WASHINGTON — Imagine waking up today to a $20,000 bill out of nowhere. That’s what happened to hundreds of D.C. residents when they opened their August property tax bill.
That’s what happened to Josh Tauberer and his wife.
“Two weeks ago, we got our usual property tax bill," he said from his Petworth home.
“At first I didn't notice but the amount that it said we owed was six times more than it should have been.”
Instead of a few thousand dollars, which Josh expected, this bill charged him more than $28,000. Even more peculiar, it listed his home as vacant.
What was going on?
“This is the result of a change in how we deal with vacant properties,” Councilwoman Elissa Silverman explained when we asked her about the issue. “A bunch of years ago, we had vacant properties and District residents remember them that would remain vacant forever,” she said.
D.C. taxes vacant properties at a higher rate than an occupied home, but owners can apply for an exemption. However, the change in the law means when that exemption expires, the owner must prove the home is occupied.
“A lot of the sellers of these properties didn't tell the new buyers, that there was a vacant property exemption on the property that was going to expire soon,” Silverman said.
Which is what happened to Josh. In the nearly two years he and his wife have owned the home, no one told them.
“It's not so hard to figure out that our house isn't vacant, anytime in the last four years,” he said.
They weren’t alone. Councilwoman Silverman said hundreds of owners may have received similar shocking bills.
“My understanding from director of DCRA [Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs] is that they are working 24/7 to reinspect these properties,” she said.
Josh called DCRA and other D.C. government agencies. After numerous phone calls and one wrong type of inspection, he was able to show D.C. he lived in his home.
But it begs the question: Why wasn’t he notified by any District agency before getting a huge bill?
Josh pointed out since buying the home they’ve filled out numerous forms with the District and had multiple inspections for other D.C. agencies.
“I want to hopefully get the law changed so that DCRA is required to follow up and at least give notice to homeowners before causing them to get these giant tax bills,” he said.