It may seem from the rhetoric that the only people who can do anything about high property assessments are the politicians. Fortunately, that is not the case. Over the past three years, I have been researching PVSC (Property Valuation Services Corporation) and the way it does business and have discovered information that would be useful to any property owner in obtaining fair assessments without have to wait for glacial legislated improvements.

Even under the current system, property owners have a good chance of getting reductions. Assessments are and always have been highly subjective. An informed appeal at the lowest level will usually result in a reduction. And if that is not sufficient, a well-documented case at the Regional Assessment Appeal Court (RAAC) often produces good results. The appeal process is not complicated, is free, and a lawyer is not necessary. PVSC has a guide to the appeal process both online and in print.

The guide explains the process well, but it does not tell you how much information PVSC has that is yours for the asking. Fortunately, most of the information needed to make a good case is available from PVSC, although it is not always forthcoming in providing it. Property owners should not be misled into thinking all they can get is what is provided online at the PVSC website. Everything in your file is yours.

What owners need to prepare a case are the Property Record Card (PRC) report and comparators list. The PRC report describes the property in far greater detail than the online report. And the comparators list is only available by asking, and is not mentioned anywhere in PVSC’s website or documentation. PVSC has made no effort to inform the public about these reports, nor has it revealed how valuable they can be in an appeal.

Among other things, the PRC reveals (in PVSC’s opinion) the quality of your home (called the "grade"), basic details of its construction, the separated value of the land, house, outbuildings and the land area. The separation of land and buildings is critical because when they are lumped together (as they are online), you cannot determine whether it is the building or property that is over-assessed. In fact, lumping them together makes comparing property assessments accurately impossible. The "grade" or quality of your home is also critical as it is highly subjective, and your opinion is as good as theirs since they rarely do a thorough appraisal of your home.

Why you cannot obtain information online with your PIN is unclear. There are no privacy issues (usually PVSC’s excuse for not providing information) and an argument can be made that having the information easily accessible might actually reduce the number of appeals by eliminating frivolous appeals.

An examination of the PRC report will often reveal errors and even aspects of your property never included in the assessment. All those blank spaces suggest an incomplete job and hint at potential errors.

It is also worth comparing your PRC with that of a neighbour to see if there are any discrepancies. Theoretically, you cannot use non-sales comparisons, but some field assessors are reasonable about this and will consider unsold property comparisons. It is useful to get a new PRC every year just to see if they changed something they should not have. They assess a lot of properties every year and mistakes are inevitable.

The comparators report lists all similar property sales that PVSC uses to determine the market value of your property. Their software analyzes the sales information, but this is one case where CICO (crap in crap out) applies. Do not assume their list of comparable properties is complete, or even comparable.

A real-estate agent can search all sales of comparable properties sold during the six months before and after the base date and beyond. The MLS report describes properties in sufficient detail for comparison and often reveals that the "comparable" properties used by PVSC are not comparable at all. It is not uncommon to find twice as many properties as PVSC lists. A cynical person would wonder why the ones missed are sold for less than his own assessment.

The PRC and comparators are useful when talking to the field assessor and invaluable at the RAAC level.

Properly prepared, the odds are that you will get a reduction without going to the Regional Assessment Appeal Court.

John Winters lives in Queens County.