Parent to Child Property Tax Transfer in California
Based on their recent efforts, how do the folks running the state of California, in the Legislature, think that adding property taxes will affect all these working families? Do they even consider how further unraveling property tax relief would affect the California economy as a whole? Does it ever occur to the politicos in the Legislature that going further in the direction of eliminating property tax breaks would literally be a social and financial disaster for the state as a whole?
Since Proposition 58 (as well as Proposition 193 concerning the “Grandparent to Grandchild Exclusion”) is such a critical element holding up property tax relief in the state of California, we might as well take a quick, very simple high-level look at how this all works. To take advantage of Prop 58, certain eligibility requirements must be met. For example, eligible children under this proposition include:
a) Children born of the parents in question b) Stepchildren c) Sons-in-law and daughters-in-law d) Children adopted under the age of 18 e) Children of a child of grandparents (regarding Proposition 193)
Propositions 58 and 193 exclude three types of property transfers, avoiding property tax reassessment at current high market rates:
1. Transfer of a primary residence: The assessed value of a primary residence is eligible for reassessment exclusion, or exemption.
2. Transfer of property through gift, sale, or inheritance: Parent-to-child transfer through a trust will qualify for an exclusion of property tax reassessment.
3. The parent-child exclusion can only be used if the “transferee child” uses the home as the child’s primary residence, and files for the homeowner’s exemption for the property. The parent-child exclusion will not be available if the home is used as a vacation home or is rented out by the children. If the home is transferred to more than one child, they would all have to live together in the home as their primary.
4. A parent can only shelter $1 million of increased value from reassessment. Any appreciation above that will be added to the property tax assessed For instance, if the primary residence is currently assessed at $500,000 but is worth $1,500,000, the child receiving the home and using it as the child’s primary residence will keep the same property tax assessed value of $500,000. However, if the home is worth $3,000,000 and not $1,500,000, the $2,500,000 appreciation will result in an added $1,500,000 assessment; the child’s new property tax assessed value will be $2,000,000 ($500,000 current property tax assessed value + $1,500,000 of “excess appreciation”). This new limitation also applies to a family farm.
Proposition 19 eliminates the second current alternative completely. As of Feb 15, 2021, there will no longer be a Parent to Child exclusion for a transfer of any property other than the parent’s primary residence and a family farm. Although you can still get the benefit of Prop 58 and an irrevocable trust loan if you require that type of financing.
Proposition 58 does not automatically apply to each parent-to-child transfer. To receive the full benefit of Proposition 58, you are required to file within 3-years of the transfer of property ownership.
There are several forms you must file to take advantage of property tax reassessment exclusion. They are Proposition 58 Form BOE-58-AH: Claim for Reassessment Exclusion for Transfer Between Parent and Child; or Proposition 193. Form BOE-58-G: Claim for Reassessment Exclusion for Transfer Between Grandparent and Grandchild.
This completes a very simple, high-level view of what Proposition 58 is all about. Once you understand all that, the next step is to enlist the help of a trust lender to get approved to be able to take advantage of Prop 58 and an irrevocable trust loan for funding to equalize the finances between beneficiaries if some wish to hold on to inherited property while others are looking to sell out to outside buyers.
From that point onward, the next step is to make use of the trust fund loan process, if you wish to equalize financing between you and your siblings or co-beneficiaries, to retain inherited property from your parents and buyout property shares inherited by a sibling, or several co-beneficiaries. You can then own your inherited home without the encumbrances of co-beneficiaries to be concerned with.
California Parent to Child Exclusion From Property Tax Reassessment
And yet, until these changes to property tax relief are repealed, let’s be thankful at least that, going forward, beneficiaries inheriting property directly from parents will still be able to retain Proposition 58’s parent to child exclusion from property tax reassessment (at full or current market value), as long as those direct beneficiaries move into an inherited property as a primary residence, within 12-moinths after the passing of the parent leaving that property as a gift, a sale, or an inheritance.
This is a difficult matter to overcome without some careful planning… and this is certainly one component of Prop 19 that was, shall we say, “under-played”, or actually hidden from voters, prior to Nov. 2020. The prevailing thought is that this will perhaps be repealed in the near future once voters actually experience the reality of these changes to Proposition 58, whether they voted for change or not.
Yet, whether we like it or not, all of these revisions do unravel long-standing tax benefits protected by Proposition 58 concerning the parent to child exclusion as well as trust loan enabled sibling to sibling property transfer, buying out property inherited by siblings; or Proposition 193, with regards to the grandparent to grandchild exemption; passed overwhelmingly by voters in California in Nov. of 1986 and March 1996, respectively, allowing parents to transfer their property tax basis of a primary residence ) to their children; plus up to $1 million of assessed value of other property – namely $1million of the Proposition 13 values on rental properties or other investment properties passed to heirs, not based on fair market value; and effectively allowing far more than $1million of property value to transfer while retaining the lower tax bill.
Even though the California Legislature and California Association of Realtors may be more interested in funding unfunded local government pensions, footing the bill for a few school programs, and getting some more homes into the market for sale – it’s not in question to any reasonable person, without a financial or political axe to grind, that Proposition 13, Proposition 58 and Prop 193 have saved heirs thousands upon thousands of dollars every year, that they would have otherwise been spending needlessly on vastly over-priced property taxes.
