Taxpayers increasingly required to pay penalties related to bad advice from appraisers and other professionals.  News from the NYU Fifth Annual Tax Controversy Forum; Bloomberg BNA reports.

The news source reports that courts increasingly are narrowing their acceptance of taxpayer claims that noncompliance was due to advice from hired professionals, including appraisers and tax advisers, thus arguing for exemption from penalties.

Michelle Ferreira, speaking at the forum, said, “It’s becoming very hard for taxpayers to throw their tax advisors or their accountants or their appraisers under the bus.  Courts are increasingly putting a lot more responsibility on taxpayers to do some of their own investigation and really drill down to make sure they are hiring the right people who are qualified to give that kind of advice.”

Tax Reappraisals in major Ohio counties have initiated
thousands of complaints at local boards of revision. The following counties have undergone reappraisal in 2012:
Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Stark, Belmont, Brown, Crawford, Erie, Fayette,
Highland, Huron, Jefferson, Lucas, Morgan, Muskingum, Ottawa, Portage, Warren, and
Williams.  Allen, Coshocton, Guernsey,
Sandusky, and Vinton were updated.
Complaints are typically due by the end of March at each counties board
of revision.  Contact our offices for a professional commercial appraisal, home appraisal, or industrial appraisal for use as evidence of value in your property tax appeal.

Russell Kitzberger was awarded the GAA, General Accredited Appraiser Designation by The National Association of REALTORS®.   The GAA designation recognizes successful completion of tested education coursework as well as experience in Commercial and Industrial properties.  Previously, Mr. Kitzberger was awarded the RAA designation for experience and coursework in Residential property. The additional designation provides recognition for competency for a variety of property types found in the Pointer Appraisal coverage area.

Pointer Appraisal staff members Michael Harris and Russell Kitzberger accomplish academic and professional milestones in early June.

Michael Harris been awarded the Master of Arts in Geography- Urban Planning from the University of Akron. He has been accepted into the Ph.D. Geography program at Kent State University, where he will continue his post graduate work.

Russell Kitzberger has received Prequalification from the Ohio Department of Transportation in right of way acquisition appraisal and value analysis.  He can complete assignments pertaining to State and Federally funded roadway and transportation projects throughout the state for Local, Regional, and State government entities and condemning authorities.

Grim 4th quarter 2011 and low expectations for Ohio commercial real estate trends for the near future in NAR Commercial report.

Respondents to National Association of REALTORS Commercial Real Estate quarterly market survey indicated:

-Overall Level of Transactions down 15 to 37% from prior quarter
-Overall Level of Volume down 25 to 49% from prior year
-Sales prices down or stable from prior quarter
-Inventory is expected to grow 6 to 15% over next 12 months
-Cap rates are expected to remain level or decline 4% in the next 12 months
-Leasing activity and rental rates are down 5 t o14% from prior quarter
-Rent concessions grew 6 to 15% from prior quarter
-Direction of business activity level or declining 4% from prior quarter

The national association of realtors Commercial Real Estate Market Survey: January 2012 is available online at Realtor.org

Reiterating what our referring attorneys advise many clients; Tax Attorney Robert W. Wood addresses importance of Contemporaneous appraisals in estate planning in his September 30 contribution to Forbes at Forbes.com

The Case Schiller Index published this morning posts a 1.2% seasonally adjusted February 2011 gain over January 2011. Non Seasonally adjusted price index slipped 0.8%. Both price indices are still lower than the February 2010 numbers. The market still trails far behind pre bubble levels and the levels remain below those over one decade ago.

An economist from The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Ohio is quoted regarding why lenders choose to walk away from foreclosures.  It is reported that some 14,500 to 34,600 foreclosures nationwide are abandoned by lenders.  The report indicates that one consideration is the value of the property and the cost of foreclosure.

The full report can be read at the Appraisal Institute Appraiser News Online at:

http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/ano/newsletter/DisplayNwsLtrArticle.aspx?volume=14&numbr=9/10&id=19864

Our appraisal services in Cleveland Ohio and Akron Ohio help lenders make informed decisions on collateral and make business decisions, mitigating risk.

While some local Northeast Ohio residential markets are experiencing strong demand and price increases, the overall market still has signs of weakness.  The S&P/Case-Shiller released August 30, 2011 (indices through June 2011), seasonally adjusted price index slipped for the fifth straight month.  The
seasonally adjusted index is at the lowest level since November 1999
slipping 0.3% from May 2011.  Non-Seasonally adjusted index climbed a little over 1.5% in June, signalling the summer selling season.