I am very concerned that Tyler Technologies is way over its heads. Like many in Sussex County, I recently received Tyler Technologies’ assessment of my property. In an informal call, Tyler Technologies told me that much of the assessed value of properties in our area (Rehoboth 19971) is the land and not the house. This statement came about because I discovered their records on our house are entirely incorrect. Year it was built, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, basement or crawl space, all wrong. This despite filling out a questionnaire earlier this year. I received a confirmation from them after I returned it. It appears that no one there reads and/or inputs the information into their records.
I understand Tyler is assessing properties for tax purposes. Fair market value is the only way to know the value of a property. That’s how banks assess properties to issue loans. And that’s why comps are essential. Tyler could not tell me what comps they used. Jeannette from Tyler Technologies told me that the number of bedrooms doesn’t matter. Just the number of bathrooms. This really surprised me.
Between the two representatives of Tyler I’ve spoken with, I’ve been told that the assessments are being done looking mostly at the land and its location rather than the buildings built on that land.
Does Sussex County know that Tyler is assessing properties based more on the location of the land than what has been built as if all houses as tear downs? That Tyler is not looking at fair market value as a barometer? In researching, I found that typically assessments are less than the appraised value and do not look at the current market conditions.
Jeannette told me they’re doing their best. If this is the best they can do, the county needs a different firm. These assessments cannot be trusted.
I would caution all Sussex County property owners to schedule a hearing with Tyler and make sure the information Tyler is basing the assessment on is correct.
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