How It Works

Explanation...

Short Explanation

A Property tax appeal is a formal request to re-evaluate the basis used for determining how much you are required to pay for your property taxes. Successful Property Tax Appeals are a result of proper information and presentation.

A successful Property Tax Appeal is anything but automatic. A property owner that feels that the tax assessment is not a valid representation of "True Cash Value", the laws of the state allow for requests to lower the assessment.

The Assessors board of review usually consists of 3 or 4 members of your community who will sit in judgment of your request. In order to be successful valid reasons and verifiable data must be presented in a professional manner.

We at PPTA are experienced at obtaining and explaining the required information in order to obtain the tax reduction that you deserve.

Why Should I Appeal My Property Taxes?

The laws of our state allow for property tax reductions if the true Cash Value is less than the Taxable Value. In many instances, this is the case.

The values of our properties have dropped due to the loss of hundreds of thousands of high paying jobs. President Obama and Governor Granholm have openly told the citizens of our state that those jobs are not coming back.  These jobs were the engine of our economy; if the jobs are not coming back neither are the property values. The question is how long you are going to pay inflated, exorbitant taxes on your property.

Many municipalities have voluntarily reduced the Taxable Value of the homes in their jurisdiction; however the amount of the reduction is far from the true cash value and was extended to the home owners as a stop gap method to lessen the amount of requests to the Board of Review.

It is also important to note that after your reduction is in place the Taxable Value cannot be increased by more than 5% or the rate of inflation whichever is the less. Your tax savings will continue until the property is transferred.

We offer a free service to review your individual property tax situation. We will not accept properties or charge a fee for properties that do not have sufficient data to produce a positive reaction from the Board of Review or the State Tax Tribunal.

How It Works

1. Research
   • Regional data is analyzed and collected.
   • Verification of actual values.
   • Appeal documents and presentation assembled.
2. Presentation to the Board of Review
   • All data is professionally presented to the members of the board and corrections to the Assessors data are reviewed.
   • Board members are informed that failure to adjust the value will result in further action at the State Tax Tribunal on behalf of PPTA, Inc. clients.
3. Board of Review Response
   • Upon receiving the Board of Review decision we will contact you with the results.
   • If in the event that the reduction is an amount less than what we feel to be fair, we can discuss further action at the State Tax Tribunal.
4. State Tax Tribunal
   • Our experience has shown that some municipalities refuse to reduce the value at the Board of Review regardless of the quality of evidence provided and offer a small reduction with the concept that the petitioner will just go away. This has proven to be true. Statistics show that 96% of denied petitioners will not proceed to the State Tax Tribunal for many different reasons.
   • We will proceed for you.  We will not stop until we win.
   • The State Tax tribunal is a Court of Law and the weight of evidence falls on the petitioner. We accept this challenge and will have the evidence to support our claim.
   • All of the required forms will be drafted by our office and submitted within the statuary time period. Upon receipt by the State of Michigan a (docket) number will be assigned to each property. You will be able to track the progress of your file at http://www.michigan.gov/taxtrib .
   • There are no state fees for owner occupied properties. Fees for non-owner occupied investment properties have been increased by 500% for the 2010 Tribunal petitions. Now the fees are $125.00 for requests under $100,000.00 in reduction and $200.00 for a request from $100,000.01 to $500,000.00.

Getting Started is Easy!

1. Open an account, fill in your property information, agree to the terms of the retention agreement and submit payment. Confirmation will be returned via e-mail within 72 hours.
   
   
2. We will perform the preliminary research to determine if your property qualifies. If we are unable to locate sufficient data your fee will be returned.
   
   
3. Please note that properties between 1998 and 2009 are most likely to be over assessed. Additionally any property recently purchased should be analyzed due to the Uncapping of the (SEV) State Equalized Value. Upon the registration of a deed transfer the municipalities are allowed by State Law to adjust the Taxable Value to the higher (SEV) value, under most circumstanced this will result in a sizable increase in the tax amount charged.
   
   Other conditions may trigger this Uncapping, we recommend that you seek legal advice prior to any transfer of ownership.