Whodunit? Are Loan Officers supposed to be Detectives?

I always look to see if I can locate a copy of the tax bill.  Unfortunately, not every city/county in GA has their tax bills online.  When this happens, I use what is in MLS.  An estimate is then required if its not in MLS.

It takes time, but its the only way to be accurate.

Lyn- I always go on to the assessor's site to check taxes.  It is just good, honest service!  Unlike Rodney, the taxes in my area are usually online (thankfully).  My husband is intimately aware of RE tax rates (he works with developers and builders as a profession), so this is something that was second nature even before I got into the biz!

In the application process, I ask the borrower(s) if they know what they pay in yearly taxes and have their tax bill. Some have a ballpark idea of what they pay and most cannot produce the tax bill. After the interview, I'll go on the County's Tax Collector site and get the correct figure. This is the Loan Officer's responsibility and a mistake here can kill the deal. All numbers are important and must be accurate. I urge all Loan Officer's to take the time and effort to do your job right.

I always verify the taxes online at the county assessors office.  Is it part of my job description?  Probably not, but it's simple to do, and I just do it!

It would be great if they had those skills but I think that is a pipe dream.

Lyn. It's my opinion that any good LO will verify property taxes from the tax assessor's site. AND any good Buyer's agent should be reviewing their buyer's GFE to double check the figures.

Ultimately, if it's showing up on THEIR GFE, I would hope they would want to be in charge of verifying that figure.

Lyn, I believe Loan Officer and Realtor should verifty the taxes. With the information available on Internet it is an easy and simple task to perform.  P.S. Thank you for visiting my Ninja post.

Lyn - Ok, maybe I'm a little dense but first I wasn't sure if you were talking income taxes or property taxes.  You're talking property taxes - right?  If you are you talking about the property taxes for the buyer on the property they are purchasing, here in Los Angeles & Ventura counties, we (MLO) use a formula of 1.25% of the sales price as an estimate of the proposed assessed value.  If it's verifying whether the seller has paid their taxes on the property they are selling, then yes, we (MLO) verify that online with the county tax assessors office.  Did this answer your questions?

Lyn:  The questions of taxes is involved right from the very start of any conversation I have with a potential client.  Maybe it's my appraising background coming out ... but verifying information like this, as well as property information itself, is routine for me and mandatory to the processing.  No offense to any other professional, but I do my own research regarding taxes and housing values and where they might be heading.  This is core information.  You don't rely on someone else's word.  JMO ...

Gene  

Hi Lyn-good post and interesting answers. I always verify them myself

Lyn I can tell you that when I have a client that is making an offer on a property I always look up the most recent tax bill. As you know there are certain areas where the home may only cost $70,000 but he tax bill could be $5000. This can make a huge difference in the amount of money the borrower will need to show in assets. I would rather tell a client sorry the listing is wrong and based on the real tax bill your debt ratio is too high or you do not have enough assets to qualify, rather than 2 weeks in to the loan process have to break the same news to the borrower.