This post is specifically for residents in Arizona but who knows if this scam is not going on elsewhere throughout the country. A company called “Property Tax Review Board” or PTRB for short is sending out letters promising homeowners that they can help homeowners reduce their property tax bills for the 2009 tax year for a fee of $189.
Don’t do it – it is a scam!
“These letters are designed to look as if they are coming from a government agency, but are nothing more than an attempt at charging Arizona residents for something they can easily do on their own for free,” Matthew Fehling, BBB President/CEO said.
The letters state that due to the drop in property values, residents need to file again for a reassessment of their 2009 property taxes. However, according to the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office the deadline to file for an administrative review for a possible reduction for the 2009 tax year expired in April 2008.
What that simply means is that you will be throwing your money away. So best advice is to simply throw the letters away or if you want to throw your money away for a service you can do yourself for free, send it to me. 
Postscript: If you look at the comments below, PTRB has defended their action and has indicated that the service they are offering would be for the 2010 tax year. While it is not a scam to offer a “pay-for” service to appeal a homeowner’s property tax assessment, even though the homeowner can do it on their own, I took issue with the fact that the letter PTRB mailed out was not clear on the tax year they’d appeal and suggested that future mailings should be more clear.
So, my original rant was based on the fact that the letter led me to believe they were offering a pay-for service to appeal my 2009 property tax assessment, of which the deadline to appeal has expired.
If in fact PTRB will file an appeal for 2010, then what they are offering is not a scam. However I still feel they should be more forthright in their advertising. Enough said.
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ken,
I just recieved my check back froom a comapany called Walkoutplan Inc
Andre
Yep: IT IS A SCAM.
I can’t believe how these people sleep at night, knowing they have taken money from hard working people. How far can a person go to steal money, if anyone files a lawsuit I’m in, unfortunately I too sent them money in good faith. But I do believe in carma.
Here is what we got in respond to a complaint with County of LA Dept. of Consumer affairs.
“We are happy to announce that The District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Division filed criminal charges against the suspect, Sean McConville. In addition, he also faces a civil lawsuit filed by the State of California Attorney General’s Office.”
If you haven’t filed a complaint yet please do it asap, the letter also states that we will be notified if our money is available for refund.
I lived in Los Angeles County, I received a letter from “Homeowner Property Tax Review Board”, Tax Reduction Review Division, last October 2009. I responded and I paid $189 understanding that PTRB would help me reassess my property so I wouldn’t have to pay my taxes or at least lower my property taxes. This Review Board did not do anything I want my money back. Actually, on the back of the form it state, “If, after our review, it is determined you do not qualify for a reduction, your service fee will be immediately refunded”. For past 3 months I have not heard from them. But, I received another letter from PTRB asking for another fee for $167.00 payable to Annual Property Tax Review that this evil person did not do anything or no action at all. It is a shame how you earn a living, “FRAUD and SCAM”.
Please, help me how can I get my money back. I am not rich person I work very hard to bring food on my table. I am a victim for this scam. PLEASE HELP…..
Thanks for bringing this issue to everyone’s attention. This so-called “service” is indeed, a scam. This company has been heavily active in the Southwest but thanks to a number of government warnings from offices such as the Nevada Attorney General and the California Attorney General, hopefully homeowners are being armed with the right information.
This type of fraud can be particularly dangerous because worries about scams may prevent people from using legitimate appeal services, which means that millions of people remain overassessed and paying too much in taxes. Here at ValueAppeal (www.valueappeal.com), we get calls and emails from consumers that are concerned – we’re glad they contact us so that we can help them, but it’s still worrisome that so many people are confused.
Here are a few things to look for in a non-scam service:
1) Make sure they have a money-back guarantee, but not a success guarantee. No company can guarantee you a successful appeal. If they aren’t prepared to refund your money if your appeal isn’t successful, you shouldn’t work with them. At ValueAppeal, for example, we simply refund our fee if the appeal isn’t successful.
2) Know your chances up front. Any legitimate service should tell you, before you pay a single dollar, whether appealing is right for you each year. At ValueAppeal, you simply enter your address and we indicate whether appealing might make sense and why; any service that doesn’t allow you to find out this information beforehand doesn’t deserve your money. Depending on which county you’re in, if you type ten different addresses into our homepage more than half will return a result of “You’re Not Overassessed”. We won’t tell you to appeal if you don’t have a strong chance of winning.
3) No obligation. After you’ve been told whether or not an appeal is in your best interest, legitimate services should contain no obligation to use the service. That is, once an appeal recommendation has been made, you should be able to choose between creating an appeal using the service or to try to gather the information on your own. We know from our customers that a ValueAppeal appeal has a better chance of succeeding, but once you find out that you’re eligible, there is no obligation to work with us – you can gather the comparable sales information on your own and file on your own.
Those three rules are a good way to determine whether a service is a scam or not, but if you’re concerned, feel free to give us a call here at ValueAppeal – we try to keep-an-update list of scams and good services around the office, and we’re happy to help you understand your options.
I was ready to sign a check and send it because it completely looked official. I thought this letter came from the Los Angeles County, but I am glad curiosity got the best of me and searched it online. What bothers me is that it looks very official.
Teresa, Los Angeles
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