Not to mention the truly excellent sibling to sibling property transfer benefit, buying out inherited sibling property – which is always Proposition 58 & trust loan enabled, to buyout property inherited by co-beneficiaries. Noted attorney Devin Lucas, one of the most knowledgeable proponents of Prop 13, Prop 58 and 193, and California property tax relief in general, which he summed up brilliantly in Oct. of 2020. Mr. Lucas offered some real-world examples to illustrate the practical importance of these tax breaks for families, as follows:
“Due to the tremendous benefits of Proposition 13, many long term owners continue to pay property taxes based upon their original purchase price (or price as determined when the proposition was enacted), with annual increases not to exceed two percent, regardless of current value. This can be especially beneficial in areas such as Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa, Orange County and other coastal communities that have seen incredible growth in property values.
For example, assume a parent’s home in Newport Beach is currently worth $2,500,000. They purchased the home long ago for low a low six-figure amount and due to the enormous benefits of Proposition 13 are paying about $3,500 a year in property taxes. If the child were to purchase a home for $2,500,000 today, that would equate to a $25,000 annual property tax bill (assuming one percent, not including various municipal bonds and other taxes commonly found on property tax bills). Transferring the property tax basis of the parent’s home, and therefore that $3,500 a year bill, just saved this hypothetical child $21,500 a year in property taxes. $21,500 a year, for as long as they own the home.
Principal residences have no cap in value, all other property, such as investment properties or second homes, have a benefit cap of $1 million, in which case a mother / grandmother and father / grandfather can combine their exclusions for a limit of $2 million. If the property is worth more than said caps, then a new blended property tax basis will be configured by the county…”
Fortunately, Proposition 193 is also intact, allowing grandparents to transfer their current tax-basis to grandchildren. The wonderful thing, still, is that these property tax benefits can always apply to a gift, sale or hybrid of the two and can amount to enormous property tax savings. And that is truly what this is all about.
The Los Angeles Times, in their inimitable fashion, put it like this on Oct. 19, 2020:
“About 650,000 California homeowners over the last decade received a tax break that allows them to maintain their parents’ low property tax payments when they inherit their homes…
The provision has since been dubbed “the Lebowski loophole” after The Times found that “The Big Lebowski” actor Jeff Bridges and his siblings had advertised a beachfront home in Malibu inherited from their parents for nearly $16,000 a month in rent despite an annual property tax bill that’s a fraction of that amount.
Proposition 19 would eliminate this property tax break for investment homes and commercial properties, meaning that heirs who inherit their parents’ properties would pay taxes based on market value. With some limitations, children who move into homes inherited from their parents would be able to retain the tax break.“
Interesting how the Times gives credence to deceptive wording, while confusing the so-called benefits of Proposition 19. They parse the actual Prop 19 rules and regs, and purpose in fact…twisting the facts to read, “Proposition 19 would eliminate this property tax break for investment homes and commercial properties…” Prop 19 does not now exist to eliminate investment homes and commercial properties. It exists to eliminate the parent to child exclusion, or parent to child exemption… unless you change your life and move into a new inherited home within a year.
Interesting that The Times chooses to leave out the fact that inherited property will be sold off at a loss by inheritors who may not be able to move into inherited property within a year… because middle class homeowners, 95% of the folks affected by this new tax law, won’t be able to afford the new property taxes without the parent to child exemption being utilized within that year one after mom or dad dies.
Instead of telling it like it is The Times tells us, “With some limitations, children who move into homes inherited from their parents would be able to retain the tax break.” Sure, “some limitations” meaning those folks inheriting property must uproot themselves and set up a new life within 12 months, plus sell the home they are living in, or give up their inherited home at a financial loss. And maybe they can’t just up and leave their current residence, sell it, and move to a new home that was owned by their parents, that perhaps does not suit them and their family. For a number of reasons.
Proposition 19 doesn’t exist to eliminate greedy real estate investors… It exists to push middle class home owners out of the way, to force them to sell inherited property if they can’t uproot themselves and move into their inherited home within a year while figuring out a way to sell their own home. In a market hampered by Covid, where maybe it’s not so easy to sell that home they’ve been living in. These are not investment sharks and real estate hustlers, as the Los Angeles Times is falsely hinting at. These are regular middle class home owners.
This new tax law affecting property tax relief in California was put in place to generate more money for realtors and the CA Legislature. Directly impacting consumers. Regular folks, like you and I. Not to eliminate “property tax breaks for investment homes and commercial properties”. That is, we’re sorry to say, a false characterization.
Abruptly, the entire state found out at the last moment, prior to the November vote, that C.A.R. had launched Proposition 19, along with the California Legislature, which passed by a few votes; due mainly to an extremely clever, albeit a bit deceptive, marketing campaign – confusing voters while hiding the fact that Prop 19 exists to kill parent to child exclusion benefits, bit by deceptive bit. Don’t be fooled, completely unraveling the parent-to-child exemption is their eventual goal. Not giving residential and commercial property owners the ability to avoid property tax reassessment every year.
This type of tax break frees property owners from chronic stress based on unpredictable property taxation that is typically high for middle class incomes. This form of property tax relief makes life in general more secure and more affordable for middle class and even upper middle class residents. Rich folks we don’t really need to worry about. They’ll be fine either way. This type of tax relief allows beneficiaries to keep parents property taxes, and of course gives them the ability to transfer parents property taxes when inheriting property; avoiding property tax reassessment, keeping their tax base low through CA Proposition 13.
