My client had cancellation of debt reported on 1099-C in year 2011. She will likely be able to use insolvency to exclude some or all of the debt cancelled. For purposes of calculating value of her residence, can the county tax assessor's value be used? I remember seeing attorney's use the county tax assessor's value for purposes of inventorying assets for probate, for other clients, in the past.
County tax records can certainly be used. But they are not generally considered authoritative. More useful is a competitive market analysis from a real estate broker based in the area. But even that is not as good as a real appraisal from a paid, qualified appraiser.
___ Stu
The county tax assessment is as of a specific date, which might be years ago. It could be very different from the true value in 2011. Assessments are generally not updated every year.
Bob Sandler
This is particularly true in California, where they are not updated to market except upon a "change of ownership" event per the property tax laws.
This is particularly true in California, where they are not updated to market except upon a "change of ownership" event per the property tax laws. =============== If the assessed value has DECREASED recently, it might be a valid value. Here in California, the assessed value may be decreased when it exceeds the current FMV. Such could be the case for properties purchased in 2005 and after. [A decrease can also occur for a historical building designation.]
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