Dear Editor:
One thing we all know for sure is that Sandy was an act of nature that affected the entire Hudson County while this incompetent reval is man made that exclusively affects the city of Hoboken. In my particular case my two family house lower floor was totally destroyed by the flood. I received no help from FEMA and no help from my homeowner’s policy. I have not yet being able to repair all the damage and the entire floor remains gutted except that I had to spend a considerable amount in emergency remediation including installing new utilities, removing the debris from the water damaged walls and floors and mold remediation. Now I just received the bad news from the mega storm reval that my house, with all the devastation from Sandy still in place, is now assessed at $942,400. They have put a value of $390,100 to an old house that is very modest with no upgrades or improvements and with a bottom floor that was destroyed by the flood of Sandy. This house still has old plumbing and heating pipes, the two kitchens still have old cabinets and Formica top counters with old fixtures and sinks, the kitchen floor is linoleum and the bathrooms are very basic with nothing fancy. I really don’t know what the inspector was looking at when he came in to do the visual inspection or perhaps his mind was on some trip to outer space.
BTW I had to kind of force him to take a look at Sandy’s damage to the bottom floor and he would not even look in the back yard. Here is the other kicker the 19×75 lot is now assessed at $552,300. There is definitely something wrong with this reval when a property that dates back to the 70s with the same owner and that has not been upgraded is valued the same or higher than properties that have changed ownership and have been totally gutted and modernized with new everything from top to bottom including central air and all modern day luxuries.
Anonymous