Mail hoax targets homeowners
By Angela Randazzo Special to the Acorn

Ventura County homeowners are receiving officiallooking letters offering to help them lower their property taxes for a fee.

A business calling itself "Property Tax Reassessment" says it can assist homeowners with reassessment or adjustment services. The letters have a Los Angeles mailing address or a Ventura County post office box address.

Dan Goodwin, Ventura County assessor, warned residents not to be fooled by the cleverly worded solicitations.

"It's asking people to pay for something they can get for free," Goodwin said. "The letter implies 'they' are going to do something for the fee. The whole thing is an opportunist taking advantage of the public."

The letters imply that homeowners need to file an application to have their property reassessed. It asks residents to "mail the payment coupon with your processing fee of $171 on or before 09/05/2008. If the processing fee is not received by that date your application is subject to a $67 late fee."

Last week, Goodwin's office received numerous inquires from Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Westlake Village and Oak Park residents who received the letters.

Kimmer Bell, who lives in a Thousand Oaks condominium complex, received the solicitation this week.

"The letter looks so official. I was thinking for the processing fee, we would be eligible for a $501 reduction on our property taxes," said the mother of 3-year-old twins.

Bell called her husband at work to tell him the good news, and then she decided to examine the letter more closely.

"The property value on our house was way off, and the letter had a Los Angeles mailing address," Bell said. "It seemed strange."

Bell brought up the questionable letter during a homeowners association meeting and discovered some of her neighbors had received the same solicitation.

Newbury Park residents Sarah and Harvey Applebaum were also targeted in the mailing scam.

"This is definitely a con and a very clever one," said Sarah Applebaum, a retired San Fernando Valley school principal. "I didn't send them any money so we weren't harmed. However, it's important to get the word out so other people aren't harmed by it."

Goodwin contacted the Ventura County district attorney's office to look into the hoax. Bell and Applebaum also contacted the D.A.'s office.

"The district attorney is looking at the solicitations under property fraud and general business fraud," Goodwin said.

In June, county homeowners received similar bogus letters. Goodwin responded by issuing a press release informing residents that these socalled companies "are not affiliated with any governmental agencies and homeowners do not need to be represented by them to request a Prop. 8 Decline in Value reduction."

County residents can work directly with the assessor's office to review the value of their property at no charge, Goodwin said.

The assessor's staff is currently in the process of reviewing the assessment of more than 43,000 residential properties including all singlefamily dwellings acquired since January 2004.

"Before people even started sending us requests to revalue their property, we determined a group of over 40,000 residential properties that we were going to review," Goodwin said.

Homeowners with lower assessments received a value notice from the assessor's office in mid-July.

"The mail that comes from the assessor's office has my name on it," Goodwin said. "We never charge a fee for a reassessment."

For more information, call at (805) 654-2181 or go to www.ventura.org/assessor.