How do I interest a lawyer in a constitutional violation of property tax law?

[ksdehoff]

I'm in New Mexico. I have protested and won three years in a row the assessor's valuation increases. Every year it escalated and this year the assessor challenged my win in district court. She lost and the district court said that her method is unlawful as it applied to my property. The data is obvious that we used to win, land sales are 170k to 320k and the assessor set a flat rate 204k for every lot. This has gone on for several years and the valuations of my community are no longer proportional as required by the constitution. So I've tried asking ACLU, IG, local lawyers, the local property tax protest company and either get a 'no thanks' or no answer. I've gotten this far pro se and would love to find a lawyer that can take this on contingency. That's the problem. My incremental tax liability is $3k/year...and lots of my neighbors are all relatively small as well. Against an expensive case against the county and the state....I'm thinking that a class action approach would make it worthwhile for a lawyer, but I don't know how to approach this topic with a lawyer, even how to go about finding one that will answer the phone!

Appreciate any help you can offer

 

[quincy]

I'm in New Mexico. I have protested and won three years in a row the assessor's valuation increases. Every year it escalated and this year the assessor challenged my win in district court. She lost and the district court said that her method is unlawful as it applied to my property. The data is obvious that we used to win, land sales are 170k to 320k and the assessor set a flat rate 204k for every lot. This has gone on for several years and the valuations of my community are no longer proportional as required by the constitution. So I've tried asking ACLU, IG, local lawyers, the local property tax protest company and either get a 'no thanks' or no answer. I've gotten this far pro se and would love to find a lawyer that can take this on contingency. That's the problem. My tax liability is $3k/year...and lots of my neighbors are all relatively small as well. Against an expensive case against the county and the state....I'm thinking that a class action approach would make it worthwhile for a lawyer, but I don't know how to approach this topic with a lawyer, even how to go about finding one that will answer the phone!

Appreciate any help you can offer

When is she up for reelection? You and the others in your community who are equally upset by her valuations could work to vote her out of office.

 

[ksdehoff]

two years. No doubt she will be voted out for not only my community complaints - but there is real damage done that needs to be fixed - in addition to ongoing more damage if she's left to her own devices for the next two years

 

[quincy]

two years. No doubt she will be voted out for not only my community complaints - but there is real damage done that needs to be fixed - in addition to ongoing more damage if she's left to her own devices for the next two years

I suggest you take the next two years to organize your community. Find someone who will make a good candidate to run against her. And you can contact the media in your area to investigate what you consider to be a continuing abuse of her position.

 

[adjusterjack]

I've gotten this far pro se and would love to find a lawyer that can take this on contingency.

That's not gonna happen. Why don't you pay an attorney by the hour to file the class action?

 

[Taxing Matters]

That's not gonna happen. Why don't you pay an attorney by the hour to file the class action?

I'd be surprised if a real estate tax contest would be eligible for a class action. It's not possible to do class actions on federal tax matters and none of the states I'm familiar with would allow for that for state/local tax either. It would be very difficult to do when valuation is the basis for the challenge because each member of the proposed class would not be similiarly situated. The valuation of each property is going to be different.

 

[quincy]

… The valuation of each property is going to be different.

I believe one of ksdehoff’s complaints is that all properties are being assessed using a flat rate of $204k on all properties when land sales are $170k to $320k.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I believe one of ksdehoff’s complaints is that all properties are being assessed using a flat rate of $204k on all properties when land sales are $170k to $320k.

Even if that is the the contention, the problem is that for setting damages each home nevertheless has to be valued separately as each property is unique. That's not the sort of thing that works well in a class action case.

 

[quincy]

Even if that is the the contention, the problem is that for setting damages each home nevertheless has to be valued separately as each property is unique. That's not the sort of thing that works well in a class action case.

Oh, I see no class action suit coming out of what has been described. I see an assessor who probably needs to be replaced.

It is a problem if the assessed property values, upon which the taxable values are based, are consistently coming in higher than the market values indicate they should. I can understand ksdehoff’s frustration in having to deal with this every year.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I agree that it sounds like the current assessor should be out of a job.

