My Sunday print column on going to the courthouse to file a tax appeal brought this response from attorney Donald J. Weiss Esq.

Gil; Good column however, I have the following comments:

1] At least you did something. I can paint my own home and seal my own
driveway but do I ? Yes, you and most people can do a good job on their own
appeal when they just bought their home BUT do they? I send out thousands
of letters a year to people who just bought their own home and are over
assessed and I bet less than 15% do anything. SO I just hope your column does
not have a chilling effect where people think they can do it themselves so
put it off like I do sealing my driveway. SO for those people who
procrastinate saying they will do it themselves and end up doing nothing I hope it
does not have that effect. ALSO, you missed saying the deadline date is AUG
1. If you look at my website you'd see my fee would have been [40% of the
1st year's savings] $320 for you and I would have reviewed it to see if I
could get it down more. If you had purchased it more than 6 months ago it is
likely worth less and maybe I could have saved some more. If I could have
gotten it reduced another $10,000 in value maybe that would have saved
another $250 per year, tear after year. I pay my appraiser's fee. Your
hearing would not likely have been until Oct so in a declining market I hold off
filing so I may be able to use the decline to my client's advantage. I
have one now who bought in Nov and therefore the hearing will by 11 months
later so it is likely lower by at least 5-10%. That will likely save him $500
more by holding off and not arguing purchase price is the value. NOW, if
you got it at below market then you had the perfect case to handle yourself.
That is not always the case.

2] You cannot do what you did and do the best unless you just bought your
home. If you have owned it a long time, in order to do the best I believe
you must hire a good honest appraiser and attend the hearing..

3] As I tell my clients' buying a home when they ask if they need a lawyer.
I tell them in 95 out of 100 deals NO, but they won't know if they are the
5 or 95 until maybe too late. BUT I do tell them when I buy a property in
another state I hire a lawyer because I never know what will go wrong until
it's too late.

SO, I just hope people do something but don't think it's always that
easy.

Respectfully, Donald J. Weiss, Esq