Lieu, L.A. County Assessor Auerbach announce new law to help homeowners avoid property tax scams

LOS ANGELES – Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach and other local officials to warn homeowners about misleading and official-looking letters asking for fees to file their property tax reduction requests and to highlight a new law, Assembly Bill 992 (Lieu), which officially outlaws this practice beginning January 1, 2010.

"With property values dropping across the state, scammers are preying on unsuspecting homeowners by offering to help lower their property tax bill," said Assemblymember Lieu. "These unscrupulous companies offer to file property tax reduction requests with the county assessor´s office, in return for a fee of several hundred dollars from the homeowner. The fact is, this same service is provided for free from the local assessor´s office, and there is no need for anyone to pay an up-front fee to facilitate a property tax reduction."

AB 992, a new law authored by Assemblymember Lieu, puts an end to this scam by preventing these miscreants to send solicitations that look like official government letters that attempt to collect a fee, and in some cases, even threaten a late fee if not acted upon immediately.

County assessors are being inundated with questions and concerns from property owners who have received misleading mailers. They are urging homeowners to be on the lookout for these mailers and to contact their local assessor´s office directly to properly file for lower assessments.

"I congratulate Assemblymember Ted Lieu for his legislation to help protect property owners, particularly seniors, from being victimized by misleading scam mailers that are easily mistaken for official documents appearing to promise lower assessments for an outrageous fee, but often using faulty data to guess at so-called ´estimated´ tax savings," said Los Angeles County Assessor Rick Auerbach. "This involves the filing of simple forms provided by my office for free, and it is my job to make sure no property owner pays more than their fair share of taxes."

"The bill will clarify and strengthen California´s statute regulating property tax reassessment solicitations," said Stanley P. Williams, Head Deputy of the Consumer Protection Division, Los Angeles County District Attorney´s Office. "This legislation will help prevent costly consumer deception regarding the important subject of real property values and taxation."

AB 992 is sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney and supported by the Los Angeles County Board of Realtors, Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor, and California Assessors´ Association.

Assemblymember Ted W. Lieu is Chair of the California Assembly Rules Committee and represents the 53rd Assembly District, which includes El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Lomita, Marina Del Rey, and portions of the City of Los Angeles.