Expected timelines in ODR:
Step | When |
Board gives you log in instructions to ODR website to start confidential settlement discussions | In April or May |
BC Assessment: uploads the Property Valuation Summary | In first 3 days |
Appellant: details concerns with the assessment and uploads supporting documents | In first 5 days |
BC Assessment: responds, includes their position on the issues and uploads supporting documents | In next 5 days |
Both parties: try to reach agreement with further discussions and sharing of documents | In next 5 to 7 days |
Both parties: can request the assistance of the Board facilitator | At anytime |
Board facilitator: assists parties reach mutual agreement. If not resolved, sets deadlines for adjudication | In 2 to 3 weeks from start |
If agreement not reached, both parties: prepare documents with all their arguments and evidence and uploads them to the ODR website | Additional 4 to 8 weeks |
Board member: decides whether the assessment will change and uploads the decision with written reasons | 60 to 90 days later |
You will have a confidential, online discussion with BC Assessment about your concerns with the property assessment.
You will use the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website – which works a lot like a chat tool. You can upload evidence documents, pictures or anything that supports your point of view. Share all the relevant information at this stage. The more you share, the more likely your appeal can be settled by mutual agreement.
NOTES:
The usual steps:
The best way to resolve your appeal is to provide good arguments and supporting evidence.
Focus on the issues in your appeal – not the personalities:
Communicate in a respectful tone and explain why you disagree with your assessment. Be open to the explanations from the other party. You will usually not reach agreement if you insult or criticize the other party. This often causes the other person to become defensive and prevents good discussion on a solution.
Recommendation to you and BC Assessment:
Review your text in ODR message box before you click on "send".
Ask yourself: Have I used a respectful tone in my communications? Am I listening to the other person's position or being defensive?
If you are not sure about your answers to these questions, take a break before you click "send".
Just like emails, it is easy for the other party to misread your tone (as they cannot hear your voice).
Do your homework:
You will more likely reach agreement if you provide good information, supported by market evidence. Even if your appeal is not settled, this work will assist you in preparing your submissions to the Board for a decision.
Neither you nor BC Assessment has a burden of proof in the appeal. Both of you should provide evidence to support your position. It is not enough to simply criticize the other party’s evidence.
Use this Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Guide to:
ο research support for your position
ο Evaluate the strength of your position
Ways to communicate:
Use the ODR website for discussion rather than your normal email. If you and BC Assessment do not reach mutual agreement, the Board facilitator will review all discussions in the ODR website and will not see any emails or other communications outside ODR.
Do not be afraid to pick up the phone or meet at your property. Sometimes this will be more effective than an online discussion.
Respond within 24 to 48 hours. See Expected Timelines. If the other party is not responding or cooperating in the online discussion, please email the Board at: office@paab.bc.ca
Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance:
Ask for the Board’s help at anytime. You may need help in deciding whether to accept a proposal from BC Assessment or in deciding if you have a strong case.
To bring in the Board into the ODR discussions, click on the “Request Board facilitator” button.
Questions:
If you have any other questions, contact the Board:
Email: office@paab.bc.ca
Phone: 604-775-1740
Toll free: 1-888-775-1740
If you are online with just BC Assessment, click on the “Request Board facilitator” button in the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website. You will receive an email once the facilitator has joined the online discussion. You can then submit a message in ODR with specific questions or request feedback on your position.
If a Board facilitator is already involved, just send a message to the facilitator with your questions, by using the “Send New Message” box.
If you and BC Assessment do not reach agreement, you can request a Board facilitator by clicking on the request button in ODR. You then have a three-way chat and this stage is called Board facilitation.
The Board facilitator:
You do not have to accept the Board facilitator's opinion. The facilitator’s comments are not a decision of the Board and the facilitator is NOT providing legal advice. Rather, the facilitator’s opinions are based on his/her experience as a Board member and are non-binding.