What is truly incredible to many of us is the ability for a beneficiary in California to use Proposition 58 to get a special loan providing cash to co-beneficiaries through an irrevocable trust, for middle class beneficiaries who want to smooth out cash obstacles (often referred to as “equalizing liquidation”) when it comes to conflicts between siblings who want to sell property versus family members who prefer to keep inherited real property… an invaluable property tax benefit. Which is exactly why it’s so important to understand how and why Prop 19 exists to kill parent to child exclusion benefits at some point in the future… This is the C.A.R. and CA Legislature’s first baby step in that direction.
All states, forever grappling with this Covid crisis, should be heading towards tax breaks for regular middle class people, and not wasting the country’s time with absurd tax law benefiting a few wealthy corporations, a couple of hundred billionaires and multi-millionaires, with huge tax cuts they do not really need; and corporate welfare for immense companies that would be just fine without it. While a couple of hundred million Americans struggle by generally without tax breaks or tax loopholes of any kind to help them put away some extra cash in the bank every year.
In fact, all states need a Proposition 13 and Proposition 58, to help middle class families get by every year. That’s why beneficiaries or heirs in every state who are expecting real property, or are leaving real property to their own heirs, should conduct some careful research on blogs and Websites that focus on inheritance matters, to get more familiar with Proposition 58 and trust loans, on beneficiary issues and CA Proposition 13. They should study informative niche blogs like this one… as well as other niche Websites that cover property taxes in depth… that delve into California Proposition 13, 58 and 193, as well as how trust loans can help beneficiaries.
All resident should learn more about why Prop 19 exists to kill parent to child exclusion benefits, bit by bit; how to keep parents property taxes and how to transfer parents property taxes, inheriting property taxes, or property tax transfer, parent to child transfer and parent to child exclusion – for residential properties of course; however, also for business oriented sites and commercial properties… that take full advantage of Proposition 58 — making use of trust loans to buyout inherited property from siblings, such as simply to get the facts straight on the transfer of property between siblings, how to buy out siblings share of a house; what makes sibling to sibling property transfer work; and how loans to irrevocable trusts help co-beneficiaries get cash while avoiding the necessity to sell their share of the inherited property.
Then, once they get your pitch together, folks in all states can tell their congressional representatives to get moving on passing property tax law for middle class home owners, not just rich folks that live in lovely upscale neighborhoods!
Many of us wonder when it got to this point in this country, when virtually the only way you can have a genuinely comfortable, safe, secure life is if you are fabulously wealthy – and nothing below that or in between.
As we all know, the Coronavirus crisis is not abating in many states – causing severe and consistent unemployment, and overall economic uncertainly. Certain states are floundering more than others, without any federal support of any kind, even PPE – thereby costing tens of thousands of families the lives of loved ones.
With millions of jobs initially put on hold – jobs that were placed on “furloughed” status or were standard “lay-offs”… are still in question, as far as resurgence is concerned. Regrettably, it’s impossible to determine the exact number of jobs lost, as some return: whereas others do not. Therefore, constant fluctuations make permanent calculations difficult to nail down.
Making matters even more challenging, the federal government historically calculates “unemployment rates” by adding up the number of workers signing up for unemployment checks; and deduce an unemployment rate in this fashion. However, once workers stop getting unemployment checks they somehow magically disappear off the grid. As if they somehow were never in the system.
It would be safe to say that unemployment, nationally and statewide, remains at critical levels. And yet California is still the only state in the union that provides middle class residential and commercial property owners with genuine property tax breaks.
And this is exactly what every state in America needs right now, with unemployment and Covid still spiraling out of control. Lowering property taxes would surely loosen up some cash to help working families buy food and maintain some decent health coverage, plus put some money away for emergencies.
If we were able to get property tax measures passed in most states, similar to the mega-popular tax breaks California home owners and commercial property owners enjoy, the overall positive cumulative affect on American tax payers would be significant. Folks would be able to easily transfer parents property taxes, and keep transfer parents property taxes, or buyout while inheriting property taxes at a low base rate.
Especially in times like this – shouldn’t we all have access to property tax relief like this? An intra-family loan to a trust, using Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 type of property tax transfer benefits and tax breaks, with parent to child transfer or as law firms refer to it – parent to child exclusion, or exemptions.
Do some research and push your Beltway representatives in Congress to put together some bills like California has passed to help home owners and commercial property owners. And you can use the Covid crisis for added motivation. This is covered on informative, accurate niche Websites such as Commercial Loan Corp.
An intra-family loan to a trust in conjunction with Proposition 58, or Prop 193, makes it possible to maintain a low property tax base basically forever upon a beneficiary buyout of sibling property shares, or as realtors call it, “the transfer of property between siblings”, and “lending money to an irrevocable trust“ – typically from an irrevocable trust loan lender.
While you’re at it, take a look at the CA State Board of Equalization to find out how all this works, or research niche info blogs such as this one, Property Tax Transfer… Plus other sites focused on property tax breaks for Californians. And let’s be frank… Living in that state, although there are great benefits, is admittedly expensive – in relation to many other states.
States like New York, Texas, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts… are all expensive states to reside in. With zero property tax relief or significant tax breaks of any kind – unless you’re a multi-millionaire or billionaire. Then you get nothing but legislated V.I.P. tax cuts. However, firms like Commercial Loan Corp, or Paramount Property Tax Appeal, provide V.I.P. property tax breaks or V.I.P. personal business and property tax reduction to everyone…. regardless or income or overall net worth.
Let’s be clear. Critics of property tax relief in California are typically well educated, bright, and articulate… and write awfully convincing Op-Ed’s in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.
