Ventura County appeals board urges applicants to provide purchase documents sought under Revenue & Taxation Code §441(d); schedules June 2 status hearing

Ventura County Assessment Appeals Board members on April 7 discussed whether landlords who sold large apartment complexes within two years of the Jan. 1, 2024 lien date must turn over purchase-related documents the assessor requested under Revenue and Taxation Code §441(d).

The assessor's office told the board it regularly requests acquisition documents for transfers that occur within three years of a lien date and said the sales are likely to serve as the best market comparables. An assessor's office representative read from the code and urged production: “every person shall make available for examination information or records regarding their property … details of property acquisition transactions, construction and development costs, rental income, and other data relevant to the determination of an estimate of value.”

Tanner Brault, the applicant agent who appeared for the parties, said his clients had already provided extensive financial and market material and that some of the acquisition documents the assessor listed may not be pertinent to a lien-date decline-in-value appeal. “We already derived our evaluation without the documents that are being requested,” Brault said, while also agreeing to provide certain trailing income material that arrived late.

County counsel explained the procedural posture under §441(d) and related rules: the board may indicate whether requested documents appear relevant; if an applicant refuses to provide them, the assessor can seek a subpoena and the board would decide whether to authorize it. Board members said their typical practice is to ask applicants to try to provide the requested records, to explain in writing if a document does not exist, and then to reconvene for a status check rather than immediately pursuing a subpoena.

Board members signaled that documents directly tied to price or value are especially relevant. The board said purchase contracts, closing and escrow documents, contemporaneous appraisals, inspection reports, and rent rolls are likely to assist both the assessor and the board in determining fair market value as of the lien date. Several board members noted changes in interest rates and financing between the sale dates and the lien date could affect valuation and therefore make the acquisition documents valuable.

After closed-session discussion, the board asked parties to provide as much of the requested material as possible, to identify any documents that do not exist, and to report progress at a status hearing. The board continued the matter for a status update on June 2 and approved remote attendance for that check-in. The board did not order a subpoena at the meeting.

The discussion affects three multifamily decline-in-value appeals in which transfers occurred roughly within two years prior to the Jan. 1, 2024 lien date. The assessor said those transfers are likely comparables and that knowing buyer and seller assumptions as of each transfer helps emulate market participants when valuing the properties.

The board’s direction was procedural rather than dispositive: applicants may supply materials voluntarily; if they do not, the assessor may request a subpoena and the board will consider that request at a later proceeding.