Property Tax Appeal · Santa Clara County, CA
Appeal your assessment
in Santa Clara County, CA.
Home to San Jose, Santa Clara County homeowners appeal through California’s system: the county assessor sets the value, and the Assessment Appeals Board hears the case. Boards act on evidence of market value as of the assessment date — a licensed, USPAP-compliant appraisal is that evidence. Start with the $5 check to see what you’d save.
- Valued as of January 1 (the county lien date)
- 3+ comparable sales within ~1 mi, sold within 18 months
- Cover letter addressed to the Santa Clara County Assessment Appeals Board
- Delivered upload-ready for electronic filing
Because Prop 13 keeps long-held assessments low, the homeowners with the strongest cases are usually recent buyers and owners in markets that have cooled since purchase. Decline-in-value reductions are temporary — the assessor can restore value as the market recovers — but the savings while they last are real.
Santa Clara County questions
The annual deadline is September 15. File before then or wait until the next cycle — rush appraisal delivery is available when the window is close.
Proposition 13 caps how fast your base-year value can grow, so most California homeowners appeal in one of two situations: the market value of the home has dropped below the assessed value (a "decline in value" or Prop 8 appeal), or a reassessment event — like a purchase or new construction — set the base-year value too high. You file an Application for Changed Assessment with your county’s Assessment Appeals Board and present evidence of market value as of the January 1 lien date.
Comparable sales as of the assessment date, adjusted for the differences between those homes and yours — the substance of a licensed appraisal. Assessment Appeals Board panels see hundreds of cases; a signed, USPAP-compliant report is the document they can act on.
We’re not an AVM, a computer model, or a real-estate agent estimate. Every report is prepared under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and signed by a licensed appraiser in your state — the same qualification required for mortgage appraisals.