Ask Me Help Desk - Property Assessment

My Landlady is trying to get her property reassessed, (I think to refinance.) The property she owns is one parcel about 4.5 acres with 3 rental units on the same property. She got mad when she found out that the assessor was looking around the property, she said that he was only supposed to assess her house.
Does that make any sense? I would think that the property would be assessed at a higher value to refinance if the rental property were included. We live in CA. Is there another reason that she would not want to assess the rental property as part of her property assessment? It is not like they are 2 completely separate parcels. Thank you for your time in answering my question.

Have a great day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by paquettegi

My Landlady is trying to get her property reassessed, (I think to refinance.) The property she owns is one parcel about 4.5 acres with 3 rental units on the same property. She got mad when she found out that the assessor was looking around the property, she said that he was only supposed to assess her house.
Does that make any sense? I would think that the property would be assessed at a higher value to refinance if the rental property were included. We live in CA. Is there another reason that she would not want to assess the rental property as part of her property assessment? It is not like they are 2 completely seperate parcels. Thank you for your time in answering my question.

Have a great day!

If the assessor was going to review the rentals, the landlord was obligated to give each tenant a 24 hour notice. If she didn't give the proper notice and the assessor invaded the privacy of a tenant, she failed to follow the revised code. I can't think of any other reason.

An assessor has nothing to do with refiance, they are from the tax office, part of the government And they do not give any notice to anyone when they come out, they just go to variouis locations and look around to be sure proper tax is being paid.

The reason she did not want them to see or look at the rental property it will raise her tax rate and perhaps take away her homestead exemption if the rental property is on the same deed as the main house.

Is it possible that you have used the term assessment in place of appraisal? If your landlady wants to do a refinance, an appraisal is required to determine the value of the property. If her house and the rental units are on the same parcel, she may erroneously believe that she can get a mortgage, secured just by her house. Another possibility is that she may be trying to do a lot split to put her home on its own separate parcel. Can you just ask her what she is doing? Inquiring minds want to know.

Thank you Dr D. I think that you are correct about my misuse of the term assessment for an appraisal. Honestly what I think is going on is that she has illegally rented out an illegally converted barn. She had also allowed her friend to move the friends modular home onto the property with out obtaining permits or anything. The whole structure that we lived in was not healthy or safe by any standards. I hate to sound like a bitter ex-tenant but it would be a different story is she had done what she could to make sure the place was habitable. Not only did she neglect the place, she lied and said that she did not know about problems that were problems before we moved in. ( I know the previous tenant of the same apt) And other things, she tried to blame on us. Like the external heater vent did not have flashing on the out side. Instead of fixing it, she had someone paint it so you could not see where it had charred the wood of the house. We have since moved thank heavens. Thank you for your answer to the question. The landlady is actually in default of her mortgage payments and there had been a "Notice of Trustee's Sale" filed with the county. Unfortunately for her... you reap what you sow.

Your EX landlady does not sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer. In AZ the time for sale after the Notice of Trustee Sale is a minimum 90 days. Chances are that your's is the same. Her credit is probably shot, and if she does manage to get a loan, it will probably be from Benjamin Dover Mortgage. It does cause us some perverse pleasure to see a bad person get their just reward.

Dr. D, It really makes me sad. I am most upset with my own feelings about this situation. I am personally affected because we were not bad tenants, we paid our rent - on time, did not cause problems for the other tenants, and stayed out of the way. I just wanted a safe place for my children to live. I am upset with myself because I have tried to look at this situation from an outside perspective. And when I do, I think that if it were someone else, I would feel bad for them and want to help them find the resources to keep their home. But knowing how she treats people, especially those that have not earned the mistreatment, has made me very bitter to the thought of her. I hope that the universe can forgive me for my negative thoughts. I live my life by the concept that everyone gets what's coming to them, good and bad. And you (or I) won't even have to do anything... they do it to themselves. Karma... sometimes it's an **s kicker! (sorry about the expletive) Thanks for your replies though, I appreciate your input. Have a great day (or night.) I thought your addage about Benjamin Dover Mortgage was funny! Thanks!