Hello. Does anyone know who I can complain to about the incompetence of the Reeves County Tax Appraiser? They were paid last fall for back taxes that accrued because they did not change the title of the property over from my deceased uncle to myself and my siblings. Now I just received a tax lien for the same property they were paid for already and the lien is against my deceased uncle. I want to send yet one more correspondence to them via certified mail with all copies of all documents, but I would like to copy someone in who has oversight of that dept. I don't see why I need to hire a lawyer because of their inability to straighten this out.
Others have had problems too. If there is a tax lien, is there a law firm named that you can contact? You need to get this straightened out to prevent a sheriff's sale. Maybe there is a landman on this forum who works in Pecos area who you can hire to help you by walking in with documents.
You would have to check with the County Attorney's Office and the Tax Collector's Office, but either one or both of them might be someone you could copy. The Sheriff is the Tax Collector in any given County and the County Attorney would probably be involved in any Seizure and Tax Sale.
Anne:
I am not that familiar with the CT system. All states (and even some counties within these states) are similar but each does have its own quirks. Some have equalization boards while others have what they typically call property tax appeal boards (you may sometimes hear them called PTAB). Both are over sight groups within the state or states that assure taxes are assessed properly and information on and about the property is correct.
If the problems becomes extensive (meaning you can't handle it on the local level) you may have to file an appeal to one of these controlling bodies in order to have your problem recognized. But I am jumping.
Some assessors are elected and some appointed. If your assessor is appointed it may be as easy as going to the County (Township or City) Clerks office (depending on the real estate tax controlling body) and explaining the situation (they can direct you from there). If they are elected (and you are already dealing with the actual assessor and not a field appraiser... you may have to file an appeal). I find some who are elected can be difficult to deal with
But again, every state is different. In some it is simply a matter of filling out a corrective form. In other words a forum they use to correct misinformation on properties.
1) First I would call the assessor or clerk and find out if your district has a corrective form. They are generally one or two pages and not hard to fill out. Just make sure you have your property identification number some times called PINs. It is how the district identifies your property. You may have more than one if the site is larger and it is always written on you property tax bill.
2) If that does not work call the clerk (or the assessor) explain the situation and find out how to file a tax appeal correcting the data). Generally this information is on most local municipalities websites but you may be in a fairly rural area with little to no web site data. If so, go to the state's department of revenue's website and search property taxes and/or appeals.
3) File an appeal. You do not need a lawyer. Most districts only have two of three pages (at most) to fill out within the appeal forms and they are not that hard (attach a letter also explaining your problem) . If you file an appeal your problem will be correct on the district level. Assessors do not want to look like fools to the peers and will generally change it before it gets to any board level.
Some people are hard to deal with. Just keep cool when talking with them and be as pleasant as possible. Today there are cameras everywhere and you do not want to be jumping up and down in frustration (even though we have all been there). It just does not help and make you... not the assessor look bad.
Sorry I am not up on CT, most of my work is in the Midwest where I have been involved with hundreds if not thousands of real estate tax cases. I am a commercial industrial real estate appraiser who works on mining rights periodically and just happen to see your post.
While the assessor may be the King or Queen of value in their district they are far from such on the state level. Just make sure you have filled out all of the forms required. Government (at least in the arena) is very fussy about this.
You are dealing with a government agency. Trust me, they are could not care less about your problem but you might try dealing with them and then going on to the county attorney for advice.
Huddleston is the top dog in the Appraisal office. Go see him but take your lawyer and record it.
Then talk to the Texas General Land Office in Austin and then to the Governor, Abbott.
He can direct the Texas Legislature to straighten out the Reeves County Tax Appraisal Office.
Abbott will listen to you.
near Verhalen
Thank you so much for all of this information. I did not see that you had replied because I am new to this sort of site. Reeves County finally cashed my almost year-old check right after my sister paid the entire amount for myself and siblings online with them. Now she is trying to get repaid my portion since it has been paid twice.
Thanks so much. I think this sort of information is invaluable when you are dealing with government workers located so far from you.
Thanks so much for this information. It is exactly what I was trying to figure out after more than a year of trying to straighten this mess out.
Thank you. I did not see that you had replied before.
Thank you for the advice. I did not see that you had replied before. Haven't really figured out this forum and how it works yet.