Sticker Shock (& Disclosure Question)
[Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.]
At least some Minneapolis homeowners are suffering sticker shock in the wake of receiving notices from the Minneapolis Assessor’s Office that 
their 2016 property taxes are going up.
A lot (in some cases, over 10%).
Meanwhile, some of those homeowners are busy preparing to put their homes on the market this Spring (I’m personally working with several).
Do the Sellers need to relate the unhappy news to prospective Buyers, on their Seller Disclosure?
What Does — and Doesn’t — Belong in the Seller Disclosure
My take: “no,” for two reasons.
One. The information’s publicly available.
The current year taxes are disclosed in a field on MLS and also on Hennepin County’s website.
Buyers should — and do — research what the property taxes are, especially in famously high tax Minneapolis.
Two. Unfortunately, like Summer mosquitoes and Winter cold, ever-rising property taxes are a fact of life in Minneapolis.
Sellers don’t need to tell Buyers what they already know (or should, or their agents should).
The one exception (at least that I’m aware of)?
When current property taxes are artificially low, and will reset to market rates once the new owner takes possession.
Exceptions
That can be the case when the current owner is an injured veteran, and qualifies for a property tax abatement; or, when the current owner made a major improvement, and took advantage of a city program that adds the value of the improvement incrementally vs. all at once.
In the latter case, a $100k new Kitchen may only bump the owner’s property taxes $10k a year instead of the full $100k.
However, when there’s a change in title, the remaining, deferred balance gets added to the home’s assessed value.
Fortunately for Buyers, there’s a section in the Minnesota Seller’s Disclosure that specifically flags these issues.
