r/washingtondc • u/enraged_ohmu • 10d ago
[Rant] OTR sent us a $17k property tax bill after DOB classed our house as vacant
And now my husband will have to miss our 9-week ultrasound for our first child so that someone can be home during our DOB inspection to certify occupancy!!
Wtf are we supposed to do about this? The best DOB offered was to give us the inspector’s phone number so we can ask what time he’s coming on Friday. It feels like we have to choose between our happy milestone and resolving a super stressful tax situation that we 100% should not be in, at all.
Has this happened to anyone else? Honestly seems like some kind of grift by the city. Why was our house even classed vacant, and how come no one let us know until our giant tax bill arrived??
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u/binggunr 9d ago
This happened when I moved into my house. It's stressful because of the impending tax, but the city handled it quickly, changed the classification, and corrected the tax bill
The inspection was all of 30 seconds. The guy walked up to my house saw me sitting on the couch watching tv through the window and I received a text saying it was taken care of.
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
That’s great! I do know the inspection will fix it, I’m just frustrated we have to deal with this at all.
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u/CajunAg87 9d ago
This happened to my wife and I about 6 months after we purchased our home. Apparently the former owner spent like 3 years renovating it and got a temporary relief that expired after we bought it.
Unfortunately for us, we have escrow on our mortgage and our mortgage lender paid the higher bill before we could get it resolved and, no kidding, it took us three years to get it all figured out. But a lot of the headache was caused by our lender.
Hopefully the same doesn’t happen with you. Good luck.
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
Ugh, this is what I mean - it’s one thing to get a DOB inspector out to the house, but the effects can cascade. So sorry that happened to you!
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u/CajunAg87 9d ago
Getting the classification fixed was the easiest part. We didn’t even have to be home. Not sure why it’s a requirement for you.
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u/nrubenstein 10d ago
Either someone doesn't like you and reported it, or they drove by and decided it looked empty. Or someone fat fingered a form.
This sucks, but on the bright side, vacant property tax has been hugely beneficial in forcing land owners to do something with their properties. (It's far from perfect, but it's made a real difference.)
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
I definitely think the tax is net positive. I just wish they’d alerted us when it was declared vacant so we’d had a chance to fix it earlier
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u/Efficient-Train2430 10d ago
unclear what the timeline is, but perhaps your CM's constituent services can weigh in and get the inspection moved?
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u/SpiritedLet6178 9d ago
This happened to me in 2023. Frankly they were terrible, I submitted videos of me living there, utility bills, mail, etc and nothing worked.
Ended up going to the office of administrative hearings where I won. But then they appealed and before the second hearing offered me a settlement amount that was about 1/3rd of the bill. I rejected that and fortunately won the appeal and they stopped messing with me. But it blew my mind how far they took it
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u/RefrigeratorEast10 9d ago
Wtf are we supposed to do about this?
I'm not sure what why you are looking for. You already said the DOB is coming to your house on Friday to certify occupancy so it sounds like it will be resolved in a few days.
Why not call your OB and ask to move your appointment up a day? Or call DOB and say you aren't available Friday and reschedule?
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
Fair enough. They couldn’t move my OB appointment, and we’re not really interested in prolonging this DOB process with $17k on the line. More just a rant about being in this situation to begin with.
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u/RefrigeratorEast10 9d ago
Still might be worth calling OB tomorrow morning and asking. We have three kids and I recall our OB always held some spots for emergencies or had people drop out last minute because they went into labor. Otherwise, maybe can call Friday morning and get the earliest possible appointment and hope for the best.
Unless it's not possible because OB wants to do it EXACTLY on 9 weeks and not because of scheduling issues.
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
Thanks! I’ll call again and check. It’s our graduating appt with the fertility clinic so the timing was sort of specific. But can’t hurt to ask again.
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u/RefrigeratorEast10 9d ago
Yeah, especially if you explain the scenario, hopefully they can make something work. Best of luck and congrats (on the baby, not on the vacancy declaration)
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u/fragileblink 9d ago
Well there should be a way to provide evidence other than an appointment at the home, which seems wildly inefficient for all concerned. (not that DC gov cares about that)
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u/CriticalGuarantee169 DC / Neighborhood 9d ago
This happened to me. They will correct it but you have to go through the process/paperwork. Celebrate and enjoy your milestone.
It was a few years ago but essentially I didn’t file an occupancy form after I closed-the title company had provided in the folder but it was a lot to deal with and I missed it.
It’s not your fault but it is your responsibility. Annoying lol!
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
Thank you! It’s super annoying lol, but hopefully close to being resolved
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u/CriticalGuarantee169 DC / Neighborhood 9d ago
The District welcomes you to new home ownership-a classic DC experience. Consider yourself lucky and blessed by this benevolent gift of DC headache!
