Blog news posts now in one convenient spot

We’ve consolidated our blog spaces for your convenience. Those relating to property taxes are here:

http://realtynetworth.com/category/property-taxes/

But you can also select other topics as well.

“Repair before failure”

So to speak…

What I mean here is the flip side, aka proactive approach to keeping property taxes inline is often to structure transactions to prevent “uncapping”. Uncapping, the lifting of taxable value to SEV – usually resulting in a tax increase – can be avoided in some cases with how you structure your buy/sell/transfer activity.

We have a few insights into this.

Back in the day, I was victim of an illegal uncapping by Tyrone Township, Livingston County here in SE Michigan. We refinanced our home and they reclassified my residence as a sale / uncapped/ and raised my taxes. It was years before I even noticed it. In light of these sorts of local activity, be it by accident or an intentional way to raise revenue, remember that even though these local gov’t folks work for you, you best be on your toes to check from year to year for such changes in your file.

If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, we will assist for a modest minimal fee.

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If you’d like other perspectives, here’s a MI professional we like:

www.miproptaxlaw.com/#!services

After the passage by Michigan voters of Proposal A of 1994, structuring a real estate transaction to avoid an unintentional uncapping of the property’s taxable value has become critical.  Dave Nykanen has consulted with attorneys, owners, and accountants to avoid uncapping issues. As a result of his deep knowledge of property tax issues, Mr. Nykanen has developed several strategies and techniques to structure real estate transactions to minimize the property tax impact. Whether it involves entity transfers, joint tenancies, or other factual scenarios, recent Michigan appellate court decisions have provided even more opportunities for such planning.   Given those recent court decisions, and Michigan’s current economic malaise, now is the perfect time to engage in long-range planning to protect against future uncapping issues.

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Property law: Attorney sheds light on local market

David Nykanen By Jeanine Matlow

Legal News

The troubled real estate market has led to a number of trends. For one, says attorney David E. Nykanen, property tax appeals are being filed in record numbers in Michigan and throughout the U.S., both by high-end residential owners and industrial/commercial owners.

Nykanen, along with Michael Dorfman, recently formed Nykanen Dorfman, PLLC, a full-service law firm in Farmington Hills specializing in all aspects of real estate, litigation, property tax, and business issues.

“Every crash is different,” says Nykanen. “One common theme is we swear we never will make these mistakes again—and we will.”

“The real problem in Southeast Michigan will continue longer than people think,” he says. “We have a structural oversupply of industrial property due to the automotive industry cutting all the different makes that required different parts. Those jobs and those businesses are gone. Prices of those properties will stay depressed until we figure out how to reuse them.”

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Because of his insights to property tax protests and equity in proper valuations

your webmaster recommends following this gent on twitter: https://twitter.com/MIRealEstateLaw 

and/or FB: https://www.facebook.com/NykanenDorfman

A complete calendar year of important property tax dates.

These MI property tax specialists have a great calendar that you should be aware of if you need help with an appeal or are braving a DIY:

 

http://propertytaxappealspecialist.com/important-deadlines/

6 Tips to Make a Case for Property Tax Cut

Plan Your Tax Attack

Good news for Americans facing eye-popping property taxes: You can fight city hall, or whichever government body sends you this annual economic albatross.

“Appeal help” needs help itself

Pardon me if I laugh at the following “assistance” being offered homeowners. We would get 3 MORE DAYS – count em – to work on an appeal. My typical appeals are perhaps 50 pages and lots and lots of work. What a waste of our money, all that effort for what. In the past few years the process has been almost like war planning as every objection possible is thrown at the property owner in favor of the assessors position and the tax rolls. Gov’t does little if anything to assist us. What about those of us without an accounting degree, a close lawyer friend, a builders license and real estate brokers access to the Multiple Listing Service sold comps. Good grief, p

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Legislation introduced to help homeowners appeal their assessments

A bill crafted to aide homeowners who want to appeal their property tax assessments is on the move in the legislature. Senate Bill 395 introduced by Senator Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw) requires property tax assessment notices to be sent to property owner at least two weeks before the meeting by the local Board of Review.

Under current Michigan law, property tax assessment notices are mailed out 10 days prior to a scheduled Board of Review meeting.

The Michigan Association of REALTORS® supports this legislation because it levels the playing field for homeowners who believe their assessments are inaccurate by allowing enough time to properly gather the necessary information for filing an appeal.

Last week, Senate Bill 395 passed out of the Senate, and is now awaiting a hearing in the House Intergovernmental and Regional Affairs committee.

Michigan Taxpayers Alliance

The Michigan Taxpayers Alliance (MTA) is an alliance of Michigan citizens who believe the state government of Michigan is hurting citizens and our economy by taking too much money from citizens and redistributing it through ever-increasing spending.

The MTA is a true alliance in that its members are dedicated to stopping the state from increasing taxes from any segment of Michigan citizens, even those that government sees as an ‘easy mark’ due to their relative unpopularity; i.e. smokers, alcohol drinkers, “big business”, small business, gamblers, “bad drivers”, “the wealthy”, farmers, or any other taxpayer regardless of their political vulnerability. Learn More

“How to Successfully Appeal Your Property Tax Assessment”

• From Conservative Caucus of Monroe County Another DIY resource.
• from State Senator Bruce Patterson Same DIY resource. Nice outline but overly simplified for the current agressive stance of government to raise $$.s
• from Nassau County Department of Assessment Key points here: make numerical adjustments !
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