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Eagle Title’s Builder Service’s Team received a contract to close on 46 paper lots with only the engineering in place. When we reviewed the title it appeared as though the tax bills for those lots were very excessive. It was discovered that when the county reviewed the subdivision, it consisted of completed homes, finished lots, and platted or engineered lots. The county had taxed the lots as if they were finished lots. Eagle Title reached out to the owner (seller) and received permission to appeal the assessment on their behalf.

We filed appeals on 59 lots in total – those owned by the seller in our transaction and 13 others owned by an investor – and our initial appeal was denied. Before appealing the decision Eagle Title sent an email to the head of Maryland’s real property assessment team explaining the situation.  Shortly after, we received a call from the Prince George’s County Assessment Office acknowledging a mistake was made and letting us know that the assessments and corresponding tax bills were in the process of being corrected. During the conversation, Eagle Title was able to clarify that the prior 3 years with the incorrect assessments would also be adjusted. The net results of our efforts were that the owners received refunds of over $300,000 and our customers’ carrying costs on the property for property taxes were reduced by 75%.

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Mr. DesRoches is the Director of Builder Services at Eagle Title, LLC. Mr. DesRoches graduated from the University of Maryland in 1980 with a BS in Business Management, and an M.B.A. in Finance from Loyola of Baltimore. As an active University of Maryland alumni, Barry served as President of the Robert Smith School of Business Alumni Association, a member of the school’s Board of Visitors, and was honored on the school’s 75th anniversary for his dedication. He has been a Terrapin Club member for over 25 years, served on its board of directors, and is a member of the Board of the “Friends of the University of Maryland Golf Course”.Equally active in his community, Barry served as President of the Rotary Club of Crofton, Maryland and was a recipient of their Rotarian of the year award, and is a former board member of the Crofton Chamber of Commerce.