Millions of dollars go unclaimed by homeowners each year. Don’t be one of them!

The Homeowners’ Exemption reduces your tax burden by $7,000, if the home is your primary residence as of January 1st. That translates to an actual reduction of $70 to a homeowners’ tax bill.

To get the entire savings, the homeowner must fill out an application on their county website and they are good to go. The deadline is February 15th to get the entire savings. However, if you miss the deadline, the homeowner still gets a prorated amount and the entire savings the following years. Homeowners need only apply once to receive these savings annually. The savings continue until a change (such as a sale) is recorded.

Remarkably, a high number of owners don’t take advantage of this tax savings, leaving millions of dollars unclaimed each year. Across the County, hundreds of thousands of families can be saving on their tax bills.

The Homeowners’ Exemption is even more important now than ever before because of Proposition 19. Prop. 19 changes the rules that apply to transfers between parents and children and grandparents to grandchildren. It mandates that any property not being used as the primary residence will not be eligible for the transfer of the existing lower tax rate.

New property owners will usually receive an exemption application within 90 days of recording a deed. If you acquired the property more than 90 days ago and have not received an application, please call Orange County Assessor at 714-834-3821 for an application.