I compare this company to Herpes because you can't get rid of them. Just when you think they are gone they come back to torment you.
I used Novotny and Company in 2007 to reduce my property taxes. I had been receiving about 20 to 30 solicitations per year from this company to use their services. I finally decided to give them a try after my appraisal value on my house went way up. Novotny did reduce my appraisal value by $5000 which reduced my taxes by $120 half of which had to be paid to Novotny. I thought this was a pitiful result. I wrote Novotny and told them I did not want to use their service again.
In 2008 I filed a property tax protest using the Harris County Appraisal District's new internet filing system. I had to fill out an extensive questionnaire and justify why I thought my appraisal value was too high. Under this new system, a person does not even have to appear in court. The appraisal district reviews your protest and makes a judgement based on the information in your filing. Using this method I was able to reduce my appraisal value by $27,000 and saved $550 on my property taxes. Now Novotny says I owe them half the amount from those savings. Novotny says they are still my agent and that they appeared in court to sign the judgement. Now, Novotny did not file the protest and did nothing on my behalf to reduce the valuation but they expect payment. Also they can't explain how they were able to reduce my appraisal by $27,000 this year when they only could reduce it by $5000 last year. I have sent Novotny another letter telling them very plainly to never represent me again. Let's see if they come back next year like the Herpes.
I want everyone to know that you do not need to use a company like Novotny who may cause you problems later on. File your own property tax protest using the online system for HCAD. Pass this information on to your friends. And if you have made the mistake of using Novotny in the past make sure to go to their office in person with a witness and hand them a letter stating you do not want to use their service ever again. Pictures and video might help later too. Apparently you just can't get rid of this company. I think that is why they send out so many solicitations, I guess they figure if they can sucker one person in for every 1000 solicitations sent out, they will have enough revenue stream to pay off all that postage.
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