Yet, for whatever reason, these critics of property tax relief never produce examples of how or why Proposition 13 is “so unfair” – with the exception of shifting sand anecdotal evidence, without genuine case study data or specific historical events to point to. Other than the rather deceptive Lloyd and Jeff Bridges family tale of their one beach- front property used as a secondary property to rent out to wealthy tenants.
In fact it’s almost laughable that the Bridges family story is approved by supposedly responsible editors repeatedly, in numerous high-profile California newspapers. Always without backup evidence or case study data pointing to other examples of this type of usage of Proposition 13 and Proposition 58, by other wealthy or middle class Californians. They can’t seem to come up with a credible follow up example, or any example, of this sort of rental activity.
Yet critics of property tax relief did manage to come up with Proposition 19, to take down the parent to child exclusion, associated with the parent to child transfer, that is the foundation of property tax relief for home owners in this state. Those same home owners, and beneficiaries inheriting property from parents are wondering how this Proposition 19 measure will affect Proposition 58, in terms of establishing a low property tax base, as well as getting a trust loan to buyout siblings inheriting the same property.
There is a great deal of anxiety in California in terms of how Proposition 58 will stand if Proposition 19 is voted into law, with respect to locking down a long-term, even lifetime, low property tax base when receiving an intra-family trust loan associated with the transfer of property between siblings or sibling to sibling property transfer. If Proposition 19 does pass, most current beneficiaries want to know if getting a trust loan to buyout siblings will be the same, in terms of process; or will the process be different, more difficult, or perhaps even easier. Buying out a siblings’ share of a house, getting a trust loan to buyout siblings post Proposition 19, is an important issue for most residents of California.
Meanwhile, despite these nuts and bolts details, we’re still forced to listen to these relentless critics of Proposition 13 and Proposition 58, dispensing non fact-based anecdotal narratives to convince the public how “one-sided” and “massively abused” property tax relief is in California. How it’s only for rich, mainly elderly, home owners. Or for the rich and famous… like the Bridges.
Yet we still don’t hear any actual names attached to this supposed “long list of abusers of Proposition 13” to back up these claims behind the push to pass Proposition 19. Obviously, this is a false representation of a proven property tax relief system that benefits more middle class home owners than anyone else in California. Which makes perfect sense, if you think about it, as there are so many more middle class people in California, and elsewhere, than rich people!
Although lately, to backup Proposition 15, to take away property tax breaks from business and commercial property owners, we are occasionally hearing about corporations, not people, always trotted out as, “…companies like Chevron and Disneyland…” (never mentioning any other company) “…that sit on valuable property, generating a huge profit every year – yet never paying taxes on their land in terms of present day reassessment”. OK, we’re willing to listen. But never with any actual figures or data to backup the claims.
So even if a few corporations take advantage of Prop 13 tax relief measures that have been in place in all 58 counties in California since 1978, millions of middle class home owners will see their rents sky-rocket if Prop 15 passes… and commercial property owners, and apt. landlords just getting by, as well as family-run industrial businesses that own modest income bearing facilities – all use Proposition 13 fairly and properly, and benefit greatly from it. Just as it should be. So we’re going to punish these few perhaps greedy companies by crippling all business property owners in California?
Without these tax breaks from Proposition 13 and Prop 58, without people like Howard Jarvis and Jon Coupal; Kerry Smith who have fought for these tax breaks for California residential and business property owners… very few middle class Californians, which is most of the state, would have been able to keep inherited property. Landlords have been able to keep rents at moderately reasonable rates due to low commercial property taxes. So on and so forth. And this business about schools desperately needing funding – is yet again another half-truth.
Sure, some of the revenue from new, accelerated property taxes will go to schools… but nowhere near what is being promised, or rather vaguely indicated. The lion’s share we are told would go to pay for unfunded state-govt. pensions. And probably other state government purposes such as pay raises, generous benefits and vacations, and so on… plus special interest public works and building projects, no doubt. And schools will pick up what’s left on the table after all that.
Californians are anxiously waiting to see if voters pass or sink CA Proposition 15, affecting business and commercial property owners by specifically removing their ability to legally avoid property tax reassessment; as well as Proposition 19, which is designed to unravel the “parent to child exemption” or “parent to child exclusion” (from current, reassessed property tax rates).
In fact Californians are wondering right now, if Proposition 19 passes, how much Proposition 58 will be affected; and how they will be able to get a trust loan to buyout siblings who wish to sell mutually inherited property. Or exactly how they will be able to work with Proposition 58 to lock in a low property tax base rate, if Prop 19 passes. Companies like Commercial Loan Corp, are fielding questions like this as we speak.
If Prop 19 passes, California can say goodbye to any property tax transfer activity from one family member to another… there will be no way to transfer parents property taxes at a nice low base rate, in fact inheriting property taxes from parents to avoid property tax reassessment or the right to keep parents property taxes with a parent to child exemption will, sadly, be a thing of the past.
If voted into law, as the LAO (Legislative Analyst’s Office) tells us, these property tax measures will, in effect, repeal popular inter-generational transfer protections guaranteed by Proposition 58’s parent-to-child exclusion and Proposition 193 (grandparent to grandchild exemption) property transfer tax breaks – upending tax relief protections that Californians have depended on for decades.
