Need local property tax grievance advice.

R

Radiowaves

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I know this is not boating related, but looking for local advice. We are getting a lot of solicitations from law firms to file for a property tax grievance by May. We had filed for the Starr program, but from what I am reading this seems to have more of an impact. We live in Brightwaters, Islip Township. It is a bit overwhelming reading through all of what we received. Have any of our local RO's taken advantage? And what attorney did you use and how does the payment to them work. Thanks for any advice. Brad and Linda.
 
Brad,
LAst few years i used zap my tax. U fill out the form online. before some due date for ur area. u can chk it online. Ull get a notice of what they saved u with back up paper work. U pay them direct half the amount saved. Pretty simple.

Sad part is u have to do it every year !

Rob
 
In Suffolk I use Mark lewis. Do it every year. Mail it in and forget it.
I grieve every year.
Some I win big. Some they reject me. Some I win small.
I think my taxes are about $4k lower than my neighbor with same house.
Not sure he grieves at all and since we are not friendly I ain't telling him.

Recognize that when you win they want their 50% right away. So if you win $2k reduction you pay them $1k out of pocket and savings are rolled into next year tax bill. I pay my tax direct and not thru mortgage so for me it's fine but if you pay each month in mortgage payment then it may come as a surprise since savings don't get worked into mortgage payment right away.

On year the won in small claims court.

By th way, if you are energetic you can do it yourself and skip the service. It's not hard and I know others that have done it this way. Just need to file. Then Prove that your taxes are too high compared to neighbors or value of home based on comps. If you lose then the small claim court process is next step. To me it's easier to let them do it.

To keep this boating related I use my savings to buy diesel fuel for boat. Lol.
 
My sailboat was slipped, years ago, in the Brightwaters canal, nice place.
 
This is who I have been using for about 20 years now.
Tax Correction Agency
3279 Veterans Hwy Suite D-2
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Phone Numbers:
Suffolk County (631) 467-5200
Nassau County (516) 933-3555
If you google them you'll find their website.
Mailed a response to them back in 1995, and have been communicating that way with them ever since. Websites weren't common for these companies back then.
I grieve them every year. Got no reduction for many years, and then I started getting reductions about 5 years ago, and have been getting reductions every year since then.
They are probably all about the same as far as no charge unless they get you a reduction.
The big thing is to make sure you only sign up with one company. I guess that's because you don't want multiple companies claiming they were successful if you get a reduction.
 
Be careful if you enter into this type of arrangement. The process can take years and your liability to the attorney is not attached to the house, it belongs to you even after you sell it. So if you sell, make sure your attorney puts the responsibility on the buyer as part of the deal.

Don't ask me how I know.
 
Hey buddie! My taxes were 30% higher than they are now, so using the 'Long Island Tax Reductions' services was really great for me. Please tell me you have been getting the STAR benefits before this year! Its rediculous that we have to go through this stupidity every year and add another middleman into the mix, but thats Long Island politics for you!
 
I calculate that my savings this year are just under $6000.00. My taxes are probably that much lower than they would have been had I not been getting successful grievances since 2010. My assessed value is going to be lower again next year too.
I've happily written the check for the fee to them over these last years.
 
quote:
Originally posted by mintregila

Be careful if you enter into this type of arrangement. The process can take years and your liability to the attorney is not attached to the house, it belongs to you even after you sell it. So if you sell, make sure your attorney puts the responsibility on the buyer as part of the deal.

Don't ask me how I know.

Click to expand...

I am asking, I use Mark Lewis, like Dave, it is a year to year gig, contract is fairly straight forward, either they get a reduction that year or not. If not, you sign up to try next year. There is no multi year residual, or if I missed a reduction this year I own you.

Think you hooked up with a bad place Mark, your experience would help others here of not doing the same. Been using Mark Lewis for 15 years, some years they say can't help, most years they get us a reduction.

There are many others that do the same as Mark Lewis, and do it as well, I feel, if you know a neighbor that has done this and are satisfied, ask them who they used. Mark Lewis may be the largest in Suffolk, but does not mean they are the only or best game.
 
Thanks all for the information. I ended up with ZapMyTax also recommended on this site. I spoke with someone and then did the app online. I have not received a confirmation yet. As mentioned in a post above, I should not signup with more than one at a time. I will see how this goes.
 
Hi Brad,

Good luck with the tax grievance. Good to see your name pop up on Boater Ed. Hope to see you and Linda sometime.

Billy K.
 
Walter,

Here is how it works.

Generally, there are several years worth of taxes in the process at any given time. When you actually give the attorney the filing fee to move forward, you are legally committed to the agreement. Not the house itself. You. Now say you sell the house without any agreement by the buyer to accept the liability for the two years that are in process. If no reduction is achieved, no problem. If they reduce it by $1000 they are coming to you for the $500 even though you no longer own the house and the buyer gets the benefit.

I know because this is what happened to me when we sold. And there is no way to stop it except to have it written into the sale to be the buyer's responsibility.
 
That almost sounds like a closing issue that your closing attorney should of covered you for or at least asked you if you had a prior tax grievance open. Even then, it should also come up on title search as title search I know looks are open liens, open legal cases, credit reports, etc.

In my grievance experience I always get a reply from them in the current tax year with a positive or negative result and it never goes past a year. If I was planning to sell, i would not start a grievance the year prior.
 
Although tax grievances typically used to take less than a year the new 'normal' has put many of not most well over a year. The pattern over the past year or so is that they get denied and then they need to be appealed.
So better to plan it out like mintregila recommends than be sorry.

Hope this helps
 
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