If you and BC Assessment agree with the facilitator’s suggestions, your appeal will be completed (by either keeping the assessment the same or changing the assessment). If you or BC Assessment disagrees with the facilitator, we will go to the next stage called adjudication.
The Board’s facilitator is there to provide you and BC Assessment with independent feedback. The facilitator will be a Board member or the Board’s Registrar.
The facilitator will attempt to provide you and BC Assessment with feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your positions on the appeal issues. Sometimes the facilitator can also give you an indication of the likelihood of success if you were to continue with your appeal to adjudication. However, due to the complexity of some appeals, the facilitator may not be able to provide you with an opinion.
The facilitator can issue Board orders for:
• Releasing documents to each other;
• Setting deadlines for next steps – including status reports;
• Requiring you to confirm whether you want to continue with the appeal;
• If the appeal is not settled, setting the adjudication steps and deadlines (by written submission or in-person hearing).
Note: most residential appeals are adjudicated on the basis of written submissions (without an in-person hearing).
The facilitator has the same powers in the On-line Dispute Resolution website as described in the Board Rules for Appeal Management and Settlement Conferences. For a full list of the possible orders that the facilitator can make, see the Board Rules.
If a party does not comply with a Board order issued by the facilitator, the Board may impose consequences (including dismissing an appeal). See the Board Rules.
Yes.
The Board facilitator must be involved in the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) discussion. If you are just online with BC Assessment, click on “Request Board facilitator” button. The facilitator will then join the online conversation and you will have a three-way discussion.
In the ODR website, you can select who to send a message to. If you want a private discussion with the facilitator, you use the drop down (in the "To" box) and select Facilitator. BC Assessment will not be able to see this confidential conversation.
BC Assessment may also request a private online conversation with the facilitator.
Any private online discussions with the facilitator are confidential unless you or BC Assessment agrees that the facilitator can share the discussions with each other.
Note:
Depending on your question, the Board facilitator may want to provide the feedback to both you and BC Assessment. To encourage mutual agreement, it is usually better if both parties see the feedback.
The facilitator will try to provide you and BC Assessment with feedback based on the information provided in the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website. You or BC Assessment may disagree with the facilitator’s opinion. These opinions are non-binding and are not legal advice.
If either of you disagree:
If both you and BC Assessment agree with the facilitator’s suggestions:
Note on Board orders:
The facilitator may require you or BC Assessment to do something by a certain deadline. This is called a Board Order and must be complied with. If you do not follow a Board Order, the Board may dismiss your appeal.
If you disagree with a Board order, you may request the facilitator change the order (for example, provide more time).
Yes.
Your discussions in the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website are “without prejudice”.
Both you and BC Assessment can change your positions if the appeal is not resolved and it proceeds to adjudication. You can also change, completely replace or add to the supporting documents you provided in the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website.
BC Assessment has the same right to change their position.
For example:
You sent a message to BC Assessment saying you offer to settle the appeal if they reduce your assessment by 15%. If the appeal does not settle you can change your position and argue that your assessment should be reduced by a different amount.
Notes:
While you may change your position, you can not raise new issues once the appeal proceeds to adjudication. All your issues should be raised during the discussion in ODR.
The decision-maker will be another Board member who will not know what occurred in ODR or what opinions were given by the facilitator. The Board member will only see documents that you and BC Assessment select for him/her to consider for the decision. The Board member will not see the discussion section in the ODR website.
The appeal will proceed to adjudication.
The Board facilitator provides you the deadlines and instructions for adjudication. You and BC Assessment prepare written submissions. These documents should have all your written arguments, materials and market evidence that support your case.
The usual steps are:
For more details see how does the written submission method work.
Click on one of the below subjects for assistance:
Before you start:
Log in steps are:
When you are trying to settle your appeal (in Negotiation and Facilitation stage):
To send a message:
To view messages:
To upload evidence and documents:
To view evidence and documents:
NOTES:
When the appeal is not settled (in Adjudication stage):
Send or view messages (when in Adjudication stage)
You can still send and view messages when your appeal is in the Adjudication stage.
