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Anyone ever appealed real estate tax value to district court? Specifically HCAD

3,101 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by tamutaylor12
pdawg10384
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AG
I'm not happy with the results of my formal hearing with HCAD. I suppose my next step would be filing suit in district court? That's what the letter from HCAD says. Anyone have experience with this or able to offer advice? Would I have to file at the district court downtown on Caroline?
Martin Q. Blank
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That would cost a lot of money I would think. Unless the savings you would get from your taxes is substantial (multi-million dollar house). The other option is binding arbitration. You get your $500 back if the arbitrator's number is closer to yours than HCAD.
Hanrahan
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I've done it for my folks. But I'm an attorney, so it didn't cost them anything. They were fighting for a multiple six figure reduction though, so it made it worth my time to help them.

I had no idea what I was doing, but scrapped some pleadings together from some friends at firms that do it. I wouldn't say it is all that difficult per se, but isn't really something a non attorney could handle on their own.

Unless you are looking at a large possible reduction, I don't think it would be worth the cost for you to hire an attorney. But admittedly, I have no idea what one would charge you to handle, but I doubt it would be super cheap.
Copp
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Binding arbitration is a cheaper option. The problem is, the county is involved in so many binding arbitration cases, they know which arbitrators they want to use. You typically have no clue who the arbitrator is. Suffice it to say, you do not want the arbitrator if the county wants the arbitrator. You can request the assigned arbitrator to be changed I believe
pdawg10384
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I would be comfortable doing it myself. Hanrahan, do you have to file at the couthouse downtown? Did I see it costs about $200 to file?
Diggity
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AG
you should practice your argument with us first.
pdawg10384
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I heard from an attorney I knew several years ago that HCAD will do anything they can to settle and not go to court.
Copp
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DCAD is known for settling as well. City doesn't have resources to go a fight in court. In dallas county only 27% of people protest their property taxes. If the number got up to 40-45% the CAD couldn't handle that many people. Power in numbers when it comes to taking up all the bandwidth the county has
Hanrahan
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Yes they will always want to settle a residential court case long before trial. It's a waste of resources and they still have to hire outside counsel to deal with it so they want it gone and they want their attorney's meter to be off asap. That being said they will still likely force you to go thru discovery, so it's still a nontrivial amount of legal work. Again not really something you can do on your own unless you are versed in preparing pleadings in a property tax dispute case and in requesting and reponding to discovery requests. You have to generate your pleadings yourself, there are no fill in the blank pleading down at the courthouse for you to figure it out as you go. Maybe in a giant county like Harris but even then I doubt it.
Ribeye-Rare
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Copp said:

Binding arbitration is a cheaper option. The problem is, the county is involved in so many binding arbitration cases, they know which arbitrators they want to use. You typically have no clue who the arbitrator is. Suffice it to say, you do not want the arbitrator if the county wants the arbitrator. You can request the assigned arbitrator to be changed I believe

Copp speaks some wisdom here.

I have done binding arbitration after an ARB hearing, as there weren't enough dollars involved to justify taking my matter to the District Court.

But, know that I wouldn't have done it at all if I didn't feel I had a damn good case that I could back up with solid evidence.

There were (2) types of arbitration, as I recall. A $250 option, and a $500 option. I chose the latter, since it allowed more time in front of the arbitrator to present my case.

You are to select (3) arbitrators from a list provided by the Comptroller. This is supposedly a primary selection and (2) alternates. The list gave a few qualifications for each arbitrator, and I felt reasonably comfortable that any of the (3) I chose would give me a fair hearing.

The chief appraiser, however, didn't like any of my (3) picks and chose (3) of his own.

Here's where I made my mistake -- In the interest of 'cooperation', I naively agreed to the chief appraiser's first choice, and I selected the (2) alternates. Big mistake -- I feel I got rolled. The districts' people and this guy were familiar with each other and seemed like best buds.

Lesson learned. I was out the $500 plus I lost the case.

Here's what I should have done, and it would have at least given me a 50-50 chance of getting a fair hearing.

When the chief appraiser doesn't like your picks, tell him to notify the Comptroller that you were unable to agree on a selection for arbitrators. In that case, the Comptroller will pick one for you, and ostensibly, the chief appraiser gets to play 'pot luck', just like you do. I've been told that this alone will sometimes cause the chief appraiser to agree to settle.

Regardless, good luck. All-in-all, it was a poor use of my time. I wish you better success than I had, although if I ever do it again, the Comptroller will be picking the arbitrator!
Premium
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AG
If an appraisal district values your property at a certain level you should be able to sell it to them at that price.

If you protest and say your house is worth a certain price you should be liable to sell it for that lower price.

Solves both sides trying to get greedy.
tamutaylor12
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Ribeye-Rare said:

Copp said:

Binding arbitration is a cheaper option. The problem is, the county is involved in so many binding arbitration cases, they know which arbitrators they want to use. You typically have no clue who the arbitrator is. Suffice it to say, you do not want the arbitrator if the county wants the arbitrator. You can request the assigned arbitrator to be changed I believe

Copp speaks some wisdom here.

I have done binding arbitration after an ARB hearing, as there weren't enough dollars involved to justify taking my matter to the District Court.

But, know that I wouldn't have done it at all if I didn't feel I had a damn good case that I could back up with solid evidence.

There were (2) types of arbitration, as I recall. A $250 option, and a $500 option. I chose the latter, since it allowed more time in front of the arbitrator to present my case.

You are to select (3) arbitrators from a list provided by the Comptroller. This is supposedly a primary selection and (2) alternates. The list gave a few qualifications for each arbitrator, and I felt reasonably comfortable that any of the (3) I chose would give me a fair hearing.

The chief appraiser, however, didn't like any of my (3) picks and chose (3) of his own.

Here's where I made my mistake -- In the interest of 'cooperation', I naively agreed to the chief appraiser's first choice, and I selected the (2) alternates. Big mistake -- I feel I got rolled. The districts' people and this guy were familiar with each other and seemed like best buds.

Lesson learned. I was out the $500 plus I lost the case.

Here's what I should have done, and it would have at least given me a 50-50 chance of getting a fair hearing.

When the chief appraiser doesn't like your picks, tell him to notify the Comptroller that you were unable to agree on a selection for arbitrators. In that case, the Comptroller will pick one for you, and ostensibly, the chief appraiser gets to play 'pot luck', just like you do. I've been told that this alone will sometimes cause the chief appraiser to agree to settle.

Regardless, good luck. All-in-all, it was a poor use of my time. I wish you better success than I had, although if I ever do it again, the Comptroller will be picking the arbitrator!



For some reason this struck a nerve with me. It really pisses me off that in a hearing who the arbitrator is can be more important than any of the facts or evidence.
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