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Mayor Michael Pavia said Stamford residents should be wary of using ValueAppeal to appeal their property valuations.
Photo Credit: Anthony Buzzeo
Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia.
Photo Credit: Anthony Buzzeo
STAMFORD, Conn. — The following is a letter from Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia, warning residents about using a company, ValueAppeal, a company that promises to reduce property taxes. The Daily Stamford accepts letters-to-the-editor from all readers.
Recently, a company named “ValueAppeal” has done a mass mailing to Stamford property owners, essentially promising recipients a reduction in property taxes after paying ValueAppeal’s $99 fee. In making a decision as to whether to retain their services, you may wish to consider the following points. First, any property owner can challenge the value the City places on property without hiring a service or paying a fee. It appears that all of the valuation information which ValueAppeal uses is available to members of the public, without charge. This information can be found at : http://www.cityofstamford.org/apps/tax/default.htm.
Information on the valuation process itself and the ability of property owners to challenge the City’s values for property can be found at: http://www.cityofstamford.org/content/25/52/131/144/152/2986.aspx.
Second, according to published newspaper articles, ValueAppeal does not always provide a list of comparable homes which are in the appropriate neighborhood. If another property is not located within a reasonable distance of a home, or is not sufficiently similar, it may not be considered to be comparable. If it is not comparable, then information about that property may prove to be of no use in challenging the City’s value.
Third, ValueAppeal’s contract specifically states that there are no guarantees and no warrantees. Under Paragraph 9, there will be no refund if the final tax assessment is due to a factor outside the reasonable control or knowledge of ValueAppeal - which potentially could include virtually every tax assessment.
Lastly, ValueAppeal shares email addresses and certain registration information with third parties, so property owners may lose some privacy rights. Under Paragraph 8 of its contract, property owners agree to give ValueAppeal a license to distribute and sublicense such information to others.
There may be other more technical factors that should be considered (e.g., does their “correct” value reflect the value as of 2007 or 2012?), but the concerns listed above suggest that you should exercise prudence before responding to a mass mailing such as this.
Michael A. Pavia, Mayor
Mayor Pavia, were you able to reach out to the company for their side of the story?
I think it'd be important to include some other points: This company has a great Better Business Bureau rating. It's not easy to have that when you're dealing with money - people are very sensitive in that area! That's quite the testament of ValueAppeal in and of itself.
Also, I personally know people who have used this service and loved it. Sure it costs 99 bucks and they could have done it themselves, but think of all the research they'd have to do! This took them 5 minutes and they were essentially done. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend my weekend (or two) researching property taxes and comparable homes.
Oh, and I didn't read the guarantee like you did, Mayor. I read that there IS INDEED a guarantee, but if you don't use their evidence, obviously that would nullify the guarantee. Cheers :)