An Independence woman who had a contract to sell her home says she lost that deal due to the Jackson County valuation of that property.Kim Clark’s sale of her home for $480,000 was scheduled to close in August.However, when the buyer asked what the new Jackson County property valuation was for the home, Clark didn’t know because she didn’t get the required notice.Her real estate agent found the county had valued the property at $660,600.Clark and her agent checked.There are no comparable homes or comps remotely close to that price range.“What are they valuing it on? What is it based on? I haven’t been able to get an answer to that,” Clark said.On Sunday night, Clark received notice the buyer had canceled the deal.In an email from the buyer’s real estate agent, the agent wrote, “The failure of this transaction had nothing to do with the seller and everything to do with how freaked out the buyer was with the outrageous valuation that the Jackson County Tax Assessor placed on the home.”“They wanted this house. They did not buy this house because of Jackson County torpedoing the deal,” Clark said.The email also quotes the buyer, “I have absolutely no trust in Jackson County. I will never live in that county”.The agent finished the email stating “with over 1,000 transactions under my belt, I’ve never been blindsided by something so outrageous”.“I could stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars if I don’t find another qualified buyer who’s willing to overlook this,” Clark said.More KMBC coverage of 2023 Jackson County property assessments:With Jackson County assessment appeal deadline two weeks away, tens of thousands have already appealedJackson County seniors hit especially hard by property assessment increasesIndependence council approves resolution that could lead to legal action on property assessmentsJackson County Board of Equalization extends appeal deadline for property assessmentsJackson, Clay counties in Missouri considering action to freeze property taxes for seniorsTax assessment workshop held for Habitat for Humanity homeowners in Jackson County, MissouriJackson County residents share emotional testimony about property tax assessment increasesRealtor says Jackson County property tax increases will cost some people their homesJackson County residents express frustration over expected property tax increaseNew frustrations over property taxes in Jackson County after average rates increase 30 percentAlready facing a property tax increase, some Jackson County residents haven’t received assessmentsShe said after finding out about the valuation, Clark immediately went online to appeal it and attached a copy of the sales contract which was still active at the time.But that action didn’t save the deal to sell her home.That appeal on the valuation with Jackson County is pending.Clark also wants to join a class action lawsuit Independence attorney Ken McClain filed.In the petition for a jury trial, McClain claims there are tens of thousands of property owners like Clark who did not receive their updated property valuations by June 15 as required by Missouri law.“Due to the lack of timely notice as mandated by statute, the increases in property valuations are illegal, unlawful and therefore void,” the lawsuit states.“The most clear solution would seem to be to leave the assessment alone for this year as opposed on trying to raise the assessment based on faulty notice,” McClain said.He also said Jackson County’s extension of the appeals process to July 31 is illegal.So far, there have been close to 41,000 appeals filed.“In addition to being untimely, the increased valuation is further illegal and unlawful because it was done in an arbitrary and capricious manner,” the lawsuit states.The petition further notes vacant commercial properties in Jackson County received an across-the-board increase of roughly 50 percent without considering market conditions.“Market conditions vary drastically depending on the type of commercial property. As an example, retail and hotel properties are doing relatively well in the current market, while office space is not,” the lawsuit states.“I think that the uncertainty created by this entire assessment process is unfortunate. The citizens of Jackson County need to know what their property tax is going to be. The uncertainty this is creating in so many different ways, whether it’s the sale of property or the taxing jurisdictions knowing how to go about rendering a levy is causing problems throughout the system,” McClain said.While Clark would like to join the lawsuit, of more immediate concern to her is selling the family home as quickly as possible.After finalizing her divorce in March, Clark, the mother of…
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