What you can send messages:
What you cannot send messages:
To send a message:
You can send messages to:
You cannot send messages to:
Important notes:
The Board member making a decision will not see any messages you send in the Communication page. The Board member will not see any of the previous messages you sent earlier in your appeal.
The Adjudicator can only see documents you upload using the Upload Documents for Decision page.
Upload documents for Board Decision:
Introduction:
Use this section if you did not reach agreement on your appeal. The status of your appeal will be listed in the My Cases page as “Adjudication” - look on the right-hand status column.
The Board facilitator will set deadlines for you and BC Assessment to upload your documents for a Board decision. The deadlines are listed in the Upload Documents for Decision page.
You have two options to upload documents:
a) Upload new documents that you have not uploaded to the ODR website in earlier stages of your appeal; or
b) Upload previous documents (that you already used in the ODR website).
Note: you can also revise a document you previously used in ODR by opening the document, making your changes, saving the document to your computer and following the below instructions for Option (a).
Option (a) - upload new or revised documents:
NOTES:
Option (b) – upload previous documents:
CAUTION:
NOTES:
View documents before Board member:
Introduction:
This is the only page the Board member will see for making a decision on your appeal.
After you upload your documents for a Board decision you should view them to confirm you have included what you want the Board member to consider.
Steps:
To delete:
If any of your documents are missing from this page, you can upload them clicking on the “Upload more documents” button. This will take you to the “Upload Documents for Decision” page. See the above instructions for uploading.
NOTE: You can only upload more documents before your deadline. You can not upload after your deadline.
You can change your password at anytime:
Note:
Before you start ODR, you will receive an email with instructions on how to sign in and set up your password. We will now show you how to re-set your password later on.
You can view details on your appeal such as contact information for those involved in the online discussion and which property is under appeal.
Instructions:
For any questions or problems using the ODR website contact:
Isabella Chin
Email: office@paab.bc.ca
Phone: 604 775-1740 (toll free 1-888-775-1740)
For questions on your appeal issue and how to research support contact:
Jason Bowman
Email: office@paab.bc.ca
Phone: 604 775-1740 (toll free 1-888-775-1740)
For help to resolve your appeal:
Other concerns:
You may have other concerns. See the below information on concerns that we often hear from homeowners. These are usually directly related to one of the above common issues.
Instructions:
There are other issues the Board can deal with that are not covered in this Guide. We do not use On-line Dispute Resolution for all issues. Contact the Board if you wish to deal with some other issues that are not listed on this webpage. The Board will then advise you of the next steps. See: full list of possible issues.
I cannot sell my property now for as much as it is assessed:
Your property should be assessed at its market value as of July 1st last year – not what it is currently worth. If the market has changed recently, it may not be valid to compare your property’s current value with your assessment. To do this comparison you must adjust for any difference in the market between July 1st of last year and now. Also, you should have some evidence to support how much the market has changed.
It is usually easier and much more effective to look for sales evidence on your property’s market value around July 1st last year. (Rather then spending time trying to find evidence on what it is currently worth).
For guidance click on researching market value.
Negative factors (e.g. noise) reduce the value of my property:
Property owners often state that a negative factor has reduced the value of their property. For example:
The key is to determine your property’s market value as of July 1st last year. Your assessed value should also take into account the negative factor (if it does, in fact, reduce your value).
To demonstrate the impact of a negative factor on your property’s value, you could look for evidence, such as:
For guidance on determining market value, click on researching market value.
My property requires repairs:
This issue is described under: The description, including the condition of my property is wrong, creating an inaccurate assessment
Also see researching support on condition
My assessment went up more that my neighbour’s or average for the area:
Often property owners look at how their assessment changed compared to other properties. Looking at this may help you figure out if your assessment is possibly wrong. However, it is rarely considered strong evidence in an appeal to the Board. This is because there may be good reasons why your assessment changed at a higher rate.
