How to read a property record card
The county's full description of your house, and the single best place to find a winnable error.
The property record card is the county's complete file on your property. Everything in your assessment is derived from it, which makes it the first document to read and the most likely place to find something wrong.
What is on it
| Section | What to check |
|---|---|
| Identification | PIN, address, legal description, class code |
| Land | Lot dimensions, area, any influence factors |
| Building | Floor area, year built, storeys, style, construction, quality grade |
| Interior | Rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, basement and whether finished, heating, air conditioning |
| Outbuildings | Garage, shed, pool, deck |
| Condition | A grade and sometimes a depreciation percentage |
| Valuation | Land and improvement values, current and prior years |
| Sales | Transfer history with dates and prices |
| Permits | Recorded work, which is how improvements enter the record |
The fields that matter most
Floor area. The single most consequential number. It drives the valuation model and it is the denominator of any uniformity comparison. Check it against a survey, plans, a purchase appraisal, or a tape measure.
Class code. Determines the assessment ratio and who you are compared against.
Quality grade. Often a letter or number describing construction quality. A property graded above what it is carries a higher value for reasons nobody ever explained to the owner, and it is both checkable and arguable.
Condition and depreciation. If the card shows the property in good condition and it is not, that is a specific argument with photographs attached.
Basement finished flag. A common and valuable error.
How to get it
Many counties publish it online through the parcel search. Where they do not, ask the assessor's office — it is a public record and they will normally provide it, sometimes for a small copying fee. Ask for the full card, not the summary shown on the website, because the detail is where errors hide.
Reading it against the building
Walk the property with the card in your hand and check line by line. The errors people find most often:
- Floor area including a garage, porch or unfinished space that should be excluded
- A basement marked finished that is not
- An outbuilding that was demolished years ago
- Bathrooms counted generously — a half bath recorded as full
- Central air recorded on a property with window units
- A permit for work that was never carried out
What to do with an error
Call the office first and describe it factually. Many will correct a demonstrable error without a formal appeal, and some can correct prior years through a certificate of error, which produces a refund rather than a future reduction.
And ask for the record to be corrected, not just this year's value. An assessment reduced while the underlying record stays wrong regenerates the same error at the next reassessment.