Experienced Property Assessment Lawyers

Since 1999, the property tax appeal attorneys of Flaherty Fardo have been the leader in reducing property assessments in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Our Pittsburgh firm has lowered property assessments well in excess of 250 Million dollars saving our clients millions of dollars in actual property taxes. This does not guarantee results, but does demonstrate our extensive experience with litigating this type of real estate case. We have received hundreds of referrals from past clients for one simple reason: Satisfied Assessment Clients.

If you are involved in an Allegheny County assessment appeal, we offer free consultations on all types of real estate cases, including residential assessment appeals, commercial assessment appeals, and school district filed appeals.

Why Is My School District Appealing Me?

Every tax year, the school districts in Allegheny County file thousands of property tax appeals against recent home buyers.  The appeal typically attempts to raise the property assessment based upon the recent purchase price.

We believe that appealing only recent home-buyers violates the uniformity clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution and believe strongly in defending these appeals. These appeals can be defended in multiple ways including but not limited to:

• Proving that the owner over-paid;
• Proving that similar properties in the same immediate area are selling for substantially less;
• Proving that there is gross lack of uniformity among assessments of similar properties in the neighborhood;
• Proving that the recent purchase was unaware of significant improvements/repairs necessary.

We strongly recommend all recent home-buyers to defend appeals filed by the school districts.

For more information on how to defend school district appeals please read here.

Next Appeal Deadline – 4/2/2018

The 2018 appeal deadline is presently set for April 2, 2018.  Any appeal challenging an assessment in 2018 has the potential to impact your taxes for the 2018 tax year moving forward.

The 2012 base years will remain in effect for 2018 property appeals. This means that the question at a 2018 tax appeal hearing will still be: What was the Fair Market Value of the subject property as of January 1, 2012.  This can be argued by the Appellant (the appealing party) by using EITHER a 2012 base year argument, or a current market value argument depreciated backwards to the 2012 base year.

Here are the Allegheny County property assessment appeal forms.

How Do Fees Work?

Most lawyers either charge a contingency of the actual tax savings or in the alternative a flat fee for the entire representation. Property owners should be cautious when hiring an attorney for representation in a property appeal for two main reasons.

First, be careful about flat fees that do not cover the entire scope of representation. Our flat fees always cover the entire appeals process and many of these cases are appealed to a second level hearing. Many property owners have called us and hired our firm only after learning that their previous lawyer engagement did not cover the entire process.

Second, with regards to the contingency agreements, some firms charge a percentage for future years, even after the appeal has already been completely resolved.  Flaherty Fardo never charges a contingency for any year in which we do not represent the property owner. You need to make sure that any contingency agreement is based upon the actual tax savings, for ONLY the year(s) involved in the appeal.

For more information about how Flaherty Fardo charges for tax appeals, please read What Are Your Fees For Tax Appeals?

Some Helpful Resources For Property Owners

If you really wish to understand the Allegheny County assessment process in more detail, please read our top property assessment FAQ’s.

The Allegheny County assessment home page offers additional information about the appeals process, and forms.

This Property tax calculator is a good tool for estimating property taxes and understanding the actual tax differences based upon an assessment change.

Here are links to the Municipal millage rates and School district millage rates for Allegheny County.

If you want to find a list of recently sold properties, you can check various real estate websites that list this information. We still recommend realtor.com and zillow.com.

Property Assessment update: 11/7/17 – Pennsylvania voters approve property assessment legislation towards reducing property taxes.

Free Consultations

If you would like a free consultation concerning a commercial, residential or school district filed tax appeal, or any other real estate matter, please call attorneys Noah Paul Fardo or Nicole Hauptman Amick directly at 412.802.6666 or email them at info@pghfirm.com.