Old Tax Abatement that was never implemented

[98DeSantis]

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this website along with the area and I have a question that hopefully someone can help point me in the right direction.

I recently purchased a house around 21st and Christian that was rehabbed in 2005 and the owner/contractor never applied for the tax abatement properly prior to selling it, therefore it was never registered. The couple that owned the house from 2005 to 2012 never did anything with the abatement or taxes.

Our realtor brought this to our attention during the purchasing process and said there was a chance I could re-apply and start the 10 year abatement now.

Since purchasing the house our realtor has been looking into the process (allegedly) but not making much ground. I was wondering if anyone had been in the same situation or had any information on situations like this.

Our reassessed taxes are going to quadruple whenever the new taxes kick in, and I was hoping to get my abatement started prior to this taking place.

Thanks in advanced for any help.
-Anthony

[Grad hospital]

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this website along with the area and I have a question that hopefully someone can help point me in the right direction.

I recently purchased a house around 21st and Christian that was rehabbed in 2005 and the owner/contractor never applied for the tax abatement properly prior to selling it, therefore it was never registered. The couple that owned the house from 2005 to 2012 never did anything with the abatement or taxes.

Our realtor brought this to our attention during the purchasing process and said there was a chance I could re-apply and start the 10 year abatement now.

Since purchasing the house our realtor has been looking into the process (allegedly) but not making much ground. I was wondering if anyone had been in the same situation or had any information on situations like this.

Our reassessed taxes are going to quadruple whenever the new taxes kick in, and I was hoping to get my abatement started prior to this taking place.

Thanks in advanced for any help.
-Anthony

The city is pretty stingy in this situation which is fairly common. A tax abatement has to be applied for in conjunction with a building permit. The dollar value of the work stated on the permit (which is what determines the fee of the permit) is the amount that is abated. A common misconception is that if you have a tax abatement the city can not increase your taxes. This is not true. It only means that can not increase your taxes based on the additional value you add to your home. In the case of ground up construction 100% of the value minus the value of the land is the "improved" amount. However if there was some wildly low tax assessment on the land, say it was valued at 20k when in fact someone paid 100k, the city could in theory still increase your taxes 500%.

The rules for filling the abatement or very parking authority-ish. You have some ridiculously short amount of time to file for the abatement from the time the building permit is APPLIED for, not granted. If you miss the window your more or less screwed. You can file an appeal with BRT it's pretty uphill battle.

Hire a good real-estate attorney. It's more complex to try and get it retroactively if someone screwed up the process at the outset.

[bootsywannabe]

Hey for $4500 - or maybe it's higher now - you can get whatever abatment you want.

Welcome to Philly. The most corrupt city in the US.

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