Proposition 15 removes property tax breaks for landlords and other business property owners – which, if voted into law, would not only directly affect business and commercial property owners, impacting stores, gas stations, supermarkets, etc., frequented every day by consumers – but will impact everyone in California. Not only for countless people renting units in apartment buildings all across the state, but also for tenants renting commercial properties and offices in commercial buildings will be paying much higher property tax, and therefore will be forced to raise their prices. Hence, the cost of goods and services will go up in all 58 counties in the state. If Prop 15 passes, prepare to pay significantly higher prices, basically for everything – for rent, gas, food, air & ground travel, clothes, electronics, movies and computer entertainment, cel. phones… you name it!
This leaves us at roughly 50,000 to 60,000 families in California that will be victimized economically by unreasonably high property taxes… in the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic no less. Obviously, many middle class families will be unable to keep inherited property due to property tax hikes… and, among other difficulties, will be generally unable to afford decent health coverage that includes preexisting conditions… unless they’re over 65 and have access to Medicare – unless the ACA (“Obamacare”) has been watered down, as Republicans have repeatedly promised to do… and this is on the record. So people in California are nervous; as are folks nation-wide.
On top of this crisis for California home owners – if Proposition 15 passes, tenants that don’t own but pay rent will suffer from increased rents – as Prop 15 will unravel commercial and business property owners’ ability to avoid property tax reassessment at current rates. Business property owners and landlords will no longer be able to retain a low property tax base-rate, such as home owners supposedly will continue to do – although most of us are not entirely convinced about that. Once the door has been opened, so to speak, do we really believe that the powers that be in California, the Legislature, and their realtor colleagues, are simply going to stop there?
As far as Proposition 19 is concerned, most middle class beneficiaries and families inheriting real property from their parents would be forced to sell that property within the first year, as Prop 19 dictates, plus most beneficiaries or heirs will be unable to cover increased transfer costs and, in particular, yearly hiked up property taxes. Hence, they are doubly motivated to sell inherited property many would much prefer to keep.
Opponents of CA Proposition 13 repeatedly offer up the tired tale about the Bridges family using Prop 13 to transfer a pricey luxury beachfront property, paying little tax, and renting out for big bucks. It’s interesting that this story is literally the only narrative we hear about that condemns Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 by real-life example. So they raised $58 Million, in part, on this much repeated tale, and other anecdotal non fact-based evidence, to destroy property tax relief in California.
A Threat to Proposition 58, Parent to Child Exclusion, Arises
If they were keeping both eyes open, most property owners in California were looking, tentatively, for signs on the horizon of any new threat to the popular property tax break known as the “parent to child exemption, or “Prop 58 parent to child exclusion”… Meaning, exclusion from having your home, or any other property, reassessed every year at current property tax rates. Being that this exclusion is the the main foundation that property tax relief in California is built on, if you were serious about dismantling property tax relief in this state, it would be likely that you’d go after this critical tax break in earnest.
So naturally, at the last moment, when everyone thought they might have “dodged the bullet” in terms of efforts to dismantle Proposition 13 or Proposition 58 one more time, relentless critics of California Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 decided to add one more measure to the mix, to remove the parent to child exclusion allowed under Proposition 58, from California home owners… A measure they are calling Proposition 19. Very short sighted!
These measures also kill off our right, in conjunction with Proposition 58, to get a loan to an irrevocable trust and keep a low property tax base forever, from parent to child transfer, also called parent to child exclusion or parent to child exemption… with the ability to transfer property between siblings or buyout siblings’ share of inherited property. Proposition 15 kills off landlords’ tax breaks and so have fun watching your rent go sky high, landlords will have no choice to stay in business! In fact everything will go up in price, all goods and services as we have said many times.
Proposition 19 kills the exemption we just mentioned, the CA Proposition 13 protected parent to child transfer… in other words transfer of property between family members… No more ability to transfer parents property taxes (in other words, their low tax rate becomes your own low tax rate). Inheriting property taxes will be no more, and you’ll be spending over $6,000 more every year in property taxes. No joke. You won’t be able to keep parents property taxes any more, property tax transfer will be no more… no more ability to avoid property tax reassessment. That’s the killer.
No longer being able to avoid property tax reassessment would be a truly devastating event for home owners who depend on extra spendable cash freed up by the money they save from the lack of property tax reassessment. Losing the parent to child exclusion, in an already hyper-expensive state, would devastate millions of Californians. Not to mention the possibility of the so-called Split-Roll or “Proposition 15” commercial property tax, which would certainly add to the devastation by raising industrial and commercial property taxes, including apt. building landlords, forcing landlords to raise rents on residential and business tenants…
Or we could talk about trust beneficiaries or estate heirs losing their ability to get a loan for hundreds of thousands of dollars to an irrevocable trust to buyout siblings who are intent on selling their share of a beloved inherited home, along with establishing a low property tax base made possible by Proposition 13, working in tandem with Proposition 58. And the list goes on.
Without being partisan or subjective – it’s fairly clear to any reasonable person that would herald in grave economic disturbance, and even disaster, for the entire state, where middle class and working class people are concerned. Obviously, many residents in Malibu or Beverly Hills or Santa Barbara would not be feeling the pinch. However, we’re not talking about the 1%.
This brainchild of C.A.R. and the CA Legislature is, if you step back and think about it, not only brazen but also short-sighted, as they are actually looking to fund special interests with revenue from property taxes — right smack in the middle of a Pandemic. With over 6.7 million Californians having signed up for unemployment checks, these critics of property tax relief want to remove these universally popular property tax breaks protected by Proposition 13 and Proposition 58. Benefits that middle class and working class California families have become accustomed to, and depend on.
