But Benka complains that every assessment on the block went up, whether or not improvements had been made. The whole trick is to pretend that everything is going fine. We're trying to insure they don't infect the assessment process. This phenomenon has become a problem for assessors in all big cities. It just can destroy a neighborhood quickly, we're all aware of this.
Comparable sales are no longer comparable.
State revenue-sharing formulas based on tax and assessment rolls become tainted. In short, the whole property assessment system is harmed. In an effort to keep track of the problem, the assessor's office has developed computer software to identify potential flipping activity, which Weissenfluh says are shared with federal and local law enforcement authorities. The office particularly watches properties sold more than once within six months, where the price took an unusually large jump. We want to use valid arm's length sales as benchmarks.