SAN ANTONIO — When a west side San Antonio resident refused to sell her home to a property buyer, she says he wouldn’t stop contacting her and she had to call the police.
- Property appraisals on the rise
- Group hosted meeting on property appraisal protests
- Property buyers keep calling homeowners
“The guy told me that he was going to keep calling me until I sold. I said that’s harassment and he said ‘no that’s not harassment, that’s trying to get you to sell your home,’” said Ninfa Cantu, the owner of several properties on the west side.
As San Antonio grows, house flippers look to buy inexpensive homes to remodel and sell for a big profit. Cantu has no intentions of selling her home or other properties, but she says rising property values are becoming a problem.
“I have this one here, last year I fought for it and they went down to $40,000, but then this year it’s up to $60,710,” she explains while holding up this year appraisal for one of the houses she owns. She says last year she paid about $800 in property taxes, and this year she owes more than $1,700.
Cantu isn’t the only person dealing with these issues. On Thursday night, the Mexican-American Unity Council and UTSA’s Policy Studies Center hosted a community meeting to help home owners protect their property.
“The university is dedicated to helping the community, primarily, and their most valuable assets, in many instances is the family home,” said Roger Enriquez, UTSA Policy Studies Center director and professor.
“Every year, for the last four years, I have to fight the appraisal district because it keeps going up and going up and going up,” Cantu said. She attended the meeting to learn the most effective way to protest the appraisals. “I want to find out what to do, and how to do it the right way.”
The event included lessons on avoiding predatory buyers, finding and keeping property titles, preparing a home for inheritance and how to protest their property taxes.
May 15 is the last day to submit property appraisal protests.