District Attorney Gregory D. Totten issued a Consumer Protection Alert today to Ventura County residents regarding a series of recent mailings to county residents which appear to be in violation of the law. Within the last week, numerous residents have received mailings from entities with names like “Property Tax Reassessment” and “Property Tax Adjustment Service” which purport to offer to file a request for a property tax reassessment for a fee.
Because these solicitations did not inform the recipient that they can file their own request for reassessment with the Assessor’s Office without any fee, the solicitations are in violation of California law. Section 17537.9 of the Business and Professions Code requires solicitations from assessment appeal application filing services to include specific disclaimers that the solicitation is not associated with any government agency. Any outer envelope must bear on its face, in capital letters and in conspicuous and legible type, the following notice: “THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT.” Further, the top of every page of the solicitation must bear, in 12 point bold print enclosed in a box formed by a heavy line, the following specific language:
THIS ASSESSMENT APPEAL APPLICATION FILING SERVICE IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE ASSESSED VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN INFORMAL ASSESSMENT REVIEW, AT NO COST, BY CONTACTING THE ASSESSOR'S OFFICE DIRECTLY. IF YOU AND THE ASSESSOR CANNOT AGREE TO THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY OR IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CONTACT THE ASSESSOR YOU CAN OBTAIN AND FILE AN APPLICATION, AT NO COST, ON YOUR OWN BEHALF. AN APPEALS BOARD HAS THE AUTHORITY TO RAISE PROPERTY VALUES (BUT IN NO CASE HIGHER THAN THE PROPOSITION 13 PROTECTED VALUE) AS WELL AS TO LOWER PROPERTY VALUES.
A failure to include either disclaimer is a misdemeanor.
The solicitations also violate Civil Code section 1716 by soliciting payment of money by another by means of a written statement or invoice, or any writing that reasonably could be considered a bill, invoice, or statement of account due. Section 1716 requires that each such solicitation bear a disclaimer that “THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION. YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO PAY THE AMOUNT STATED ABOVE UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER,” and that the disclaimer shall be conspicuous boldface capital letters “at least as large, bold, and conspicuous as any other print on the face of the solicitation but no smaller than 30-point type.” A violation of section 1716 is a misdemeanor.
Residents who receive such letters may refer the letters to the District Attorney’s Office for review. Also, residents may obtain detailed information regarding property reassessment procedures by contacting the County Assessor’s Office at (805) 654-2161 or by reviewing the Ventura County Assessor’s Web site which discusses the process for submitting an Application for Decline in Value (http://assessor.countyofventura.org/taxsavings/declineinvalue.html). Residents can also view additional information and advice from the County Assessor’s Office regarding such solicitations at: http://assessor.countyofventura.org/pdfs/Press/PressRelease060308.pdf