It is usually easier and much more effective to look for sales evidence on your property’s market value. (Rather then spending too much time comparing different assessments).
For guidance click on researching market value.
My improvement assessment went up, but my property did not change:
Your assessment splits the total value between “land” and “improvements”. Improvements may be a house, garage, or other buildings.
Sometimes homeowners say: “How could my improvement assessment go up from last year? It is one year older and I haven’t made any renovations”. Before you spend too much time examining this concern, we suggest you keep in mind:
It is usually easier and much more effective to look for sales evidence on your property’s total market value. (Rather then spending too much time concentrating on just land or improvements).
For guidance click on researching market value.
My assessment is higher than other properties
Property owners often compare their assessments with others in their area. This may help you figure out if your assessment is possibly wrong. However, usually these comparisons are not strong evidence in an appeal to the Board. This is because there may be good reasons why your assessment is different than others.
1. Is your property different?
If your property has significant differences compared with others, it is reasonable to expect the assessments to be different. Assessment is based on a property’s market value. Properties with superior characteristics should have higher assessments. Properties with inferior characteristics should have lower assessments.
It is usually easier and more accurate to look for similar properties that sold.
For guidance click on researching market value.
2. If your property is quite similar to the others:
It is possible that the other properties are assessed correctly at their market values and yours is over assessed above its market value. You can continue with these comparisons, however, you must be able to provide evidence on what these other properties are worth. This is difficult unless they have recently sold.
It is usually easier and more accurate look for similar properties that sold. For guidance click on researching market value.
It is also possible that the other properties are under assessed. This issue is called equity or fairness. The law says that you are entitled to an assessment that is accurate and consistent with similar properties in your taxing jurisdiction.
For guidance click on researching equity.
BC Assessment should have uploaded to the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website your property’s description and physical inventory (list of buildings and details such as size, number of rooms, etc.). This is often called a Property Valuation Summary.
Verify that the information on your property is correct. If not, describe to BC Assessment any apparent errors by sending a message in the ODR website.
If there is a physical problem with your property that significantly affects its value (for example, water damage), take photographs of the problem and get written confirmation from at least one reputable contractor that the problem exists as well as an estimate of the costs to repair. Send a message to BC Assessment in the ODR website and attach supporting documents.
BC Assessment may want to inspect your property to see the issues for themselves and to see the condition of the remainder of your property.
You should also review the material in Do I have a strong case.
You should do some preliminary market research in order to have a good discussions with BC Assessment.
For detailed suggestions see the Guide: Preparing Submissions on the Market Value of your Property. At this negotiation stage, you do not have to conduct all the in-depth analysis that is listed there. The Guide will, however, help you with:
For an effective online discussion with BC Assessment, we suggest, at a minimum, you provide the following:
Look for sales that occurred last year. This is because your assessment should be at your property's value as of July 1 last year.
Notes:
It is acceptable to use sales that are months before or after the July 1 valuation date. The farther away from the valuation date, the more likely the sales will need to be adjusted for any market changes during this time frame.
You should also review the material in Do I have a strong case.
Equity is one of the more complex issues to deal with because you need to examine both the assessments of similar properties, and their market values. Equity looks at how the properties are assessed relative to their market values. The hard part in doing this research is you often do not know the market values of other properties – unless they sold.
You need to demonstrate that your property is assessed higher (relative to its market value) than a group of similar properties (relative to their market values).
For example:
You believe the market value of your property is $300,000 but it is assessed at $340,000. Your level of assessment is $340,000 divided by $300,000 = 113%. Your assessment is 13% over market value. If the average assessments of properties in your area are 95% of their market value (or 5% under assessed), then you could argue that your property should also be under assessed by this amount.
