Spencer Fane Real Estate attorneys work with commercial and large-scale residential property owners to assess notices of valuation and either appeal an inflated taxable value or confirm the valuation is correct. We team with our clients to protect their bottom line.
Over the course of more than 25 years, Spencer Fane attorneys have handled valuation assessments and property tax appeals for all types of properties, including general commercial space, big box retail, large-scale office buildings, private prisons, and sprawling resorts. The firm is the exclusive Colorado member of the American Property Tax Counsel, a national organization of law firms with one firm per state designated to handle real estate property tax issues. Our affiliation benefits clients nationwide, giving us access to the latest information in changes to laws and appeals and allowing us to engage appraisers and other professionals with national reputations for excellence.
When property owners receive a new valuation of real property from a local assessor, there is a short window to review assessments and potentially take action to protest the valuation and minimize increases. We engage with clients to help them preserve their right to appeal by taking action early in the process. As the market changes, it’s important to review each assessor’s valuation to safeguard the assessment, examining it to see that the property is assessed at a fair value of real estate owned without including items such as business value or other intangibles that complicate the tax burden. We also review assessments for appropriate increases or decreases, given the upward or downward trend of the market at the time.
As part of the process, we review the assessor’s new valuation of the client’s real property, perform a preliminary analysis of the economics of the real property, review comparable properties, and assess the potential for any reduction. We then provide our recommendation based on a complete picture, and when appropriate, help to formulate a strategy for the protest.
Representative Experience
- Achieved multi-million dollar reductions in value for numerous big box properties, including recent successful appeals following hearing at the Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals.
- Successfully appealed a unique office building property which had a single purpose use.
- Reduced value of two large senior living facilities by removing the intangible value from the real estate value.