Taxes in the MLS
 

Understanding How Taxes are Updated in the MLS - As you may know, Realcomp has been providing Public Record Data (PRD) (including tax information) to REALTOR® subscribers as a value-added service for many years now.

Since our initial launch of the service, Realcomp has grown your coverage area from a few Metro Detroit counties to all 83 counties across the State of Michigan. MLS subscribers are able to obtain tax information on properties in many of these counties by using the PRD function, or by clicking the Property ID Number hyperlink that appears on MLS listing tickets. Additionally, when adding a new MLS listing into the system, users are able to automatically populate the tax data fields from the PRD into the Listing Input function, which saves them both time and data entry efforts. In the event that the information displayed is not up-to-date, the user is able to override the tax information by simply entering the correct data. Each listing agent is responsible for entering the most up-to-date tax information available for their listings and keeping this updated (like all other fields on the listing) throughout the life of it.

Although, Realcomp normally updates the taxes in the system every six (6) months, these updates are applied to the Public Record Database only (not the MLS-Listing Database). This means the tax information on the MLS listing ticket is never updated, unless the listing agent updates it. Additionally, there is always a period of at least 4.5 months that the Public Record Database is “out of sync”* with the updated tax rolls. This is due to the appeals process and the time it takes to obtain, process, and apply the data.

For more timeline and event information related to seasonal tax updates, see below:

  • Annually by December 31, the assessor of each community must evaluate and assign a value to every property under their authority.
  • Early in the year, municipalities send Notices of Assessment to property owners.
    In March, homeowners can appeal their assessments to the Board of Review. The Board of Review examines and adjusts property values on the assessment roll as necessary and appropriate.
  • If the appeal is denied by the Board of Review, the homeowner can present their appeal to the Michigan Tax Tribunal. *Generally, by mid-June, summer tax bills are mailed to homeowners.
  • The assessor must deliver to the communities a certified tax roll no later than July 1st. After the tax roll is certified (by July 1st), it can be purchased by third parties such as CoreLogic. In any county, this can mean a purchase of data from the county and several cities depending on who the assessor is.
  • Once CoreLogic obtains the data, it must be processed and formatted for Realcomp.  Assuming that all goes smoothly with this process, CoreLogic normally begins sending Realcomp data by the end of July. *Realcomp processes the data it receives within one (1) week.
  • Generally, winter tax bills are mailed to homeowners by mid-November.
  • Winter tax rolls are available for purchase on December 1st.
  • Realcomp starts receiving winter taxes from CoreLogic during the month of January.
  • Realcomp processes the data received within one (1) week.

 

Last modified: Wednesday, October 14, 2015