Requires any contract or retainer agreement between a property owner and an attorney for legal services related to the filing and appearance before a board of assessment review regarding complaints in relation to assessments shall include a written disclosure that such complaints in relation to assessments can be completed without the assistance of an attorney; limits fees charged for representation before a board of assessment review.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8919
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to requiring
certain disclosures and charges by attorneys performing services in
connection with a real property tax grievance procedure
PURPOSE:
To notify homeowners who are grieving their property tax assessment that
they can complete the forms on their own and to limit the fees that
firms charge homeowners who choose to use their services.
SUMMARY:
Section 1. Amends the real property tax law by adding a new section
524-a.
Section 2. Amends section 524 of the real property tax law by adding a
new subdivision 5.
Section 3. Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
A homeowner's tax bill is based on what the municipality believes the
property is worth. A property with a higher worth will have a higher
property tax bill. The grievance process allows homeowners to prove to
an assessor that the property is worth less than what the municipality
says it is and reduce the homeowner's property tax bill.
The grievance process was intended as a tool to fix inequities in tax
assessments but the process has actually made tax assessments less fair.
Wealthier neighborhoods appeal at much higher rates and regularly
receive significant assessment reductions even though homes in those
areas were more likely to be undervalued. In poorer neighborhoods, home-
owners are not only more likely to have their properties overvalued;
they are less likely to appeal.
Whatever reductions are granted are paid for by the rest of a munici-
pality's property owners who pick up the tab for any refund and bear the
increased tax burden in the following years. .A 2017 investigation by
Newsday on Long Island found that the assessment program in Nassau Coun-
ty shifted $1.7 billion in taxes from those who won assessment chal-
lenges and tended to be more affluent to those who are not.
Despite being designed to accommodate homeowners making claims on their
own, assessment specialists and attorneys have led homeowners to believe
that the process is complicated and requires assistance. This cottage
industry has manipulated the grievance process for their own ends- to
collect high fees without providing relief to the majority of homeown-
ers. Most companies charge homeowners only if the company successfully
lowers the property tax bill but the charge is still very high - the
amount saved by grieving.
This bill brings transparency and control to the homeowner by requiring
assessment specialists and attorneys to disclose to homeowners that they
do not need to hire a specialist or attorney to file a tax grievance,
the forms can be completed by the homeowners with assistance by the
appropriate municipality. The bill also caps the excessively high fees
paid to attorneys and specialists. Assessment specialists and attorneys
will no longer be able to prey on homeowners who do not know their
rights. This will eliminate some of the predatory practices being seen
across the state and empower homeowners to make informed decisions when
filing these grievances.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022-22: A4650 (Griffin); real property taxation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8919
IN ASSEMBLY
January 26, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Real Property Taxation
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to requiring
certain disclosures and charges by attorneys performing services in
connection with a real property tax grievance procedure
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new
2 section 524-a to read as follows:
3 § 524-a. Contracts for complaints with respect to assessment. Any
4 contract or retainer agreement between a property owner and an attorney
5 for legal services, including filing and appearances, related to a small
6 claims assessment review shall include a clear and conspicuous written
7 disclosure in a large print format that such complaints in relation to
8 assessments can be completed without the assistance of an attorney.
9 Such disclosure shall state that information regarding the small claim
10 assessment review process, forms, and assistance can be found on the New
11 York courts website and shall contain that website and the website for
12 the appropriate municipality where the property is located; provided
13 that if such property is located in Nassau county the disclosure shall
14 provide the website for the Assessment Review Commission and in New York
15 city the disclosure shall provide the website for the New York City Tax
16 Commission. For the purposes of this section, large print format shall
17 mean a printed font size of sixteen or larger.
18 § 2. Section 524 of the real property tax law is amended by adding a
19 new subdivision 5 to read as follows:
20 5. No person or other entity authorized to represent a complainant
21 before a board of assessment review, the assessment review commission or
22 the New York city tax commission with regard to real property assessment
23 grievances shall charge any fee which is in excess of twenty-five
24 percent of any reduction determined by such board or commission.
25 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01875-01-3
