If your Los Angeles property is worth less today than the value the Assessor has on the tax roll, the LA County RP-87 decline-in-value application is how you ask for a lower assessment. File it with the LA County Assessor between July 2 and November 30, either through the online portal at assessor.lacounty.gov or by mail to 500 West Temple Street, Room 286, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2770.1Los Angeles County Assessor. Decline in Value If the Assessor agrees your property’s market value has fallen below its assessed value, you get a reduced bill or a refund.
When You Actually Qualify for a Reduction
Under Proposition 8, the Assessor must enroll the lesser of two numbers each year: your property’s factored base year value or its current market value.2California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Decline in Value – Proposition 8 The factored base year value is roughly your original purchase price adjusted upward each year by the California Consumer Price Index, capped at 2 percent.3California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 51 A decline-in-value situation exists only when the market has pushed your property’s current worth below that inflation-adjusted number.
Any reduction you get is temporary. The Assessor reviews the value every year, and when the market recovers, the assessment goes back up. One quirk surprises people: the 2 percent annual cap applies only to base year values under Proposition 13. A property temporarily reduced under Proposition 8 can jump by more than 2 percent in a single year when values climb back.2California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Decline in Value – Proposition 8
How to Fill Out Form RP-87
You can download Form RP-87 from the Assessor’s forms page at assessor.lacounty.gov/forms.4Los Angeles County Assessor. Los Angeles County Assessor Forms The form is short. A few fields do most of the work.
Assessor’s Identification Number
The 10-digit Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN) is the primary way the office tracks your property, and an incorrect AIN will stall the application. You will find it in the upper-left area of your annual tax bill or on the valuation notice mailed in July. If neither is handy, the online property search at assessor.lacounty.gov lets you look it up by address.
Owner Information and Property Address
Use your full legal name as it appears on title, the mailing address where you want the Assessor’s decision sent, and the physical street address of the property under review. Own more than one property? File a separate RP-87 for each AIN.
Your Opinion of Value
The form asks what you believe the property was worth on the January 1 lien date. That figure is what the Assessor compares against the factored base year value to decide whether a reduction is warranted.1Los Angeles County Assessor. Decline in Value Keep it realistic. The number should reflect fair market value: what a willing, informed buyer would pay a willing, informed seller with neither under pressure. Lowballing does not help, because the Assessor runs an independent analysis and a figure well below nearby sales signals a guess.
Comparable Sales Are Optional
The strongest evidence you can attach is data on recent sales of similar nearby properties. The Assessor recommends picking two comparable sales that closed as close to January 1 as possible and no later than March 31.1Los Angeles County Assessor. Decline in Value Good comparables share your property’s neighborhood, approximate square footage, lot size, age, and condition. List the address, sale price, and sale date for each.
Here is a point that trips up filers: comparables are not required. The Assessor’s office explicitly says applications submitted without comparable sales will still be accepted and processed.1Los Angeles County Assessor. Decline in Value Still, including them strengthens your case and lets you influence which sales get weighed. Skip them, and the Assessor’s staff will pull their own data without any input from you.
Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com all show recent sales by neighborhood. The Assessor’s property search can help you verify assessed values of nearby homes, though it does not list private sale prices.
How and When to Submit
The filing window runs July 2 through November 30. If November 30 falls on a weekend or legal holiday, a form postmarked the next business day still counts as timely.1Los Angeles County Assessor. Decline in Value Miss the window and you are stuck with the current assessed value for that tax year, with no retroactive option.
Two ways to submit:
- Online, through the portal at assessor.lacounty.gov. Electronic filing gives you immediate confirmation and avoids postal delays near the deadline.
- By mail, to Los Angeles County Assessor, 500 West Temple Street, Room 286, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2770. If you mail close to the deadline, use certified mail so the postmark proves timely filing.
Keep a copy of everything you send. If a dispute arises later about what was filed or when, that copy is your proof.
What Happens After You File
Once the window closes, Assessor staff review the applications. They verify your comparables (or pull their own), analyze property characteristics, and determine whether market value on the lien date actually fell below the factored base year value. A written decision usually arrives between December and June.1Los Angeles County Assessor. Decline in Value
If the review results in a reduction, you will see the lower value on a corrected bill or receive a refund for any overpayment. The Assessor does not always agree with your opinion of value. They might find a decline but set the reduced value higher than you requested, or conclude the assessed value is already at or below market and deny the application entirely.
Keep Paying Your Taxes During the Review
Filing RP-87 does not pause your tax obligations. You still have to pay on time, pending review or not. Nonpayment triggers penalties and interest no matter how the review turns out.5California State Board of Equalization. Assessment Appeals Frequently Asked Questions If you win a reduction later, the county refunds the difference with any applicable interest.
The instinct is to withhold payment on a bill you are contesting. The county does not treat it that way. Pay the full amount shown, then collect the refund if the review goes your way.
If the Assessor Denies You: The Formal Appeal
When the Assessor denies your RP-87 or reduces the value by less than you think is right, you can escalate to the LA County Assessment Appeals Board, an independent body that hears disputes between property owners and the Assessor.6LA County Board of Supervisors. Assessment Appeals Information
The formal appeal window for regular assessments is July 2 through November 30, the same dates as the RP-87 period.6LA County Board of Supervisors. Assessment Appeals Information That overlap matters. If the Assessor’s decision on your RP-87 arrives in April, you have until that November 30 to file an appeal. Wait for a decision that comes in December, and the appeal window for that year may already be closed.
Filing a formal appeal costs a $46 non-refundable fee, due with the application. A hardship waiver is available by submitting a waiver form along with the application.7County of Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Board. County of Los Angeles Assessment Appeals Board You can file online, by mail, or in person.
At the hearing, you present evidence supporting your claimed value: comparable sales, photographs of property conditions, an independent appraisal if you have one, and documentation of any physical issues that affect worth. The Board weighs your evidence against the Assessor’s data and sets its own determination of fair market value.
Most owners never reach a hearing. The RP-87 process resolves most legitimate decline-in-value cases on its own. Knowing the formal appeal exists, and that its deadline runs on the same calendar, keeps you from waiving your rights by running out of time.