Did not get homestead exemption (Howe: sales, 2015, house)

[verybadgnome]

Not me, but a first time homebuying friend who closed last year. In retrospect I should have mentioned this little detail to him. Is there anything he can do about it now to counter the massive increases that came about this year?

On a side note if I was a realtor I would have this item on a checklist to tell every client.

[RoadWarrior12]

Did not get, or did not apply for?

[IC_deLight]

Yeah file for the exemption now. He wasn't entitled to a homestead exemption in 2013 because he wasn't in the house January 1, 2013. He's eligible for 2014 since he was in the house on January 1, 2014 (assuming your friend isn't claiming another property as homestead). File the application for the exemption for 2014 now. Your friend can download the Application for Residence Homestead form from the Texas Comptroller's Office:
Exemptions

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by IC_deLight

Yeah file for the exemption now. He wasn't entitled to a homestead exemption in 2013 because he wasn't in the house January 1, 2013. He's eligible for 2014 since he was in the house on January 1, 2014 (assuming your friend isn't claiming another property as homestead). File the application for the exemption for 2014 now. Your friend can download the Application for Residence Homestead form from the Texas Comptroller's Office:
Exemptions

Yeah, but the appraisals coming out now are for 2014 -- based on the value Jan 1, 2014 -- so he would have qualified for the exemption. It's for the tax bills coming in October, which would be paid no later than Jan 31 2015. 2013 tax bill would have been already paid.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Not me, but a first time homebuying friend who closed last year. In retrospect I should have mentioned this little detail to him. Is there anything he can do about it now to counter the massive increases that came about this year?

Oh, something else I would add - even if he doesn't have a homestead exemption, he can still file a protest for the property valuation. The protest must be filed prior to May 31. Depending on how late in 2013 he closed, TCAD may consider his sales price (he should bring his HUD statement) as the correct value for the property. So if it's been assessed at a value much higher than what he paid, he can probably get that reduced. If it's just a big jump from the old owner's valuation, and still below the sales price, then he's probably out of luck.

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Yeah, but the appraisals coming out now are for 2014 -- based on the value Jan 1, 2014 -- so he would have qualified for the exemption. It's for the tax bills coming in October, which would be paid no later than Jan 31 2015. 2013 tax bill would have been already paid.

???

Never said this would affect 2013 taxes - in fact quite the opposite.
The first year he is eligible to claim homestead exemption is this year, 2014.
He can file the application for exemption now for 2014.
He was never going to get "protection" for increases in market value between 2013 and 2014. However he will get exemptions like the school district and county exemptions (20% for Travis County) for 2014 which he wasn't eligible for in 2013.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by IC_deLight

Yeah file for the exemption now. He wasn't entitled to a homestead exemption in 2013 because he wasn't in the house January 1, 2013. He's eligible for 2014 since he was in the house on January 1, 2014 (assuming your friend isn't claiming another property as homestead). File the application for the exemption for 2014 now. Your friend can download the Application for Residence Homestead form from the Texas Comptroller's Office:
Exemptions

That's what my son did when he bought his house in the summer of 2012. He applied for his HE in '13.

[centralaustinite]

The appraisal isn't the same thing as the tax BILL! That will come out late September/October. And if he was in the house as his primary residence on January 1, 2014 and he files for homestead NOW, he will get the exemptions on his fall tax bill.

[FalconheadWest]

He would qualify for exemptions for 2014, but he would NOT qualify for the 10% homestead cap if his value went up more than 10% from last year. IN order to have a cap, he needs to have a baseline value, and the first year he files is his baseline, this year.

Also, technically, you only have until April 30th to file, so you're going to need to be awfully nice to the person you speak with at the CAD and play completely stupid about not understanding there was a date deadline, otherwise they don't have to give the exemption for this year. You have from Jan 1-April 30 each year. That's 4 full months. It's not like they give you a week.

[tickledpink]

I didn't file for my HE until 2 years after moving in. I called and played stupid and not only did I get the exemption in place for the current year, but I got a 200 something dollar check in the mail as a refund for the previous year.