Normally, it is not enough to pick one or two other properties, because we usually look at all similar properties in your neighbourhood or area.
To start your discussion with BC Assessment in the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) website:
Ask yourself: why do I think my property assessment is not fair or equitable with other similar properties in my area?
See the Equity Guide for details on how you can research equity. You do not have to do all this analysis, but this will show you what type of support will be useful. This documentation will be required if your appeal proceeds to adjudication.
If you think you have good support, send a message to BC Assessment in the ODR website and include the following:
Note:
You should also review the material in Do I have a strong case.
This Guide will help you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your appeal. Start, below, by picking your issue, which will take you to a series of questions and answers.
Often you will have a feel for whether you have a good argument. Even if you are not fully familiar with the technical aspects of appraisal, you may be aware of what properties are selling for in your neighbourhood and how comparable they are to your house.
Please consider the following answers as general guidance only. Given all the possible variables in an appeal, we cannot provide you with a definitive answer. If you need specific help from the Board, click on the Request Board Facilitator button in the On-line Dispute Resolution (ODR) website.
If not, you can still talk with BC Assessment about your concerns. This may resolve your appeal. Often, you will need to do at least some of the analysis to support your position. More support provides a better chance for convincing BC Assessment of your point of view and settling the appeal.
If you have not taken one of the steps, you may not have sufficient justification to support your position. You can, however, view the next question if you want to see the rest of the evaluation. To view another question, click on the one of the question letters at the top of the question & answer box.
Request the description (often called the property inventory or property valuation summary) from BC Assessment to check if there are any errors.
If not, you can still talk with BC Assessment about your concerns. This may resolve your appeal. Often, you will need to do at least some of the following analysis to support your position. More support provides a better chance for convincing BC Assessment of your point of view and settling the appeal.
If you have not taken one of the steps, you may not have sufficient justification to support your position. You can, however, view the next question if you want to see the rest of the evaluation. To view another question, click on the one of the question letters at the top of the question & answer box.
For guidance, see Common weaknesses in market value positions
Instructions:
You need to estimate the market value of your property as of July 1 last year. This is the valuation date for your assessment.
For suggestions on how to obtain market evidence see researching market evidence.
Before you proceed further, make sure you obtain your own evidence. If you do not have better evidence than BC Assessment, you may not have a strong case and you may wish to consider if it is worth the time and effort to continue with your appeal.
You are finished evaluating this issue.
If not, you can still talk with BC Assessment about your concerns. This may resolve your appeal. Often, you will need to do at least some of the following analysis to support your position. More support provides a better chance for convincing BC Assessment of your point of view and settling the appeal.
If you have not taken one of the steps, you may not have sufficient justification to support your position. You can, however, view the next question if you want to see the rest of the evaluation.
Equity cases may be complex. For guidance see:
Equity Guide
Common weaknesses in equity positions
Instructions for question:
You first need to estimate the market value of your property. Then, compare this to your assessment to calculate your "level of assessment".
For further assistance, see Step 1 in Equity Guide.
In doing your self-evaluation, watch out for these common weaknesses. If you cannot provide better evidence, then you may not have a strong case.
Assessment increase from last year:
You may be unhappy your assessment went up more than your neighbours. Usually, you will not succeed with this argument:
Only choosing equity comparables that support your point of view:
Have you compared your assessment with all similar properties in your area?
Comparison group:
What is the best comparison group?
Only comparing assessments within the same area:
When you are looking at equity, you cannot compare properties that are in different municipalities or taxing jurisdictions from your property.
Must look at the total assessment:
When you are comparing your assessment with others, you cannot just look at the land or improvements.
You will need to first estimate the market value of your property and compare this to your assessment. If you are trying a different methodology, you should first check common weaknesses in equity positions. If you take an unrecognized approach, you may not have a strong case in demonstrating inequity.
Level of assessment examples:
Note: You may have other issues or concerns. See: List of other issues.