Who should pay this fee?

I'm looking for opinions...

I just bought my house this past December. In the listing the previous owners put down that they are grieving the taxes (which are about $14k). At closing I had to sign a document from the company they hired to do the grieving that said I was the new owner.

I just contacted that company to get a status and they told me we won't know anything until next April...fine. I asked if the previous owners are responsible for their fee and they said "No. You have taken over the grievance and if we win a reduction your fee will be 40% of the 2015-16 savings."

Apparently my lawyer agrees with them too. But I don't understand why I should pay a fee since the previous owners decided to hire someone to do the grievance when they could have done it themselves.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

This should have been discussed at the contract signing. I am going through this now.

We sold our house and grieved the taxes for 14/15 & 15/16 through Maidenbaum. I had my attorney ask their attorney to find out if the buyers would pay the grievance for 14/15 and if they wanted to continue with the grievance for 15/16. The buyers agreed to pay their portion of the grievance for 14/15 once they take possession of the house but they wanted me to cancel the grievance for 15/16 with Maidenbaum.

I called Maidenbaum this morning and canceled 15/16.

If you don't want to pay for 15/16, you should find out if you can cancel the request. Maidenbaum told me that they have not filed with the county for 15/16 yet and that is why we had time to cancel.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

yeah, no one brought up this fee and i think it should have been put in the contract.

they hired Fred Perry and he told me he put it in this past January so I'm guessing it can't be canceled.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

Re: Who should pay this fee?

Who should pay this fee?

At closing I had to sign a document from the company they hired to do the grieving that said I was the new owner.

Have you re-read this document? When I read the above, I automatically thought that you would then be responsible for any of the previous owners cost. Primarily because there is no cost unless the grievance is granted.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

Re: Who should pay this fee?

Re: Who should pay this fee?

If you don't want to pay the fee, you can write them and ask them to withdraw the grievance - as long as you don't have a determination it's not too late.

If the assessment gets reduced, you are legally responsible for the fee. You will be the party benefiting from the reduction. If you do not pay the fee, you can be subject to a collections proceeding for "unjust enrichment."

I've dealt with this multiple times on behalf of the firm I work for back when we handled residential tax appeals, and we never lost.

I am assuming that the former owner paid the $30 filing fee already. Remember, if they don't reduce the assessment, there is no fee due.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

Re-read what you signed at closing. My guess is that it states that the fee transfers to you. Your lawyer should have explained each page before you signed in, but unfortunately, it looks like you're stuck with the fee. Find out what you agreed to so you don't have to keep paying for future years.

Who should pay this fee?

You are the one benefiting from the grievance if it is granted. That's why the fee is paid by you.

If you really don't want to pay the fee contact them and with draw the application. You can then wait until next year and file it yourselves.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

Why would you cancel the grievance? It is just going to result in more money you pay in taxes. Wouldn't you rather pay the fee and reap the tax reduction savings? Of course they could have filed themselves, but these companies are so good it is totally worth it!

Who should pay this fee?

Our seller had started a grievance before we bought, also. During negotiations of the sales price, it came out that the listing had the incorrect taxes listed and the sellers Agent was very nasty about it. It caused a bunch of problems and the seller wound up reducing the sales price. At the closing, no one ever mentioned the grievance and we never signed any paperwork about it. Many months after we closed, we got a letter from the seller's attorney, stating the the grievance had bee successful and now we had to pay the grievance company (or reimburse the seller for the fee she paid - I'm not sure which one, now). We called our lawyer who said to ignore it and that's what we did - never heard from them again. (If the seller had not been such a royal b!tch during the whole process we probably would have just paid it - but she was as nasty as they come, so a little bite by karma for her lol)

Message edited 7/8/2014 3:02:31 PM.

Who should pay this fee?

I don't see the issue. They grieved the taxes, but you took ownership in the middle of that process. Therefore, they will see no benefot from it - you will. You only pay a fee if you win the grievance. I'd wait and see if you win before worrying about the fee. If you do win, the fee is only a portion of the money you'll save. Yeah, it stinks that they decided to pay someone to grieve the taxes when you would have done it yourself. But it's done and hopefully you'll save some money.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

You should.

Who should pay this fee?

Since you'll be benefiting from any reduction there is, you should be responsible for the fee.

Who should pay this fee?

And you are paying 40%... i just paid typical 50%.

Re: Who should pay this fee?

You signed something from the grievance company, you pay. Makes sense.

When we bought our home, we did not sign anything with the company, we did not have to pay, but we did benefit. Never expected that. We had no idea they had done it.