 

[quincy]

It also might be worth it for ksdehoff to speak to a local investigative reporter to see if there is anyone or any entity in particular that is profiting off the inflated and/or under-valued assessments.

 

[AlmostThere]

I'm in New Mexico. I have protested and won three years in a row the assessor's valuation increases. Every year it escalated and this year the assessor challenged my win in district court. She lost and the district court said that her method is unlawful as it applied to my property. The data is obvious that we used to win, land sales are 170k to 320k and the assessor set a flat rate 204k for every lot. This has gone on for several years and the valuations of my community are no longer proportional as required by the constitution. So I've tried asking ACLU, IG, local lawyers, the local property tax protest company and either get a 'no thanks' or no answer. I've gotten this far pro se and would love to find a lawyer that can take this on contingency. That's the problem. My incremental tax liability is $3k/year...and lots of my neighbors are all relatively small as well. Against an expensive case against the county and the state....I'm thinking that a class action approach would make it worthwhile for a lawyer, but I don't know how to approach this topic with a lawyer, even how to go about finding one that will answer the phone!

Appreciate any help you can offer

Out of curiosity, how much do you see this case as worth? What do you believe the monetary award will be?

 

[quincy]

Out of curiosity, how much do you see this case as worth? What do you believe the monetary award will be?

There are more than a few tax assessors in this country who have been discovered illegally manipulating tax valuations for personal gain. These illegal manipulations generally will result in criminal charges being filed against those involved (e.g., for fraud, embezzlement, theft, bribery) rather than resulting in civil actions - but homeowners adversely affected by inflated property valuations potentially could file lawsuits to recover damages.

Here is a link to an article about a lawsuit filed against a county assessor:
https://www.propublica.org/article/lawsuit-targets-cook-county-assessor-joseph-berrios

Here is a link to an article about criminal charges filed against an assessor:
https://vicksburgnews.com/auditors-office-arrests-former-benton-county-tax-assessor/

And this is from Missouri’s Attorney General, who filed a lawsuit against a county tax assessor for illegal property assessments:
https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-files-suit-against-jackson-county-tax-assessor-for-illegal-property-assessments/

https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/Assessment-Petition-Final-signed.pdf

There are numerous cases filed against tax assessors who thought accepting bribes in exchange for raising or lowering taxes on some properties was an easy way to earn some extra cash.

In ksdehoff’s described situation, it will probably take awhile to gather enough evidence of wrongdoing by the current assessor to take any sort of legal action against her - and this only if the assessor has in fact done anything wrong. She should not be defamed in the meantime by spreading any unsupported claims of her illegally inflating or reducing valuations.

 

[AlmostThere]

There are more than a few tax assessors in this country who have been discovered illegally manipulating tax valuations for personal gain. These illegal manipulations generally will result in criminal charges being filed against those involved (e.g., for fraud, embezzlement, theft, bribery) rather than resulting in civil actions - but homeowners adversely affected by inflated property valuations potentially could file lawsuits to recover damages.

The reason for my questions was that I wondered why OP thought a contingency lawyer would take this case.

 

[quincy]

The reason for my questions was that I wondered why OP thought a contingency lawyer would take this case.

There are attorneys who will work on “public interest” cases pro bono if the cause is just. I think that could be why ksfehoff approached the ACLU. There does not necessarily have to be dollars involved to interest an attorney in representing a plaintiff or a group of plaintiffs - so a contingency agreement could be “public interest plus a dollars incentive” here. It is not outside the realm of possibilities, in other words, to work out a contingency agreement if enough tax overpayments and damages can be recovered.

For one example out of many, I have an attorney-friend who volunteered his services to an impoverished group of residents in a community who were being discriminated against. There was no monetary incentive for him but the case attracted the media and publicity surrounding the case wound up being free advertising for his firm, and the firm benefited financially in that way.

So, the particular facts of a case matter as does the particular attorneys attracted to the facts of a case. It doesn’t hurt to approach attorneys about working on a contingency basis or to work pro bono.