Representative Cases

Auerbach v. County of Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Bd. No. 5 (2003) 2003 WL 21457040 (unpublished) (Appellate Court adopted taxpayer’s argument that the Assessment Appeals Board has discretion under Property Tax Rule 305 to allow amendment of applications for changed assessment)

County of Los Angeles v. Southern California Edison (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 1108 (Appellate Court upheld favorable Superior Court decision valuing power plants and confirmed that intangible assets were properly excluded from documentary transfer tax assessment)

Auerbach v. Assessment Appeals Bd. No. 1 for County of Los Angeles (2006) 39 Cal. 4th 153 (Supreme Court held that tenant-owned improvements were subject to reassessment if lessor of underlying land transfers their interest so long as the remaining term of the ground lease is less than 35 years)

AES Alamitos, LLC v. County of Los Angeles (2006) 2006 WL 1216795 (unpublished) (Appellate Court agreed with taxpayer that prior valuation by Superior Court was binding on County for property tax purposes and ordered assessments to be substantially reduced)

Dyanlyn Two v. County of Orange (2015) Cal.App.4th 800, 184 Cal. Rptr. 3d 88, 2015 (Appellate Court agreed with taxpayer that the Assessor could not ignore a separate transaction that had an independent business purpose. For the first time, a taxpayer overcame the Assessor’s use of the step transaction doctrine to reassess property.)

 

Recent Case Results

1. Represented golf courses in Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, reducing property taxes by an average of 30%
2. Obtained reversal of a hotel reassessment from San Diego County resulting in a tax savings of over 60%
3. Settled a pending taxpayer lawsuit against Los Angeles County for a property tax refund of $500,000
4. Represented taxpayers in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, and Alameda Counties in 13 change-in-ownership cases — in all cases, the reassessments we reversed and lower base-year values were restored
5. Settled pending assessment appeal of Malibu homeowner — Assessor agreed to reduce assessment on home by 45%
6. Represented commercial parking lot owner in Los Angeles County — assessments reduced by over 50%
7. Obtained significant tax reductions for 25 childcare facilities
8. Reduced property taxes by an average of 30% for 11 commercial/retail facilities
9. Negotiated reductions with the State Board of Equalization for four California power plants
10. Obtained a property tax reduction of over 30% for a large, newly constructed Orange County office building for two years in a row
11. Obtained a 40% tax reduction for a large residential development in Santa Barbara County
12. Successfully reduced property taxes by 90% for vacant industrial land in San Bernardino County
13. Represented a mobile home park and obtained 70% reduction in property taxes
14. Obtained a tax reduction of over 50% for a Los Angeles County storage facility
15. Successfully negotiated a settlement in excess of $350,000 in a Los Angeles County identity theft case