Refi and effect on tax bassed

[williams_95136]

I live in CA , Santa Clara county


I am doing a refinancing of my property and I have a partner ( brother at 30%) in the property. the bank told me that my brother have to quit his claim in order to refinance. I am concerned that this could cause the county to reassess the tax base for my property which could double my taxes. I was told by the escrow company that this is not the case but I called the county and they told me it could be reassessed. The property transfer is done with no money transfer. I called the escrow co again and I was told county will not reappraise the property. and they will put that in writing.
Questions
1. would my property be reassessed?
2. If is was reassessed can I go after the escrow co because they are giving me the wrong info.

thanks

[abezon]

1. Maybe. They can reassess any time they want.
2. No -- you have received a conflicting answer from the county, so you can't reasonably rely on the escrow co's answer.

[williams_95136]

I just called the escrow co and they said the county was wrong we di this all the time. so I asked him to put it in writing woould that still make them liable if they were wrong. I'm looking at a lose of $6k a year if they are wrong

In CA, the only time they can reassess your property is upon transfer or new construction. Taking your brother off title will result in a partial reappraisal, but consideration can be made if this is only done for financing purposes only and title is changed back to the original way it was held after the refi. Contact your local Assessor's office and get that explained in detail and in writing and follow their instructions to the letter to avoid reappraisal.