Who you should know: Thomas N. Benford
Company: iProtest Taxes
Title: President
Years in Business: Since January 29, 2010
What prompted you to create this company?
Historically, those who have filed a protest of the assessed value they received from their county appraisal district have been very successful, with over 70 percent receiving a reduction. We believe the average reduction has been in the range of 8 percent. Given this favorable context, we noticed that most people still don’t protest. So, we set out to find out why. Our research revealed that a large percentage of non-protestors fell into two categories: those that felt they didn’t have time to protest and those who weren’t sure what they needed to do to protest successfully. So, we created iProtest to serve those customers; those who have, historically, lacked the time, access to the data, or familiarity with the real estate valuation required to file a successful protest.
What is the process to protest?
The homeowner must first notify the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) that they disagree with the assessed value the county appraisal district has placed on their home and on what grounds they disagree. The most commons grounds for disagreement is that the assessed value is greater than the market value. The second is that the assessed value is unequal when compared to other properties’ assessed values. This notice must typically be given by May 31 and can be done online in most populous counties. As a courtesy, most counties will then allow the homeowner to meet with a representative of the appraisal district informally to try and resolve the dispute. In larger counties, an online submission of the homeowner’s argument can substitute for this meeting. If agreement cannot be reached, the protest will proceed to an ARB hearing.
What is your most frequently asked question?
The most frequently asked question I receive is, “If I protest my property tax assessment, will the value of my home go down?” The answer is no. The tax-assessed value of your home, which is used to calculate your property taxes, and the market value of your home, which is an indication of what you can sell it for on the open market, are not the same. The county appraisal district that sets your assessed value is required to meet a uniform and equal standard, which is not part of a market appraisal. The additional standard can drive wide deviations in the two values. Further, the appraisal district doesn’t perform the type of inspections that a market appraiser does. A bank would never rely on the assessed value set by an appraisal district for financing purposes.
What are some of your upcoming projects?
We are currently making plans to extend our service offering to other parts of the state of Texas. By April 2012, we plan to have a presence in the greater metropolitan areas of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.
For more information, please visit: www.iProtestPropertyTaxes.com https://www.facebook.com/iProtestPropertyTaxes www.twitter.com/PropTaxProtest