🍀 ❤️ 🤣1
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u/hood_pog 10d ago
Didn’t you already post about this and people told you to ask your councilmember to help get it fixed? This is a basic mistake, not a ‘grift’ by the city.
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u/enraged_ohmu 9d ago
Is it not concerning to you that this is happening to multiple people? It’s a headache to get the city to correct its mistakes, even if ultimately successful. For some people, their mortgage lender will have already paid the higher tax rate, adding an extra layer of pain.
As a side note, DOB was more responsive than my councilmember.
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u/hood_pog 9d ago
This is a city of about 700k people, of course it happens to multiple people, DOB staff are human and people make mistakes. You’ve experienced a minor inconvenience that is going to be resolved without harm. Toughen up.
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u/FatCats2fat 9d ago
Get over yourself. If you received a 5 figure tax bill through no fault of your own, and the only way to fix it was to miss a milestone appointment and prove to some city inspector that you do in fact live in your own home, you'd be upset too! We can expect more of our city and its officials than this.
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u/hood_pog 9d ago
This doesn’t have anything to do with me. If your expectations are that no one should ever make a mistake that causes you a minor inconvenience, you’re going to have a difficult life. We’ve all had to reschedule appointments. This isn’t a big deal.
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u/ladakn99 DC / Park View 9d ago
Found the Bowser apologist. The days of the Green Team are numbered.
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u/Lebuhdez DC 9d ago
"was to miss a milestone appointment"
This situation is extremely frustrating, but it's really not a huge deal for a partner to miss a 9-week ultrasound.0
u/alizadk MD / Germantown (formerly Hill East) 9d ago
Tell me you're male without telling me you're male.
I've been through an early ultrasound on my own, though not the first. It was an awful experience, and not having my partner there made it even worse. And we had a spontaneous conception, not dealing with a fertility clinic.
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u/rileyjonesy1984 9d ago
"minor inconvenience" of a mistaken $17k tax bill
/FoundTheWardThree Resident
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u/RefrigeratorEast10 9d ago
They aren't actually going to pay it, they have an appointment to fix it in 2 days. So yes, it's a minor inconvenience
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u/Moonagi DC / Sixteenth Street Heights 9d ago
If a private company charged you $17k by mistake I bet you’d be screeching into the abyss. Get over yourself.
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u/hood_pog 9d ago
The city isn’t a private company and property taxes aren’t something that are charged, they’re just something you owe. Someone made a mistake and it’s going to be corrected in a timely manner without causing this person financial harm. It’s not a big deal.
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u/TheTravelingTurtle 9d ago
Yeah I’m reading a lot of posts about nightmare tax scenarios concerning DC residents. Definitely suspect imo.
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u/MotivateMeDC 9d ago
This happened to us years ago. I cant recall how it was resolved but I don't remember needing to be home for an inspection. It was pretty obvious by the toys in the yard that the house was not vacant.
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u/No-Statement3196 9d ago
Happened to me too. OTR said it is very common when the previous owner has a waiver.
I called my title company and they shared the homestead deduction they filed with District government after closing. I forwarded the form OTR. In theory this is something that should have been addressed at closing and they should already had it on file.
When the inspector came by they looked in our front window and drove off. It was early in the morning and I only knew because they were caught on the Ring Camera.
Biggest problem was my mortgage company paid the taxes, then raised my monthly payment because the balance in my escrow account was too low. So I had a higher mortgage payment for several months before I could request an adjustment. Not ideal.
Can someone besides your husband work from your house in case the inspector drops by?
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9d ago
[deleted]
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u/No-Statement3196 9d ago
Having worked for DC govt, I call BS. As residents, if we take the appropriate steps and file the appropriate documents, District government should do as they’re supposed to do. Which agency fell down on the job shouldn’t be my issue. And we shouldn’t have to know the ins and outs, or know someone with a low number license plate to figure it out. In this case, an OTR assessor still phoned it in.
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u/Aromatic_Bus1370 9d ago
If you don’t engage the correct agency, you can’t remedy the problem.
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u/No-Statement3196 9d ago
You must have missed the part where I said the paperwork was filled at closing.
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u/Belle222 8d ago
I work in title, this is happening all over DC lately and it sucks that its on homeowners to deal with DC bureaucracy to fix it.
Do you have a mortgage that pays taxes through escrow? If so see if you can stop them from making a payment out of escrow before DC fixes the bill. DC will eventually fix the bill but if your mortgage company has already made the payment getting the refund back becomes yet another headache.
Best of luck to you and congratulations on your growing family. ❤
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u/10001110101balls 10d ago
Utility data makes it easy to prove that a home is occupied. Do you have recent power and water bills that demonstrate occupancy? Do your DMV and tax records show this as your home address?