Court of Appeals case flips over tax grievance challengers

Court of Appeals case flips over tax grievance challengers

The New York Court of Appeals recently decided a case which will dramatically change the requirements for initiating review of real estate tax assessments, triggering additional concerns that property owners in New York State should consider when drafting lease agreements.

In Larchmont Pancake House v. Bd. of Assessors, 32 N.Y.3d (2019), the Court ruled in favor of the municipality, finding that the beneficiary to a trust lacked proper standing to authorize the commencement of a tax certiorari action in connection with a parcel of real property that was held in the trust’s corpus.

Under state law, a party who is dissatisfied with a property value assessment may seek administrative review by filing a tax grievance with the municipal assessor or board of assessment review. State law requires that a complaint be “made by the person whose property was assessed, or by some person authorized in writing by the complainant or his officer or agent to make such a statement who has knowledge of the facts stated herein.”

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