          
          
          
                      Cheating On Your Property Taxes
          
               You've heard of people cheating on income taxes,
          but think it is impossible to cheat on property taxes? 
          It can be done, and is done.
          
               One of the more common varieties of cheating is to
          claim that a property is owner-occupied when it is
          actually rented out.
          
               There is one county that assesses by doing aerial
          photos and computer comparing them with the ones from
          the year before.  Then the assessor only visits the
          sites that show changes in the buildings.  But the
          county only checks for one year back.  So people apply
          for a building permit for a car port.  The assessor
          visits and sees a car port, which explains the
          increased roof area in the photo.  Then they quietly
          enclose the car port and create a new bedroom.  Then
          the third year they again get a building permit for a
          car port and repeat the performance.
          
               Most people doing these forms of cheating (and
          there are other methods) think that the worst that can
          happen if they are caught is that they will be billed
          for the difference in taxes.  That might have been true
          in prior decades, but with tough tax fraud and civil
          forfeiture laws on the books in most states they are
          running a far more serious set of risks than they
          realize.  Many states will treat such a deliberate
          deception as criminal fraud.  And that has obvious
          consequences.  Other states may use civil forfeiture
          laws to seize the property that has been used as part
          of a scheme to defraud the state, without filing
          criminal charges.  
          
               So before you cheat on your property taxes, ask
          yourself if you can afford a criminal conviction (and
          possible jail term) or the loss of your house, to save
          a few hundred dollars.
          
          
          