Proposition 58 Particulars
Most Californians are familiar with Proposition 58 and the Prop 58 parent to child exclusion. As you know, California Proposition 58 serves to protect folks who owe $8,500 or more in additional property taxes, while they settle their affairs. Prop 58 also allows beneficiaries who wish to keep inherited property in their family to buyout co-beneficiaries’ property shares, through a trust loan, and helps those looking to keep their inherited home also keep a low Proposition 13 protected property tax base their parents paid. And everyone goes away happy, win-win, all the way around.
In 1986, to protect families from massive property tax hikes, voters passed Proposition 58, revising the California constitution to ensure transfers of property between parents and children could be executed with the right to avoid property tax reassessment. Under Proposition 58 property of any value, plus additional property with up to a million dollars of assessed value, can be transferred between parents and children without reassessment.
However, the chief sponsor of ACA-11 (Proposition 19) the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) came along and decided to spoil all these critical win-win protections. C.A.R. assembled enough signatures to get their initiative on the ballot. Apparently, C.A.R. is motivated by their monetary interest in drumming up new home sales, regardless of the fact that the measure creates a multi-billion-dollar tax increase statewide, will throw the entire middle class California economy into chaos, already in turmoil due to the Covid-19 health and unemployment crisis…
The 2020 Proposition 19 would look to repeal the 1986 Proposition 58 parent to child transfer (property tax break) and impose reassessment of inherited or transferred property within families. The one exception being if the property was used as the principal residence of the beneficiary to whom it was transferred, and that exclusion is even capped.
Unintended or Intended Consequences?
The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) estimated that the repeal of the “inter-generational transfer protections” guaranteed by the Prop 58 parent to child exclusion, and Proposition 193 grandparent to grandchild exemption would, if passed, cause somewhere between 40,000 to 60,000 families in California to be crippled economically by higher yearly property taxes.
Obviously, most middle class families would be forced to immediately sell an inherited home left to them by a surviving parent. Thus, a serious imposition has been placed on the “right to choose” for countless middle class families… simply so realtors can sell a few more homes on the market. The trade off does seem to be rather uneven. If Proposition 19 passes, all those beneficiaries in California will be expected to move in to their parent’s home and make it their primary residence within one year of their surviving parent’s death.
The basis for this measure is unrealistic on its’ face, for a number of reasons… Many beneficiaries are already home owners, and pay out a fair amount of cash every month already to maintain their own mortgage and/or property upkeep. Moreover, if a beneficiary has a large family, and his or her parent’s home is not spacious enough – what alternatives are left for these folks?
If Mom or Dad’s home is situated a long distance away from a beneficiary’s place of work, and/or the spouse’s workplace – and perhaps inconveniently far away from their children’s school, adding possibly an additional 60 or 90 minutes on the freeway each way, back and forth every day… What options will these families have to look to?
Critics of property tax relief in California are proposing somewhat unrealistic measures that, although they may look good on paper from a financial perspective, they fail to incorporate realistic issues and scenarios that exist for regular people with regular lives.
So vote your conscience in November. We suggest you vote “No to Proposition 19”.
Information and Trust Loan Funding
For more details on the C.A.R. originated Proposition 19 effort to turn back the clock on property tax relief in California, you can go to CaliforniaProposition58.org
Critics of California property tax relief still repeat the same old talking points, like parrots, opining on the exaggerated need for cash from property taxes to “save the drowning school system from disaster; etc.” Whereas their Proposition 15 Split-Roll property tax would in fact be the very thing that would bring about economic disaster in California.
Split-Roll supporters even added a deceptive “exemption” from two to three million dollars in property value as a promotional trigger point, hoping that this deceptive and confusing formula will succeed in unraveling tax breaks for owners of industrial facilities and commercial properties – which they are now calling “Proposition 15”… a safe, innocuous sounding title that is actually cloaking a rather toxic, sinister process that would begin the slow, poisonous destruction of property tax relief in the sunny state of California.
Knowing that going after residential property tax benefits would be something like going after the popular Medicare program or the even more popular Affordable Care Act… Likewise, you don’t directly attack popular property tax benefits that millions of people love and depend on – first you start nibbling at the edges… then you work your way inward, towards destroying the center. It looks to us like that is exactly what is going on in California right now.
Like the Post Office nationwide, for example… if you dismantle the system internally, mail won’t be delivered on time, no matter what anyone tells you to the contrary. Sometimes things are exactly as they seem to be! So no matter what anyone says, after dismantling property tax breaks for commercial property owners, the next step is clearly to unravel property tax relief for home owners. Sometimes things are exactly as they appear to be.
Once critics of property tax relief start in on affluent landlords who own business rental properties, they won’t stop until they dismantle middle class commercial property owners… and then, of course, wealthy and then middle class home owners – until every single middle class American is scraped clean! Easy prey for them. Low hanging fruit. They call it a “wealth tax” in some states, and in California they’re calling it a “split-roll” tax. A new way to get more money from us, basically. One way or the other. It’s a similar ploy to ramp up and increase tax revenue they want us to pay. It’s plain to see.
It was retired, older couples and elderly widows who were being kicked out of their homes (that they resided in for 4, 5, 6 decades), basically due to unpaid or under-paid property taxes in 1974 and 1975, 1976… before Proposition 13 was finally passed by voters in 1978, thanks to Mr. Howard Jarvis and friends, at the Taxpayers Association in California.
Now, with Proposition 15, formerly the “split-roll” tax, underway – this time it will be middle class and working class “mom & pop” shops and consumer businesses renting store-fronts and offices in leased buildings, or Uber drivers who are home owners… who will be harassed by the Tax Man, and ultimately displaced, with nowhere comfortable and safe to go!
