- Tamra Ransom bought her home in Polk County last May
- She was forced to sell it less than a year later after her property tax soared
A Florida woman was left feeling like she had been ‘baited and switched’ after a property tax hike meant she had to sell her dream home just a year after buying it.
Tamra Ransom told WFLA-TV that she bought the perfect house in Polk county in May last year.
Then her property tax was hiked by 174 percent, from $2,700 a year to $4,700, making it too expensive for her to continue living there and forcing her to put the home back on the market.
She told the outlet: ‘It’s very upsetting because I put most of my savings into the house.’
Property tax is assessed on the basis of a house’s value and a city’s tax rates, if the value of the property goes up, property tax goes up too.
Ransom said that when she bought her house the property tax was around $2,700.
She expected it to ‘vary a little bit, [maybe] a few hundred [to] a thousand dollars.’
But when she got her new valuation she was shocked to see it had jumped 174 percent, meaning the annual property tax would be $4,700.
She told WFLA-TV: ‘I felt like I’d been baited and switched.’
In Florida, homeowners are assessed for property tax yearly depending on the market value of the house each January 1.
They are assessed based on size, location and condition, as well as market conditions.
Property values have soared post-pandemic, meaning property taxes have risen too, but with their cash locked up in the house, homeowners can struggle to pay the bills.
Ransom was left with no choice but to re-sell her home.
She said: ‘It’s very upsetting because I put most of my savings into the house — the down payment, alarm systems and things like that.
‘And I’m losing all of that because I have to sell the house — and I’m not going to get really anything back.’
Attorney Michael Finn told WFLA-TV: ‘This is definitely a buyer beware type of situation. [Property] values have soared, particularly anywhere near the water.
‘Somebody that bought a house five-years-ago may realize a value increase of two to three times.’
Finn added: ‘You can dispute it, but you’re not going to win a significant decrease because the property assessor’s office is very skilled at their valuations.’
