The Texas Tax Code had been clear that the property owner’s representative only needed to present the appointment of agent at the hearing. About six years ago, there was a change that allowed the appraisal review board to set rules for the timing of submitting the appointment of agent. Some appraisal districts, including Harris County Appraisal District, wrote rules that if the appointment of agent was not available at the beginning of the day when the hearing was scheduled, and had not been submitted to the agent department, it was not valid.
Harris County Appraisal District has “no showed” hearings not reached because the appointment of agent was not available at the beginning of the day when the hearing was scheduled. However, since the Harris County Appraisal District scheduled an excessive number of hearings relative to the capacity for the day, the hearing was never called.
Under the new rule, the appointment of agent is not needed prior to the actual hearing. Hence if it is obtained during the day of the hearing and delivered to the consultant, it is valid. This also ends the ridiculous requirement that the appointment of agent has to be delivered to the Harris County Appraisal District agent department, date stamped, and processed prior to it being valid.
This is a favorable change that clarifies the original intent of the legislature. It will result in less bureaucracy and more property owners receiving hearings.
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