Wayne Lusvardi says in CaliforniaGlobe.com: “Proposition 15 – the so-called split-roll commercial and residential tax hike – on the November ballot, is being advertised as solely a commercial property tax. But there is a Trojan Horse contained in Proposition 15 that will unravel Proposition 13 property tax protections even for residential properties.
Single-family residential homes used for home offices or UBER drivers who park their cars at their owned residences will have their homes reclassified as commercial properties under proposed Proposition 15. Eventually, property taxes will be equalized by the legislature, and the mandates of Proposition 15 will apply to all owners who hold multiple homes and apartments, not just commercial properties. Moreover, small business owners will have the higher property taxes passed through to them in the form of higher rents and will not be able to stay in business after a couple of years.”
And guess who will pay the ultimate price for this so-called “split-roll” property tax? Higher commercial property taxes… Wait, let’s re-phrase that – MUCH higher commercial and industrial property taxes will ultimately be paid by the consumer. All of us.
Why? All the services and goods you have grown to depend on will go way up in price thanks to business, industrial and commercial property taxes going up – landlords renting our store space and office buildings will have no choice but to raise their rents to survive, and subsequently their tenants, who own gas stations and super markets and stores and strip-malls, and office buildings all over California, will have to raise their prices to keep from going flat out of business within 10, 12 months.
Hence, if this new property tax passes… that sound of air whooshing out of a balloon you hear will be the air whooshing out of the economy all across the once great state of California.
Kenneth McNabb is an Account Representative at the Commercial Loan Corporation in Newport Beach, California. We began the interview by asking Ken to address a central issue in this field, namely communicating a rather complex process in very simple terms:
Property Tax Transfer: Hello Ken, how do you disseminate the information you want to get across to prospects and new clients? In order to address financial issues that beneficiaries need to know, to resolve what are often complex financial concerns?
Kenneth McNabb: I tend to give general information at first, to give potential clients a solid overview… And try to determine exactly how urgent the the financial issues are, that are driving the folks I’m talking to.
Property Tax Transfer: What do you do with a family that appears to be at an impasse, for example cannot agree on the value of an inherited home?
Kenneth McNabb: When no one in a group of siblings can agree on what the value of a home should be I typically suggest we create a Cost Benefit Analysis and have an appraisal conducted. Plus I make sure I know who wants to sell an inherited property, and who wants to keep the property… and nail down their low Proposition 13 tax base. Everyone wants that low property tax base to be intact forever, of course. Most people do not realize that they can actually save a considerable amount of money by taking out a trust loan to keep a home as opposed to having to pay realtor fees, closing costs and repair costs involved with selling a home. In fact we save our clients on average more than $40,000.00 when compared to selling a home. That does not include the annual tax savings of over $6,200 by taking advantage of California Proposition 58!
Property Tax Transfer: When in the estate or inheritance timeline do these siblings tend to contact you, contact the firm you work for?
Kenneth McNabb: Some are urgent to get the money right away to buyout siblings…. Some even call us before anyone even passes away! Sometimes it’s a week after the death of a parent… Sometimes it’s a year after someone passes away.
Property Tax Transfer: What is the most important thing in an estate situation like that, that comes to you all mixed up and in conflict?
Property Tax Transfer: And the next most important thing?
Kenneth McNabb: Well, I suppose that would be – what it means to inherit property from a parent. As maybe a once-in-a-lifetime, singular event.
Property Tax Transfer: Yes, it’s definitely a profound event. Tell me, who do you primarily deal with in your average family group? Typically.
Kenneth McNabb: Not counting the exceptions… Typically, I’m generally dealing with “the captain of the team”. The trust administrator, the person who wants to retain the parents home or oldest sibling. On occasion one of the siblings in an attorney and I will deal with them.
Property Tax Transfer: What does that person, that spokesperson, typically want, most of all?
Kenneth McNabb: I’d have to say that they want to keep the low CA Proposition 13 property tax base. Plus be able to buyout the sibling or siblings who want to sell their shares in that property.
Property Tax Transfer: What about Proposition 58, getting approved, and how it all works in conjunction with a trust loan, besides securing a low CA Proposition 13 property tax base… How do you explain all that? As I see it, this is the key to success in this business. If they don’t “get it” the first time around, they usually just walk away, don’t they? People often push away what they think they can’t understand.
Kenneth McNabb: My job is to make sure they understand this process within the first 30 seconds of the conversation! As usual, I keep everything as simple as possible. I explain Proposition 58 and securing a low CA Proposition 13 property tax base in very, very simple terms… Letting them know, in plain English, without a lot of confusing technical jargon, how an exclusion functions for the property – from parent to child… I always ask them, in simple language, “Would you rather pay property taxes based on the day their parents’ bought the property… Or get hit with a super high current tax base, and pay what would be reassessed now, today…” I suppose you can guess what their choice generally is!
Property Tax Transfer: Right. Doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out! Everyone wants that low CA Proposition 13 property tax base. Now, although you’re dealing with more or less non-conventional lending issues… How do you deal with non-conventional loan requirements? Where approval is concerned – along the pathway towards final approval for these folks.
Kenneth McNabb: Since we are lending to the trust and not to an individual in most situations, the loan process is very fast and easy. In fact, we can often close a loan in as little as a week; providing we have received all of the required paperwork.
Property Tax Transfer: What is the Continuing Legal Education all about? Is that for Trust & Estate attorneys only?
