Common questions

One test only: is your unit's market value on January 1 of this year lower than the assessed value on the roll? When you bought, how large your mortgage is, whether you rent it out, how old the building is — none of that matters.

Enter an address or AIN under Check my property and you'll see the numbers we came up with.

RP-87 has no field for property condition. This route compares two numbers: market value against the value on the roll. Condition matters only if it pushes market value down and you can back it up with comparable sales or repair bids — and then it belongs in the evidence packet, not on the form.

No. Prop 8 is a temporary reduction, revisited every year. When the market recovers the assessed value follows it back up, capped at your Prop 13 protected value — never above that original line. It also doesn't change your base year value.

The appeals board has the authority to lower or raise a value, with a ceiling: never above the Prop 13 protected value. The law requires us to tell you this; the full text is on the required disclosures page.

In practice: we only recommend filing when we can give a reason and back it with comparable sales recorded on or before 3/31.

No. Verbatim from RP-87: You may withdraw your AAB appeal without penalty, for any reason.

But the timing has to be right — wait until the reduction the Assessor agreed to is actually enrolled, or you can end up with neither. We watch that date for you.

Because both windows close on the same day (11/30). File only the free one and wait, and the Assessor may not answer until November — by which time the appeal window has closed too, and the year is gone.

R&T §1603(a) is explicit: filing with the board does not require an Assessor review first. The two tracks are compared line by line on the how it works page.

No. October 1 is a checkpoint printed on RP-87: the form reminds you to file an appeal if the Assessor's findings have not reached you by then. November 30 is the statutory deadline. When it falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, Property Tax Rule 305(d)(6) treats an application mailed and postmarked on the next business day as timely; in 2026 November 30 is a Monday, so no extension applies. The How it works page sets this out under its fifth rule.

In two places, and neither office forwards it to the other: the Assessor's copy goes in with RP-87; the board's copy cannot go in with AAB-100 — it goes through the AAP portal at aab.lacounty.gov, which opens only after you are scheduled; the deadline is the one stated in your scheduling notice.

The same evidence gets submitted twice. That part is ours.

At this stage, yes. We don't hold a Tax Agent Registration Number yet, so we can't appear as your agent: you attend, and we hand you the evidence, the talking points and the likely questions in advance.

In LA County a condo can elect the Hearing Officer process at any value (the $5,000,000 threshold applies to other property types). It is faster, but you don't get Findings of Fact.

No. Not once. We don't ask for credentials to any government portal, and we never log into a government site as you.

All we need is the address or AIN, your contact details, one signed written authorization, and optionally anything you already have that supports a lower value.

No, and we have no affiliation with one. The law requires us to say so in a prescribed type size; the full text is on the required disclosures page.

The California Attorney General keeps a standing property tax scam advisory. Read it before you hire anyone, us included.

Not yet. We don't hold an LA County Code 2.165 Tax Agent Registration Number. Until we do, we don't file as your agent: we do the valuation, assemble the evidence, and fill the forms out up to the signature line — you sign and file. We say the same thing on the home page, the pricing page and in the service agreement.

One more thing: California has no statewide property tax agent license. AB 2415 (2014) would have created a statewide registration requirement, and it was vetoed. So any firm claiming a “California property tax agent license” is claiming something that doesn't exist. County-level 2.165 registration is the only bar there is.

Because Cal. B&P §17537.9(b)(2) requires it:

It has to be the largest type on that page — which is why the pages carrying that box (the signing step and the required disclosures page) have no large headlines. The full explanation is here.

No. Under Property Tax Rule 305(a)(1) a single authorization can be written to cover every parcel and assessment within Los Angeles County, for up to 4 consecutive calendar years.

One signature is enough; there is no signing per case. Retroactive authorization is not allowed, so a past year can't be added later.

Yes. Notify us, the Assessor and the appeals board in writing and the authorization is revoked. If you sell, the authorization stops applying to the new owner from the date title transfers.