Get a tax break by proving Chinese drywall is harming your home
A tax break is on the way for homeowners with Chinese drywall.
If you can prove it's harming your house, the Lee County Property Appraiser says you're eligible for a tax break this year.
Starting Monday, a letter will be making its way to some 50,000 Lee County homes built between 2004 and 2007 -- the boom years when U.S.-made drywall was too hard to come by. It was just approved late Friday afternoon, and WINK News found out what you need to know now to get ready.
Tarnished metals, corroded copper and a downright stinky mess. Chinese drywall has robbed Pat and Richard Kampf of their dream home and finances.
"The indications of Chinese drywall are when you have your air conditioner break down three to four times at $1,500 each time you have to have it repaired," Richard Kampf says.
If you too are living with Chinese drywall and have been since at least January first, you could get a big break on this year's taxes.
"I think it could average $100,000," Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson says. Because that's how much, Wilkinson says, it could cost to strip a home to the studs and rebuild it. Each homeowner's claim will be judged on a case by case basis for reassessment.
Kampf says that kind of a tax break is a great start but not enough.
"If I tried to sell my house to you or to anybody else, there would literally be no takers and the value that would be offered to me would be the ground only, which is probably on the order of $20,000," Kampf says.
"If there's going to be an adjustment made, then we need data," Wilkinson says.
To prove it, you don't need a professional. Just send the Lee County Property Appraiser everything you've documented.
"You see how brittle it is," Kampf says as he shows WINK News a piece of Chinese drywall. "It's brittle, it's gray, it falls apart really easily, and it smells."
Take pictures of the destruction and save receipts of any repairs you've had.
"I think we're ahead of the curve," Wilkinson says. "I don't think anyone else it doing this at this point, so I feel very positive about being in front of it, being proactive."
Now the TRIM notice you'll receive in just a few weeks won't yet reflect the Chinese drywall adjustment. That will come by the end of September.
You'll need to fill out the survey attached to the letter you receive or expedite it by filling it out on the Lee County Property Appraiser's website: www.leepa.org. The link should be available by mid-week.
You can mail your survey and documentation here:
Lee County Property Appraiser
ATTN: Field Services
PO Box 1546
Fort Myers, FL 33902
You can fax it to: 239.533.6107
You can email it to: ChineseDrywall@leepa.org.
Expect letters by mid-week.
If you can prove it's harming your house, the Lee County Property Appraiser says you're eligible for a tax break this year.
Starting Monday, a letter will be making its way to some 50,000 Lee County homes built between 2004 and 2007 -- the boom years when U.S.-made drywall was too hard to come by. It was just approved late Friday afternoon, and WINK News found out what you need to know now to get ready.
Tarnished metals, corroded copper and a downright stinky mess. Chinese drywall has robbed Pat and Richard Kampf of their dream home and finances.
"The indications of Chinese drywall are when you have your air conditioner break down three to four times at $1,500 each time you have to have it repaired," Richard Kampf says.
If you too are living with Chinese drywall and have been since at least January first, you could get a big break on this year's taxes.
"I think it could average $100,000," Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson says. Because that's how much, Wilkinson says, it could cost to strip a home to the studs and rebuild it. Each homeowner's claim will be judged on a case by case basis for reassessment.
Kampf says that kind of a tax break is a great start but not enough.
"If I tried to sell my house to you or to anybody else, there would literally be no takers and the value that would be offered to me would be the ground only, which is probably on the order of $20,000," Kampf says.
"If there's going to be an adjustment made, then we need data," Wilkinson says.
To prove it, you don't need a professional. Just send the Lee County Property Appraiser everything you've documented.
"You see how brittle it is," Kampf says as he shows WINK News a piece of Chinese drywall. "It's brittle, it's gray, it falls apart really easily, and it smells."
Take pictures of the destruction and save receipts of any repairs you've had.
"I think we're ahead of the curve," Wilkinson says. "I don't think anyone else it doing this at this point, so I feel very positive about being in front of it, being proactive."
Now the TRIM notice you'll receive in just a few weeks won't yet reflect the Chinese drywall adjustment. That will come by the end of September.
You'll need to fill out the survey attached to the letter you receive or expedite it by filling it out on the Lee County Property Appraiser's website: www.leepa.org. The link should be available by mid-week.
You can mail your survey and documentation here:
Lee County Property Appraiser
ATTN: Field Services
PO Box 1546
Fort Myers, FL 33902
You can fax it to: 239.533.6107
You can email it to: ChineseDrywall@leepa.org.
Expect letters by mid-week.