Kenneth McNabb: Commercial Loan Corporation specializes in loans to trusts to help our clients utilize Proposition 58 to keep a parents low Prop 13 property tax base. After doing this for so long, we have become very knowledgeable on California Proposition 58 matters. We partnered with Michael Wyatt, a California Property Tax Consultant that worked in a California Assessors office for over 15 years. Together, we created an authorized Continuing Legal Education course that Attorney’s may take to meet their California continuing legal education requirements.
Property Tax Transfer: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us Ken. If one of our readers needs assistance with California Proposition 58 or has questions about a loan to an irrevocable trust, how may they reach you?
Kenneth McNabb: They can either call us at 877-464-1066 or inquire right on our website. We are always happy to answer any questions that they are their Attorney may have on the trust or estate loan process. We can also provide a Free benefit analysis which shows how much each beneficiary will save by using a trust loan to keep a home as opposed to selling it.
So let’s wrap this discussion up with a brief recap… and summary. It is completely obvious to any reasonable person that even though the new, proposed Proposition 15 commercial & industrial property tax on landlords and business property owners is not aimed at consumers per se – at the end of the day, it is consumers who will pay for this new property tax; paying significantly higher prices for normal everyday goods and services.
Consumers that have for some time already been struggling with the high cost of living in the state of California… as have residents in, for example, other states at the top of the list of “most expensive states” list… most expensive American states – such as Hawaii, New York, Washington DC, and Oregon. States that are this costly to live in do not, and we should repeat do not, need property tax hikes, especially at a time like this when state economies are literally crumbling under the weight of a Coronavirus Pandemic, a tsunami of unemployment, now surpassing 51 million jobless claims nationwide and over 13 million looming evictions; plus a host of other related problematic issues.
These costs, in California, encompass some of the steepest taxes in the country, including some of the highest gas, income, and sales taxes. In fact, the California Legislature just passed policies that have resulted in residents paying 48% more for electricity than the rest of the nation. Fact, not opinion.
Adding a new property tax on top of these existing costs will only exacerbate the affordability issue for many Californians. The downside (ironically, there is no upside) of the Proposition 15 business property & industrial facility property tax that Secretary of State Padilla and other powerful political critics of property tax relief in California are not looking at.
We suggest they had better remember we are in the throes of a national Pandemic, with California running particularly high infection rates, and they would do well to start looking at a potentially massive downswing of middle class and working class personal income descent if landlords, business and commercial property owners abruptly lose their ability to use Proposition 13 to avoid property tax reassessment. At the same time, if business properties have been passed down through family members, countless businesses will be impacted in this fashion, losing their ability to keep parents property taxes and parent to child exclusion in California, when taking advantage of Proposition 13 and Proposition 58, working through a loan to an irrevocable trust… a Prop 58 transfer of property.
The great fear is that the next step politicians who oppose Proposition 13 and Prop 58 will take, after opening the door to unraveling property tax relief for businesses, will be to go after property owners’ ability to take advantage of property tax transfer, or the transfer of parents property taxes upon inheriting property taxes in general. The anxiety running through the state concerns fear that critics of 1978 Proposition 13 now pushing a property tax measure called Proposition 15 (formerly entitled Proposition 13 “Split-Roll” tax) will feel free to go after the right to avoid property tax reassessment, or parent to child transfer and parent to child exclusion in California, if Proposition 15 actually passes in November, 2020.
Obviously, this will impact all Californians, raising rents, throwing prices of goods and services throughout the state completely off the map of normalcy. If these folks do not begin looking at this issue more realistically, they are going to step into a deep statewide quagmire of economic quicksand, if this property tax passes in November.
Although politicians on the state level claim that their revised version of the true Proposition 13 property tax relief system, they’re calling “The Split-Roll Proposition 15” property tax, includes a “small business exemption” that will supposedly fix everything. Don’t believe it. We suggest you don’t drink the Cool-Aid! This new property tax on commercial property owners in California will be crippling, to most businesses and commercial entities, including landlords, in California. The revised measure supposedly expands the “reassessment exemption” to small business owners with property valued at $3 million or less, up from the initial $2 million threshold. Sounds like double-talk to most of us.
One of “us” being the talented, courageous Rob Gutierrez, President of California Taxpayers Association. Mr. Gutierrez says that these supposed “protections” for small businesses aren’t even close to being strong enough to allow these folks to survive – with thousands of jobs for Californians not able to survive in the bargain! More people on the Unemployment Line.
“Because so many small businesses rent as opposed to own their commercial space… higher property taxes on the buildings they rent space in will of course result in more expensive rent for them”, says Mr. Gutierrez… “What that translates into is higher prices for consumers and brick-and-mortar stores. Dry cleaners, grocers, companies that cannot move, will have to find a way to pass these costs on.”
And as usual, who does this get passed on to? That’s right. Us. The consumers.
Faced with higher property taxes, commercial property owners with leases will assuredly be motivated to pass these increased costs on to their tenants. They’ll have no choice. For example, the owners of shopping centers or strip-malls, with numerous commercial tenants, if unable to avoid property tax reassessment or parent to child exclusion in California, will without question be compelled to increase rents on their commercial and industrial tenants. Next step, prices on goods and services go up literally overnight.
So we can only further assume that adding a new property tax to the already heavy burden carried by residents of this great state will only serve to make current economic challenges only more challenging for regular middle class Californians. There’s no doubt about it. Hence the need for California to keep the property tax system as is… Leaving the status quo alone.
