Posted on 12/07/2015 4:00:33 PM PST by Perdogg
I closed on my house on July 1st, 2015. At the time of closing I paid some taxes, but I paid my property taxes through my escrow account.
I got a bill from Fairfax Co for half of year taxes. I don't think I would be taxed for the time I did not live in my House, correct?
I paid about $2000 in July.
My settlement papers were handy.
I received a credit off the price for property taxes up to the date of sale.
In Virginia.
Taxes are generally included in your mortgage escrow if you have a loan. There is also a pro rata charge for taxes in your HUD statement that was paid by previous owner. Check with our lender, realtor to make sure that you have no tax obligations, they should have been included in the settlement.
I paid all closing costs.
“He said he closed on it 7/1/15, so one would assume he wasn’t the property owner, therefore, not responsible for taxes prior to that date.”
Taxes should have been prorated. If they weren’t then it is his and his realtor’s fault. Also, around here if the government adjusted the taxes they’ll come after the person most likely to pay. So let’s say the government decided to impose a retroactive tax; they’ll come after the current owner, not the one who has left the state. He’ll have to appeal the taxes.
A call to the county assessor’s office will at least explain what happened and why.
Did you not read what I said? I paid twice once in July and once on October through my escrow acct.
If you have overpaid a call or visit to the assessors office will set it strait. I suspect there is confusion as, at least here, this is the most efficient office in the government.
Another off topic, we got married in Fairfax.
Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, College Park, all very nice places once upon a time.
Lots of good info in this thread. Key takeaways are that, in a vast majority of jurisdictions, the tax liability accrues to the property, not the owner. The owner of record as of the lien date will get the bill. In most cases, though, it’s negotiated out and taken care of during the closing process. A call to your realtor, followed by a call to the taxing jurisdiction, is the way to go.
Talk to the company that handled your settlement
As part of closing costs they should have assessed you a half years taxes, or a pro rated share of annual taxes for the time you owned the home, and passed this along as a credit to the buyer
Then the buyer would pay the property tax bill for the year
There should have been an adjustment from the seller to you on one side of the forms which reduces the amount the seller recieves,
and then From you to escrow. You would have gotten a July bill that should have been cover by seller adjustment to you.
Unfortunately, yes because the taxes stay with the home. You can contest it, if it was never disclosed by the agents. You may be able to recover. Talk to a Real Estate Attorney.
Taxes are on the statement but not usually called an element of “closing costs”.
Closing costs generally are loan origination fees, deed creation, transfer fees, title search and title insurance fees, etc.
You need to look again on your summary and detail documents and say to yourself “credit seller” or “debit seller” and “credit buyer” or “debit buyer” at every line on both sides of the document. I think if you actually do that, you will answer your own question.
Next, as someone posted earlier, look at the Q/A about when the semiannual taxes are due. The first half was already paid by seller before the transaction date.
The second half is what we are debating here. Again, taxes are paid in arrears. You are billed in end of October for your December tax bill.
You and you alone are liable for the second half year tax bill. You must pay the whole second half bill even if you only obtain the house one day before bill is due.
So, the question is how you could have been charged-not credited-for the previous owner’s accrued taxes at closing. For that to have been a true happening, it would require that the previous owner not only didn’t pay what they owed you for accrued taxes but that you paid them the amount of their accrued taxes owed to you.
As Title Companies do this dozens of times per day, every day, I seriously doubt they would make such a huge mistake on their boiler plate documents.
I therefore believe that you have misread your summary documents and are not double paying for the portion of the tax liability that the previous owner owed.
When you close on a house the closing attorney collects so many months of taxes from the seller and gives it to the buyer at closing and then when the tax bill comes due the buyer pays the whole bill.
As an FYI, I purchase and close 2-3 properties a year, and have done that every year for more than 10 years.
And have had the exact same thoughts as you several times but have always found answer in the closing summary documents.
The guy at the title company said that I would actually have a surplus in my escrow acct. My bank paid my taxes in October and I paid taxes in July when I closed.
I paid an substantial initial deposit to escrow. Plus I paid at least 4 months of escrow. I do not see anything saying that I got any credit in taxes from the seller.
What I interpret from what you just wrote is that the title company put the money for the accrued taxes (that the seller owed) into the newly created escrow account.
Then, they began immediately taking out money for your future tax liabilities and placing that in your escrow account as well.
You “paid your taxes” into your escrow account starting day one. They charge you in advance for your monthly taxes due so there will be enough to cover everything when the (arrears tax) bills come due. And in October, your escrow manager disbursed the accumulated tax portion of your escrow to the taxing authority.
No I put the money in. Right, but I see nothing indicating that I agreed to pay the seller’s taxes.
Taxes are typically prorated at closing. You'll pay the taxes owed beginning with when you bought it. The sellers aren't going to pay taxes on a property that they no longer own.
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