Change of Ownership Filing

During your escrow process and every time a property is purchased or ownership is transferred for other reasons a Change of Ownership Form (PCOR) must be filled out. You will receive a PCOR with your escrow documents and you will be required to fill it out completely. This allows the county office that asseses taxes to reassess the tax liability when a property is transferred from a seller to buyer.

You will need to supply information on the property such as type of transfer, purchase price and terms of sale etc... The PCOR normally satisfies the change of ownership requirements when filled out completely and accurately by the Buyer. The county assessor may also request other information about a deed or other matters related to the transfer after reviewing the PCOR. The PCOR is confidential and not recorded or available for public inspection.

If the PCOR is not filed at the time of recording, the county assessor will charge an additional $20.00 in most counties. The tax assessor will still require the information and after recording will send a Change of Ownership Statement (COS) to the transferee (buyer). If the COS is not filed by the transferee within 45 days of the county assessor’s request, then penalties can ultimately range from $100 to $20,000.