Homestead Exemption (Fargo: assessors, home sales, calculated)

[George Chong]

Originally Posted by rentsto3

We are closing on a house in Fulton co. in early June. Will we automatically get the filing form at closing, or is something we have to track down separately?
Thanks.

I don't think that the closing attorney gives you the form at closing. However, you can complete the form online and it will be effective next year.

Fulton County Online - Homestead Exemption (http://www.fultoncountyga.gov/index.php?Itemid=197&id=259&option=com_content&tas k=view - broken link)

[spearhead3]

I called my mortgage co. Wells Fargo. They said they do not do property tax refunds.

[George Chong]

Originally Posted by spearhead3

I called my mortgage co. Wells Fargo. They said they do not do property tax refunds.

A homestead exemption is not the same as property tax refunds. Perhaps it was a languaging question? I don't think that a mortgage company has a choice to honor a homestead exemption or not because the County and/or the City issues the exemption.

For example, Fulton County reduces the taxable value of a home by $15,000 if you have the homestead exemption. After the tax is reduced, the tax bill is forwarded to your mortgage company to pay out of the escrow account. The only thing that the mortgage company "cares" about is that there is enough money in your escrow account to cover all the taxes.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by spearhead3

I called my mortgage co. Wells Fargo. They said they do not do property tax refunds.

My mortgage company is also Wells Fargo, and I did receive a rebate check for my escrow overage about a week ago.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

My mortgage company is also Wells Fargo, and I did receive a rebate check for my escrow overage about a week ago.

An escrow overage rebate, however, is not a property tax refund. It just means your mortgagee was holding too much money (more than the law allows) in your escrow account, over the past year.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

An escrow overage rebate, however, is not a property tax refund. It just means your mortgagee was holding too much money (more than the law allows) in your escrow account, over the past year.

That's what I was explaining...it was due to the drop in taxes from homestead exemption that compelled them to return the overage. The OP was asking the mortgagor about 'refunds' so I'm sure they misunderstood the ???.

[globalnomad]

We bought a house in Dekalb County in August 2007. Unfortunately, there was no homestead exemption on the house.

There was nothing we could do about the remainder of 2007, but as soon as we could, we filed for homestead exemption for 2008.

We called the county to find out when the homestead exemption would kick in (and we could start paying lower taxes) and were told not until after 2008 tax bills are issued (summer 2008).

Is this correct?

Once we have our 2008 tax assessment, what should we do next?

Signed,
Confused in Unincorporated Decatur

[spacelord75]

Originally Posted by globalnomad

We bought a house in Dekalb County in August 2007. Unfortunately, there was no homestead exemption on the house.

There was nothing we could do about the remainder of 2007, but as soon as we could, we filed for homestead exemption for 2008.

We called the county to find out when the homestead exemption would kick in (and we could start paying lower taxes) and were told not until after 2008 tax bills are issued (summer 2008).

Is this correct?

Once we have our 2008 tax assessment, what should we do next?

Signed,
Confused in Unincorporated Decatur

You should be fine, since you have applied for the exemption and the county has acknowledged you have it for 2008. The assessment won't show any evidence of this, as that is simply the value on which the initial tax will be based. You probably should find out your adjusted property tax here in the next month or two (no later than July). I was in the exact same boat as you last year and am eagerly awaiting to see the impact of the exemption after being scalped last year! Once you get your tax bill, and it is lower than what your mortgage company is charging you to build up escrow, call your mortgage company and ask to have them re-analyze your escrow account so that they will adjust down your monthly payments to take into effect the new property tax. It should cut your monthly payments by a decent amount, since it will probably be over-accrued for 2008 at this point.

[plessthanpointohfive]

globalnomad, you sound like me. I filed and when I called the county, also Dekalb, they told me something similar. The mortgage company acted like I must be crazy.

spacelord, thanks for the tip on what to do once we get our tax bills!

[globalnomad]

Thank you Spacelord!

We greatly appreciate helpful information on what to do next.

Global Nomad