Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer, has issued a “Consumer Scam Alert” that cautions property owners against a property tax assessment scam offer they may have received recently in their mail box.
The letter from “PROPERTY TAX ADJUSTERS”, located in Granada Hills, CA, purports to help home owners pay lower property taxes by assisting them in lowering the assessed value on their homes, due to the decline of property values in the post-real-estate bubble recession in California. The fee for this “help” is $180.
The letter also offers blue sky predictions of thousand dollars savings while stressing that participants reply by a December 31 deadline.
In its bulletin, Kramer notes that the California Attorney Generals Office has posted warnings on its website, and stresses that the “Contra Costa Assessor’s office does not charge a fee to review a property’s value.” In fact, Kramer explains that his office is proactively reviewing the value of single family/residential and commercial/industrial properties throughout the county and “lowering assessments wherever appropriate.”
If you receive such an offer of paid assistance to help you lower property tax assessments in the U.S. Postal Service, or by e-mail, or phone, DO NOT BE FOOLED.
Property owners can file a free property tax assessment request by calling 925-313-7400, or by faxing a request to 925-3313-7488, or by downloading and completing the the application available at the Assessor’s website.
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I got one in concord, ca.
I got one of those letters and contacted the assessors office.