Portland, OR asked in Real Estate Law for Oregon

Q: how important is it for the realitor to disclose information such as property tax laws to a senior citizen and easments

I bought a property in Toledo OR last March and a water line broke, I understand that it is my responsibility to fix the damage because the water meter is on my property. It is located across the street on a hill. I was not told by escrow or my realitor that I actually owned the road in front of my house which I cannot park on because of easment.

When checking with my neighbors none of them were aware they owned the road infront of their homes as well. I am a senior citizen on a fixed income and used all my savings for a down payment and specifically told the agent that I was moving from Idaho and did not want large payments. she did not tell me my poroperty tax would increase 3% every year regardless of value, had I known this I would not have purchased, my payments went up by 200.00 this year and I owe 5,000.00 in state tax. I am trying to sell my home but need to net my 75000.00 down payment in order to break partly even. There is much more that is surfacing about my house

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1 Lawyer Answer
Theressa Hollis
Theressa Hollis
Answered
  • Portland, OR
  • Licensed in Oregon

A: Despite the fact that you are a senior this isn't actually an elder law question. You may do better posting this in the topic of real estate. As far as I know the realtor had no duty to warn you that your property taxes were likely to increase in the future. You would have been able to see the prior years' taxes and possibly could have noticed a trend. My understanding is that property taxes in Oregon are based on the property value so I'm not sure why yours would be increasing 3% every year regardless of value. Hopefully one of the real estate attorneys can provide you with more assistance.

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