Property Tax Exemptions

By Winnie Davis, President, and David Walker
Southland Regional Association of Realtors®

Veterans of the U.S. military who were disabled while on active duty may be eligible for an exemption on their annual property tax bill, according to Los Angeles County Tax Assessor Rick Auerbach.

A disabled veteran must submit a completed "Claim for Disabled Veterans' Property Tax Exemption" along with a copy of a letter from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs stating that the claimant is 100 percent disabled and the effective date of the disability.

If the claim is approved, the veteran need not reapply annually. However, they will annually receive a "Disabled Veterans' Exemption Change of Eligibility Report," which can be disregarded if there has been no reportable change.

If the claimant is the spouse of a deceased disabled veteran, the letter from Veterans' Affairs should state that the applicant is the surviving spouse of the veteran who was 100 percent disabled at the time of his or her death, along with the date the veteran died.
Questions may be e-mailed to Lisa Lucero, special assistant, Los Angeles County Assessor: llucero@assessor.lacounty.gov.

Disabled Residents Property Tax Break

For California residents who are disabled but were not military veterans, a constitutional initiative passed by California voters provides property tax relief for severely and permanently disabled claimants when they sell an existing home and buy or build another.
Proposition 110 allows the transfer of the base-year value of an existing home to a newly purchased or constructed home within select counties in the State of California.

Counties that accept transfers included: Alameda, Orange, San Mateo, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara. Be sure to contact the county before moving to see if the transfer option is still available as some counties had sunset provisions.
Also, a disabled owner can modify a current home as long as the modifications directly satisfy disability requirements making the home accessible for a severely disabled person.

The transfer of a trended base value from one property to another is a one-time benefit only. You must buy or newly construct a replacement property within two years of the sale of the original property.

Both the original property and the replacement property must be the principal place of residence, and a claim must be filed within three years following the purchase or completion of new construction of the replacement property.

Once the claim has been filed and the tax relief granted, neither the disabled owner nor the spouse will qualify to receive this benefit again.

Relief is granted for single family residences, condominiums, units in planned developments, cooperative housing, community apartments, manufactured homes subject to local real property tax, and living units within a larger structure consisting of both residential and non-residential accommodations.

If a person has been granted a Proposition 60/90 benefit and subsequently becomes severely and permanently disabled, he/she may also qualify for a Proposition 110 benefit. Prop 60/90 allows for the transfer of the base year property tax when a owner over 55 years of ages buys replacement residence of equal or lesser value.

Added Benefits for Disabled Veterans

In addition to medical care, basic veteran services, and benefits such as a property tax exemption on a principle residence, disabled veterans may also be eligible for multiple other services and benefits, including:

• Special adapted housing assistance
• A home adaptation grant
• Veterans' mortgage life insurance
• CAL-VET home loan disability insurance
• Home loan guaranty funding fee exemption
• Home improvement and structural alteration home modification grant
• Golden access passport for all U.S. National Parks
• California State Park pass
• Reduced fee for hunting or fishing licenses
• Preferential treatment for the veteran and spouse for Federal Civil Service or State of California employment.
• Education and tuition assistance and fee waivers for the veteran, spouse and children
• Eligibility for son(s) and/or daughter(s) to compete for admission to military academies.
• Eligibility for military identification card.
• Possible eligibility for DMV Disabled Veteran license plates.
• Eligibility for exemption from vehicle license fees.

Property Tax Exemption Claim Form

If you own a home and it was the principal place of residence on January 1, you may apply for an exemption of $7,000 from the assessed value.

New property owners automatically receive an exemption application.

For homeowners who did not receive one, the Homeowners' Property Tax Exemption Claim form and instructions are now available on the forms page of the Los Angeles County Assessor's website: www.assessor.lacounty.gov

Additional information regarding the Homeowners' Exemption can also be found on the Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors is a local trade association comprised of more than 12,000 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. SRAR is one of the largest local associations in the nation. Go to www.srar.com to search for every home listed for sale in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

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