How do I file a Prop 19 claim after I move?

3 min read

Plenty of sellers assume that if they qualify for Prop 19, the title company or the county will sort it out at closing. That assumption costs real money, because the tax base only moves once a claim is filed and accepted.

Nobody files it for you

The California Board of Equalization (BOE) says directly that a claim for the base year value transfer has to be filed after both transactions are done and you are living in the replacement home, and that this is not done through escrow. The claim goes to the assessor of the county where the replacement home is, which may be a different county from the one you sold in.

Picking the form

BOE publishes a different claim form for each group that can use the transfer.

An owner who is 55 or older files form BOE-19-B, the Claim for Transfer of Base Year Value to Replacement Primary Residence for Persons at Least Age 55 Years. A severely and permanently disabled owner files BOE-19-D together with a certificate of disability, BOE-19-DC. A victim of a wildfire or other natural disaster files BOE-19-V. County assessors hand out the forms, and BOE lists contact details for all 58 of them.

The deadline

BOE's filing table says the claim is due within three years of the date the replacement home was purchased or the new construction was completed. The clock runs from the replacement, not from the sale. Do not treat the three years as comfortable. The sooner the claim goes in after the move, the sooner the assessor can fix the taxable value on the new home.

What the claim depends on

The assessor will want to see that you qualified on the day the old home sold, that the old home was your principal residence, that the new home is your principal residence, that the purchase and the sale fall within two years of each other, and that you have transfers left. The limit is three transfers over a lifetime, even if you used the older Prop 60 or 90 transfer before. If the new home cost more than the price limit, the assessor will add the excess to the transferred value rather than refuse the claim. The explainer on buying a more expensive home shows the arithmetic.

What to do in the meantime

Between the move and the assessor's decision the new home may be billed on a higher taxable value. Keep the bills, pay them as required, and ask the assessor how a correction will be credited. The related homeowners' exemption claim is a separate form with its own filing steps, and many owners need both.

Where this fits

This is general information drawn from BOE's published rules, not tax or legal advice. County practice on timing and paperwork varies, so call the assessor of the county where you bought before you assume anything about processing time. If you are still working out what your current home would sell for, the home value tool gives a starting number.

Quick questions

Source: California Board of Equalization, Proposition 19