Already have a consultant? Get a written second opinion
Send the portfolio and your current firm's filing history. A signed memo comes back: which unfiled appeals were worth fighting, what each would have returned, and what the agreement you signed actually says.
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A signed memo within one week for one property; a written date for a portfolio
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Nothing filed, no county contacted, and your current firm is not notified
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No fee for the review, a per-property rate only if you move a file
Under a mutual confidentiality agreement, on your paper if you prefer. Acknowledged within one business day.
Eight questions to ask your current consultant
Ask them before the 2027 notices mail. The answers are in the agreement and the filing history, not in the pitch, and most of them are a one-line email.
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01
What share of my portfolio did you file last cycle, and what did you decline?
The intake filter, directly. A 95% win rate usually means the arguable cases never got filed, and that is where the money lives.
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02
What is your average reduction on the cases you win?
Depth of wins matters more than frequency. An owner banks dollars, not a percentage.
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03
Who argued my hearing, and were they in the room?
In the 2025 Front Range county-board record, the clearest predictor of a win was whether anyone argued the case at all.
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04
What is my fee on the second year of the cycle?
A Colorado reduction normally carries into the second year. Know what the second year costs before comparing percentages.
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05
If I end the agreement, what do I still owe?
One consulting contract that reached court kept the commission on work already started after the owner ended the agreement.
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06
Does your authority renew every year until I revoke it?
An authorization that renews by default files on your behalf by default. Each SVA filing waits for your written go-ahead.
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07
Is there a higher rate, or appraisal and attorney costs, at the state board?
A step-up at escalation changes the math on exactly the cases that matter most.
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08
On my largest building, what did the invoice come to per hour of work?
A flat percentage bills the size of the tax bill, not the work. The hours on a $5 million bill are the hours on a $500,000 bill.
What the win rate they sold you measures
Colorado publishes the outcome of every appeal that reaches the state Board of Assessment Appeals. SVA pulled all 8,058 commercial cases for tax year 2023.
The full analysis| Filer profile | Cases filed | Settlement rate |
|---|---|---|
| Largest filer in the state | 2,489 | 49% |
| Second-largest filer | 2,036 | 57% |
| Third-largest filer | 722 | 77% |
| Entire market, every filer and every unrepresented owner | 8,058 | 61% |
| Small books of 20 to 120 cases, top of the range | n/a | 90% to 100% |
The firms doing the most fighting for Colorado owners live at 49% to 57%. The prettiest win rates belong to the smallest books, which is what a tight intake filter produces. On a pure contingency fee the losing filings cost the owner nothing, so the consultant who files the arguable cases and wins six in ten puts more dollars in the account than the one who files only the sure things and advertises 95%. A win rate measures what was not filed.
The second opinion, in writing
Built the way every SVA memo is built: from your documents and the county's public record, benchmarked against the 19,939-property database in Colorado and against county records in the other states SVA covers.
What to send
- The parcel list, with addresses and the current notices or tax bills.
- Your current firm's filing history for the last cycle: what was protested, what was petitioned, what was declined, and the results.
- The engagement agreement, if you want the terms read.
- Nothing else. The rest comes from the county's public record.
What comes back
- Which unfiled parcels were worth filing, parcel by parcel, with the market evidence and the dollars each would have returned.
- Where the filed cases landed against the market, by county, from the 2025 county-board results and the state-board docket.
- A plain-English read of the business terms in your agreement: the rate on year two, any fee tail, auto-renewing authority, and step-ups at the state board. A consultant's read, not legal advice.
- The exact matrix rate for each parcel, should you ever choose to move one.
The terms
- No fee. The memo is yours whichever way you use it.
- Nothing is filed and no county is contacted. Your current firm is not notified.
- A mutual confidentiality agreement, on your paper if you prefer, before any document changes hands.
- Your records never enter the published database or any marketing.
Read the agreement, not just the rate
Large firms rarely publish their commercial rates, and the rate is only one term. These are the terms to check in your own agreement, with SVA’s answer to each.
| What to check in your agreement | SVA’s terms |
|---|---|
| Whether the rate falls as the bill grows, or stays one percentage on every property | Falls from 20% to 8%, set per property by its own tax bill |
| Whether fees continue after you end the agreement | Nothing is owed on any appeal not yet filed; either side can end the engagement on 30 days’ written notice, with no exit fee |
| Whether the consultant’s authority renews every year until you revoke it | Each filing needs your written go-ahead, unless you give standing authority for assessor-level protests on named parcels |
| Minimums, retainers, filing fees or administrative fees | None |
| A higher percentage, or added appraisal and attorney costs, at the state board or in court | One matrix rate from the assessor through the state board; court filing fees and outside experts only if you choose to litigate, at cost with your prior approval |
| Whether each property’s rate is in writing before you sign | Yes, in the Initial Consultation memo and again in the engagement letter |
Court records: Property Assessment Review, Inc. v. Greater Missouri Builders, Inc., 260 S.W.3d 841 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008): a commission of 33⅓% of the tax savings for each year appealed and the immediately following year, still owed after termination on properties already under appeal; the court ruled for the consultant. Fisher v. Holtzapple Neal Properties Group, LLC, No. 01-23-00305-CV (Tex. App. 2025): a 30% contingent fee on property tax savings, which the consultant sued to collect.
The full fee matrix, the savings estimator and the fee FAQ are on the Fees page. What the engagement letter contains is on How It Works.
If you decide to move a file
Nothing moves until you instruct it in writing. When you do, there is nothing to unwind.
One signature
Moving a file is one signature on a new agent authorization, effective on a date you set. The prior firm's authority on that parcel ends the day SVA's begins, so its filings and SVA's never overlap. Anything already pending stays with the prior firm unless you move it in writing.
Thirty days, no tail
Either side can end an SVA engagement on thirty days' written notice. Nothing is owed on any appeal not yet filed, and there is no exit fee. The same terms are in every engagement letter before you sign.
Or move one state only
A national book can carve one state out for one cycle while the incumbent keeps the rest: one letter of authorization scoped to those parcels, each priced on its own row, with a monthly roll-up in Excel and PDF.
The Single-State PilotSigned before May 1, 2027, the evidence is built ahead of Colorado's June 1 protest deadline. Other states' dates are on the deadlines page.
Questions before you send anything
Will my current consultant know I asked for a second opinion?
Not from SVA. The review is built from the documents you send and the county's public record. No county is contacted, nothing is filed, and your firm is not notified. Only a move you instruct in writing changes that, and then the prior firm is simply notified for the parcels that move.
What if the memo says my current firm is doing fine?
Then it says so, in writing, and you keep it. If your consultant is filing everything worth filing, that is the answer you get.
Can my own tax team or my firm of record act on the memo?
Yes. Each finding carries the parcel, the evidence and the math, so your team or your firm of record can file and defend it without SVA.
What does the second opinion cost, and what if I move a file?
The review carries no fee. If you move a file, that property is priced from the published matrix, 8% to 20% of realized savings by its own annual tax bill, in writing before you sign, with no retainer, no minimum and no invoice unless its taxes go down.
Is the read of my agreement legal advice?
No. It is a consultant's read of the business terms that decide what you pay: the rate on the second year, any fee tail, auto-renewing authority and step-ups at the state board. Your counsel reads the contract.
Send the portfolio and the filing history
Request an Initial Consultation and say it is a second opinion, or email the parcel list to charlieyoung@svatax.com with “Second opinion” in the subject. Acknowledged within one business day; a mutual confidentiality agreement first if you want one. The two-page capabilities statement (PDF) is the version to forward to a partner.