It may seem resistant at first to comply with Texas' new property tax legislation, a major title company changed its mind last week after a Houston real estate investor convinced the company of wrongful and unfair tax assessment practices.

On May 18, Governor Rick Perry signed legislation intended to reduce property tax and increase homeownership and school funds. Title companies, who provide lenders with tax information and play a key role in homeownership, could thwart the objectives of the new Texas property tax law through incompliance.

Written communication on May 31 between the Houston real estate investor, and the title company ("Title C") and between two "Title C" employees verifies the company's negligent practices. The documents show that the company had disregarded the new law and continued to calculate property taxes based on older rates and policies.

Title companies tend to overestimate escrow payments for legal liability reasons. In an e-mail to the title company, the investor urged the company to abide by the new state property tax reform and reduce the school property tax estimate, by the set .50 percent for 2007.

After discussing the matter, the two title company employees responded to the investor's concern. Closing agents from other title companies have been amenable to the estimating future taxes based on the new policy, which will increase the purchasing power of future homeowners.

By M. Sese
http://realestatepress.org