The Virginia Homeowners Allianceinforms Virginia homeowners about government action that affects the value of real estate in the Commonwealth. It's a free service for homeowners from Virginia's Realtors, who want to stand with you to ensure that your property values aren't negatively affected by government decisions at the General Assembly, Board of Supervisors, or City Hall.
You can read YOUR VIRGINIA newsletter six times per year and visit VAHomeownersAlliance.com every day to stay informed about state and local issues that affect your property values and homeowner rights.
How will homeowners feel the pinch
of Virginia's budget woes?
The Virginia General Assembly is confronting a major budget shortfall. Neither of the choices for balancing the budget is attractive: Either increase taxes, or cut services — education, transportation, public safety, health care, and more.
Budget cuts will hit local governments who want to keep cops on the street, teachers in the schools, and roads cleared of snow. So they'll be looking to save or raise money, and local leaders sometimes find hiking real estate taxes the only alternative to cutting the budget for schools or safety.
There are hundreds of bills being discussed, but we're focusing on the two issues critical to homeowners: 1) tax assessments and 2) property rights. Assessments determine your taxes; and the less restrictive Virginia's property laws are, the more attractive Virginia's real estate markets become.
We're watching five pieces of legislation, currently under consideration by the General Assembly, that all Virginia homeowners should know about. Read on...
In This Issue
House Bill 570: Putting the burden of proof on assessors, not homeowners (go)
House Bill 552: Preventing local governments from changing their minds about zoning (go)
House Bill 191: Making sure HOA complaints are handled fairly (go)
House Bill 205: Requiring insurers to pay for the complete repair (go)
House Bill 430: Increasing fairness in the real estate assessment process (go)
HB570: Today, if an assessor overvalues your home (and raises your taxes), you have to prove he made a mistake. This bill will shift the burden of proof from the homeowner to the assessor.
HB552: Imagine having your local government approve a zoning change so you can improve your property. But after you begin work, the locality reverses its decision, and you're forced to tear down what you've done.
It can happen and it does happen. This bill will prevent that by strengthening "vested rights" laws to prevent localities from changing their decisions on zoning rulings.
HB191: Today, if you have a complaint about your homeowners association, an ombudsman at a Virginia government agency called the Common Interest Community Board can help resolve it. But different HOAs have different complaint procedures. This bill allows the ombudsman to set a single procedure for all home- and property-owners associations.
HB205: If your home is damaged, your property insurance will pay to fix that damage, but the repair could look very different than what's already there. This bill will require insurers to make the repaired area blend in better with the existing structure, so your property is not only fixed, but looks like it should.
HB430: Some more education for the people in charge of real estate appraisals can only make our system better. If this bill passes, it will require additional education for real estate assessors, and ensure that members of the board that hears your appeal have expertise in appraisal and home valuation. It will also make the appeals process friendlier for homeowners: Upon request, the assessor must disclose information about your assessment, and the homeowner's standard of proof will be lowered.
The Virginia Homeowners Alliance will be watching these and other bills, and will keep you up to date on what's happening — and we'll show you easy (and effective) ways to let your representatives know how you feel.
The General Assembly meets for two months, but your local government meets year round. Your membership in the Virginia Homeowners Alliance keeps you informed about local real estate taxes, property assessments, new residential and commercial developments, transportation, school construction and a host of other issues affecting your home, neighborhood, and way of life.
