Appeal guide · California
How to appeal a commercial assessment in Los Angeles County
8 steps from the notice to the Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Boards and beyond, with the forms, exchange deadlines and mistakes that decide commercial cases here.
Deadline
Regular assessments: July 2 to November 30 (Rev. & Tax. Code §1603, extended from September 15 because notices are not mailed to all owners by August 1). Supplemental, roll change and escape assessments: within 60 days of the mailing date of the notice or tax bill
Where to file
Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board online filing (lacaab.lacounty.gov), with Hearing Evidence Online Submission
Statute
Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §1603 (application) and §1604 (county board hearings); Cal. Const. art. XIII, §16
The process, in order
The Board of Supervisors appoints five assessment appeals boards of three members each. Commercial property above $3,000,000 of assessed value is heard by a board; property at or below that level (and small residential property of any value) can go to an Assessment Hearing Officer, a less formal track, if the applicant opts in on the application. The board may raise as well as lower a value, and it may not rehear an application it has decided.
Forms you will need
- +Form AAB-100, Application for Changed Assessment
- +Form AAB-101, Economic Unit
- +Decline-in-Value Review application (Form RP-87)
- +Request for written findings of fact
- 1
As soon as the roll value or supplemental notice is known
Classify the appeal
Separate Prop 8 decline-in-value claims (regular window) from base year challenges after a purchase or new construction (60 days from a supplemental notice, or the regular window that year and the next three).
- 2
July 2 to November 30
Request an informal decline-in-value review
File the Assessor's decline-in-value review application with an opinion of value as of January 1, while keeping the formal appeal deadline on the calendar.
- 3
July 2 to November 30 for regular assessments
File Form AAB-100
File online or with the clerk, state an opinion of value for land and improvements, pay the $46 fee, attach Form AAB-101 for economic units, and designate the application as a claim for refund.
- 4
Whenever requested under §441(d)
Answer the Assessor's information requests
Provide rent rolls, operating statements and acquisition details on request. Data withheld and then introduced at the hearing earns the Assessor a continuance.
- 5
At least 30 days before the hearing
Initiate the §1606 exchange
Serve the basis of the opinion of value, including income, expenses and the capitalization method. The Assessor's response is due at least 15 days before the hearing.
- 6
Before the hearing begins
Request written findings
Order findings of fact if judicial review is possible; the minimum fee is $492 per parcel and issue.
- 7
Within two years of filing unless waived
Hearing before the board or hearing officer
Present the income approach and sales evidence. The board can raise as well as lower the value, so test the Assessor's exchange data before relying on it.
- 8
Within six months after the refund claim is denied
Superior Court refund action
Pay the taxes and sue for a refund. With a designated claim, denial occurs on the later of the final installment's delinquency date or the board's final determination.
Mistakes that lose Los Angeles County appeals
- Leaving the opinion of value blank on Form AAB-100, which results in rejection.
- Relying on the informal decline-in-value review and missing the November 30 formal filing deadline.
- Forgetting that a Prop 8 reduction covers one year and not refiling the following July.
- Missing the 60-day supplemental assessment window after an acquisition and then having to rebut the purchase-price presumption a year later.
- Introducing income data at the hearing that was withheld from a §441(d) request or never exchanged under §1606.
Evidence rules
- 1.Rev. & Tax. Code §1606: where the roll value exceeds $100,000, either side may start an exchange of information at least 30 days before the hearing, stating the basis of its opinion of value (for an income study: income, expenses and the capitalization method). The response is due at least 15 days before the hearing.
- 2.Once information is exchanged, neither side may introduce evidence on matters not exchanged unless the other consents, although new material responding to the other side's data is allowed and earns the other side a continuance on request.
- 3.Rev. & Tax. Code §441(d) lets the Assessor require rental income, construction cost and acquisition data. If the owner withholds it and then introduces it at the hearing, the Assessor is granted a continuance that also extends the two-year hearing deadline (§441(h)).
- 4.For commercial property the taxpayer carries the burden: the taxpayer-favoring presumption in Rev. & Tax. Code §167 applies only to owner-occupied single-family dwellings and certain escape assessment appeals.
- 5.The application must state the applicant's opinion of value for each value category, or it is rejected.
Frequently asked
Is the filing deadline September 15 or November 30 in Los Angeles County?
November 30. Revenue and Taxation Code §1603 extends the July 2 window from September 15 to November 30 in counties where the Assessor does not mail value notices to all secured-roll owners by August 1, and Los Angeles County uses the November 30 deadline.
Can the Assessment Appeals Board raise my value?
Yes. Based on the evidence, the board can increase as well as decrease an assessment, which is one reason to test the Assessor's income and sales evidence through the §1606 exchange before the hearing.
What happens if the board never hears my appeal?
If the board does not hear and decide a timely application within two years, the applicant's opinion of value is enrolled unless the applicant agreed to extend the deadline (Rev. & Tax. Code §1604(c)). That is why the clerk asks for waivers.
Does a Prop 8 reduction carry forward?
Not as a right. A decline-in-value appeal is effective only for the year appealed. The Assessor reviews the property each year, and the value can be restored up to the factored base year value as the market recovers.
File a stronger Los Angeles County appeal this cycle.
ATALI ELECTRIC builds the income, sales and uniformity exhibits, fills the county forms and tracks every deadline.