Got a property tax letter in the mail?
Scam, sales pitch, or the real Assessor — here's how to tell in about thirty seconds, and what the letter isn't telling you.
If a letter showed up offering to lower your California property taxes, it is almost certainly one of three things: an outright scam, a legitimate company's sales pitch, or real mail from your County Assessor. They look more alike than they should, which is the point.
The fastest test: your County Assessor will never ask you to pay a private company. County mail carries the county seal, and any money it asks for goes to the county. If a letter wants a check made out to a business you've never heard of, it is not from the county — whatever the envelope looks like.
And the thing none of these letters lead with: every California county will review your assessment for free.
The three kinds of property tax letter
An outright scam
Dressed to look like government mail — an official-looking seal, your parcel number, a return address like 'Regional Processing Center', and a deadline designed to make you hurry. It demands an upfront fee, often a few hundred dollars, for a review your county performs free. The California Attorney General maintains a standing consumer alert about exactly this. Some take the money and file nothing at all.
A legitimate company's sales pitch
Real, operating businesses — Ownwell and Owlue are the two mailing California homeowners most heavily right now — offering to handle your appeal for a cut of your savings, about 35% in California. These are not scams. They will genuinely file for you, and you pay nothing if they don't win. The catch is the recurring percentage, not honesty.
Actual mail from your County Assessor
Your annual notice of assessed value, a supplemental assessment, or a decline-in-value determination. It carries the county seal, comes from a county address, and never routes a payment to a private company. This is the one worth reading closely — it's the number your appeal would target.
Red flags of an outright scam
California's Attorney General and county assessors up and down the state publish warnings about these mailers. The recurring signals:
- ✕It wants money up front, before anything has been filed or reviewed.
- ✕The company name sounds governmental — “Tax Adjusters”, “Tax Review”, “Tax Reassessment Board”.
- ✕The envelope or letterhead imitates official mail: seals, barcodes, a “Regional Processing Center” address.
- ✕There's an urgent deadline, sometimes with a threatened late fee, that doesn't match your county's actual filing window.
- ✕It asks for sensitive financial or personal details before explaining the service.
- ✕Nowhere does it mention that your county reviews assessments for free.
If a letter hits several of these, don't send money. Call your County Assessor directly using the number on the county's own website — every county page on this site lists it — and ask whether the notice came from them. You can also report it to the California Attorney General's office.
“Is Ownwell a scam? Is Owlue a scam?”
No — both are real companies, and we'd rather say so plainly than pretend otherwise to win your business. They file appeals on homeowners' behalf, they work on contingency, and if they don't win you a reduction you owe them nothing. That guarantee is genuine.
The fair criticism is the price. In California both charge around 35% of your savings, and the fee recurs in every year they win a reduction. On a $2,000 reduction that's about $700 a year, for as long as it holds — for paperwork that takes 10–15 minutes to file once the comparable sales evidence is assembled.
If you want zero effort and don't mind the percentage, they are a reasonable choice, and we say so on their pages: Ownwell vs. Overassessed and Owlue vs. Overassessed. Or see every California option compared, including doing it yourself for nothing.
The free option the letter didn't mention
Every California county runs a free informal decline-in-value review. You submit recent comparable sales showing your home was worth less than its assessed value on January 1, a county appraiser reviews them, and your value goes down or stays the same. It cannot go up through that process, there is no hearing, and it costs nothing.
That is the whole service the expensive mailers are selling you. The genuinely hard part is the evidence — which comparable sales count and how to adjust them — and the deadlines, which differ by county.
Before you respond to any letter: find out for free whether you're actually overassessed. If you're not, no service — ours included — can save you anything, and we'll tell you so.
Check my propertyCommon questions
Is the property tax letter I got in the mail a scam?
It's one of three things. (1) An outright scam: a mailer dressed up to look like a government notice — official-looking seals, a parcel number, a 'Regional Processing Center' return address, an urgent deadline — that demands an upfront fee for a service the county provides free. The California Attorney General has warned about these for years. (2) A legitimate company's sales pitch: real businesses like Ownwell and Owlue mail homeowners offering to handle an appeal for a percentage of your savings, typically 35% in California. Not a scam, but not free either. (3) An actual notice from your County Assessor, which carries the county seal and never asks you to pay a private company. The single most reliable test: your county Assessor will never demand a payment to a private business.
Do I have to pay anyone to lower my property taxes in California?
No. Every California county offers a free informal decline-in-value review: you submit comparable sales evidence to the Assessor's office, a county appraiser reviews it, and your assessed value either goes down or stays the same — it cannot be raised through that process. That's the fact every mailer is built to obscure. Paid services exist because assembling credible comparable sales with documented adjustments is the hard part, not because filing costs money.
What are the red flags of a property tax reduction scam?
Demands an upfront fee before doing anything; uses a government-sounding name like 'Tax Adjusters', 'Tax Review' or 'Tax Reassessment Board'; imitates official mail with seals, barcodes, or a 'Regional Processing Center' address; sets an artificial deadline and threatens a late fee; asks for sensitive financial details up front; and never mentions that the county's own review is free. Real county mail carries the county seal and directs payments only to the county.
Is Ownwell or Owlue a scam?
No. Both are real, operating companies that will genuinely file a property tax appeal for you, and both work on contingency — you pay nothing if they don't win a reduction. The honest criticism isn't legitimacy, it's price: in California their fee is about 35% of your savings, charged in every year they win a reduction. On a $2,000 reduction that's roughly $700 a year, indefinitely, for a filing most homeowners can complete themselves in 10–15 minutes once the evidence is assembled.
I already signed up after getting a letter. Can I cancel?
Usually yes, but read the agreement you signed — contingency companies often enroll you on a renewing basis, so they keep filing (and keep charging their percentage on any savings) until you actively cancel. If you only wanted one appeal, cancel once it concludes. If you paid an upfront fee to an outfit that then went quiet, report it to the California Attorney General's office and your county Assessor, and dispute the charge with your card issuer.
You don't need the letter. You need the number.
Enter your address and we'll compare your assessed value to recent comparable sales — free, about 60 seconds, no account.
If you want help filing afterward, our Filing Guide is $45 once — never a percentage of your savings.
Company names are trademarks of their respective owners; Overassessed is not affiliated with any company named here. Ownwell and Owlue are described as legitimate businesses; the scam patterns described on this page refer to unnamed fraudulent mailers of the type California's Attorney General and county assessors have warned about, not to any named company. Competitor pricing reflects published materials as of 2026-08-10 and may change. This is not legal or tax advice. If you believe you have received fraudulent mail, contact your County Assessor and the California Attorney General's office.