California Real Estate and the Coronavirus

With 50 million plus people having signed up for Unemployment in the USA,  that means  not working, and counting, thanks to the Coronavirus financial Tsunami sweeping across the United States, and most of the world, every single state in this country should have property tax transfer rights, to keep parents property taxes,  with their Proposition 13 protected property tax base.  In other words, maintaining the legal right to transfer parents property taxes to the property they inherit, whenever inheriting property taxes, regardless of the value of the property they receive.

Basically, in every state, we should have low tax base for home owners when inheriting a home and/or land from parents, from Proposition 13 tax breaks and Proposition 58 property transfer tax discounts, with Proposition 13 protected property tax base; always avoiding property tax reassessment.  This would help so many struggling middle class and working class Americans right now; during a Pandemic that unfortunately is going to be with us for some time.  Even if we get a vaccine soon.  

Were it not for Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 in California,  property taxes would be prohibiting many home owners from both retaining a home they have bought, as well as real property they may have inherited. 

With property taxes in 49 other states making life so difficult for so many home owners during normal times… when you examine the hardships property taxes are causing property owners throughout the United States during an economic depression caused by an out of control Pandemic… you have to come to the conclusion that something must be long-term.  All the more reason for genuine property tax relief to be installed immediately in states sinking deeper into recession, and even depression, month after month.  With no let up in sight.  

It’s not always about making more, its often about spending less.  And property taxes cut deeply into peoples’ savings every year when it comes time to pay those taxes.  With no payment plan allowed!  Especially during a Pandemic and ensuing economic crisis.  So you either come up with the cash, or lose your home!  And with so many home owners out of work during the Covid 19 crisis – and with so many more to come, surely  property tax relief would certainly be one solution to consider as a national disaster relief option for lawmakers  in Washington…. if they could be forced by massive public opinion to focus on long-term solutions.

And this issue of property tax relief touches so many situations and financial activities.  For example, in California it’s stunning to see how so many beneficiaries and heirs of trusts and estates opt for a loan to an irrevocable trust from a trust lender, so they can buyout property shares from other beneficiaries, usually siblings – saving a great deal of money on initial transfers of  property.  Plus retaining parents property taxes with Proposition 13 protected property tax base – allowing beneficiaries who do not wish to sell out, to keep a beloved home inherited from parents they love, which middle class beneficiaries typically, otherwise, could never afford to keep, due to tax hikes & property taxes reassessed at current rates. Thus saving tens of thousands of dollars in property tax breaks on inherited property from parents – basically forever. 

We don’t realistically expect passive Lawmakers or Senators  to consider this immediately, as they clearly aren’t giving the plight of their constituents much thought – however some could be working on this a little harder, with a little more imagination – swapping out all those cliches for a little more action!

Heirs in every state should be able to keep parents property taxes, transfer parents property taxes when inheriting property taxes from inherited property. And this includes any type of property tax transfer, as we’ve mentioned here already with parent to child transfer, or as lawyers call it, “parent to child exclusion”.   There should be a state tax break every American property owner has a right to, no matter what state he or she resides in. The public in the Midwest and down South should be thinking about that, and hammering away at their representatives in Washington, instead of obsessing on guns and political red herrings.

Home owners and beneficiaries in every state right now are suffering like everyone else… as bread lines accelerate  in many states, everywhere, especially in those Midwestern and Southern states.  In every state, property owners should be able to use a trust loan to resolve inherited property conflicts, just as they can in California between beneficiaries, working with CA Proposition 58 – enabling co-beneficiaries in every state in the union to sell shares of inherited property, a beneficiary buyout of sibling property shares… while avoiding property tax reassessment. generally buying out a sibling’s share of an inherited house – as realtors call it, “transfer of property between siblings” or “sibling to sibling property transfer” – lending money to an irrevocable trust from a trust lender… Just like in California.

Besides one short lived effort, and thank goodness for it, to help middle class and working class Americans to bridge the gap between personal disaster and paying a few bills – our national Congress must develop a more realistic, long-term initiative to help the country more than simply for a month or two, with $1200 or $2400.  No one is quite sure exactly what that entails…

However, we’re all sure about one thing.  This country needs something to help citizens move forward with less anxiety and fear… and it’s clear that lowering, and perhaps deferring, property taxes is one solution that, although it might not put new dollars in the pocket of Americans,  it certainly would help home owners and business or commercial property owners financially, lowering property taxes, through tax relief hopefully similar to the California  1978 Proposition 13 and 1986 Proposition 58 property tax relief measures.  These are perfect models to mirror,  in every state and county throughout the United States of America.

>> Click Here to Continue, for Part Four…