Deadline Looms for Victims of Wind Storm

The Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor urges property owners who may have been affected by the 2011 wind storms to submit a misfortune/calamity form on or before Nov. 30, 2012. 

Property owners could receive potential tax relief if related damage amounts to $10,000 or more, including destruction to chimneys or structures by falling trees or branches.

“The Office of the Assessor is ready to provide tax relief information for those property owners who have suffered damage or loss by the 2011 wind storms,”  Chief Deputy Assessor Santos Kreimann said in a news release. "State law allows home and business owners to qualify for a temporary reduction in assessed value. Re-assessment could mean a lower tax bill for the period between damage and repair or rebuilding.”

Section 170 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code requires the application form to be submitted within one year of the date of damage. Photographs and any other documentation, such as repair estimates, should accompany the form.

Additional information may be obtained by calling the Office of the Assessor’s main office at (213) 974-8658 or district offices in Sylmar (818) 833-6000; Signal Hill (562) 256-1701; Culver City (310) 665-5300; South El Monte (626) 258-6001, or Lancaster (661) 940-6700.

Misfortune/calamity forms are available on the assessor’s website at http://assessor.lacounty.gov for property owners to fill in, print and then submit by mail.