is a state law and not a local one).

[sadie123]

CA property taxes are now based on 1978 proposition 13. You can look it up. It is basically 1% of the sales price and can increase by as much as 2% of the 1% each year thereafter.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by sadie123

CA property taxes are now based on 1978 proposition 13. You can look it up. It is basically 1% of the sales price and can increase by as much as 2% of the 1% each year thereafter.

Don't forget that there are hundreds of Tax Districts in California with the power to tax... with voter support.

In my case the rate is around 1.6%... or 60% higher than the State's 1%

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

I'm pretty good friends with our county assessor. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of the property tax law. She's also been criticized for her application of the state law because "Other counties don't do X or Y"

I don't know the state law (I guess I could look it up) on it, but all assessors in the state are supposed to apply the law the same way (It is a state law and not a local one).

A few years ago... pre-crash, I had an issue with the Assessor that wasn't going anywhere... I sent a nice letter with a note from the Controller of a neighboring county inviting the Assessor to give him a call if he was uncertain on how to proceed.

Three days later... my problem was satisfactorily resolved in my favor after languishing for 9 months...

I should have more to share after my current appeal is heard... prices are still falling and I'm thinking the newly instituted $50 appeal fee will be a yearly future expense in my budget.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Shawn_Estrada

General rule of thumb for my clients when they ask if they need a permit for what they are doing i tell them to contact their local building department. If it's more than 120 sf and you are moving walls, adding new electrical...

Is it even a question? No licensed contractor would do work on a house without a permit. And the minute the homeowner is finished with a remodel or addition and it's signed off, they can be assured that they'll receive that supplemental property tax invoice in the mail.

[Shawn_Estrada]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Is it even a question? No licensed contractor would do work on a house without a permit.

Maybe it is just my neck of the woods, but you will be amazed at the amount of contractors that do work without a permit, and we are talking everything under the sun from re-roof (yes the CA building code requires a permit for the shear inspection of the condition of the roof at tear-off) to even installing a new water heater (as required by the CA Building Code) so yes, more times than naught, even licensed contractors (which isn't hard to get a license anyways) can and do work without a permit, simply out of shear ignorance.