If you haven’t already taken a look at our recent post regarding the news interview and article about evictions you can view it by visiting the link below.
Eviction Protections in Austin, TX Hurting Landlords
We have been notifying our tenants of any available rent assistance programs and encouraging them to participate if they are delinquent. We are seeing an uptick in delinquent accounts of which most are setting up payment plans and complying. However, it is a much higher delinquency rate than we’ve seen before. The current rate is about 5% of tenants, that number has grown from less than 1% previously.
Politics aside, hopefully after the election we’ll see some action on taking the burden off of landlords that was created by the CDC order protecting tenants but doing nothing for landlords.
We also want to give you a quick update about tax protests. Our contact with the firm we use recently notified us that due to the pandemic the hearings are being scheduled much further out than normal, and many accounts will be heard after the tax bills are mailed this year. Normally tax bills are mailed in October, however, we have some hearings scheduled for the first week of November while other accounts have not been given a hearing date yet.
Since the hearings are after the normal mailing date the process this year is going to be a bit out of the ordinary. If we do succeed in getting a reduction in the taxes they will mail a new bill, but there is no guarantee it will be received by the tax due date. Depending on your county you should pay the bill on time regardless of the protest to avoid late fees and penalties. After the new valuation is processed they will generate a new bill, and if you’ve already paid they will send you a refund.
As usual, once we have the results of the hearings we will notify you. Keep in mind this may be after you receive the bill for the full amount.
If you have any questions about this give us a call or send a message.
