Getting your property appraisal lowered could be a little easier, and a lot faster, this year with an online dispute resolution program offered by the Harris County Appraisal District.

Under the new iSettle program, owners can get property values reduced without having to attend hearings of the Appraisal Review Board or even leave their homes.

HCAD experimented with online protests in 2006 with a pilot program called iFile, which allows residential and commercial property owners the option of filing protests online instead of by mail or in person. The next year, iFile was available for all property owners.

This year, iSettle has been added to boost the online protest option.

The district started sending out residential appraisals a week ago.

Last year, about 350,000 property owners protested their appraisal values. HCAD handles 1.7 million accounts.

Jim Robinson, HCAD's chief appraiser, said 90,000 of last year's protests resulted in appraisal review board hearings, meaning most were resolved earlier, withdrawn or settled in informal meetings between appraisers and property owners.

"If we are able to do that without people coming down here, and gasoline is getting more expensive and traffic is bad, let's see if we can come up with a way that people could settle online," Robinson said.

Under the iSettle program, district officials will review an owner's opinion of the property value, its characteristics and those of the neighborhood. Then they will compare the property's value to recent selling prices and to values on comparable properties.

If officials determine an appraisal reduction is warranted, the owner will be sent a settlement offer in an e-mail. The resident can log on to the district's Web site to accept the offer.

If the offer is rejected, the owner will be scheduled for an appraisal review board hearing to look at the evidence. 

Cutting into profits

Robinson said the majority of the consulting firms do a good job of protesting property values, but an owner can get the job done just as well.

"I don't think consultants on a residential property necessarily get any better results than a person who files his own," Robinson said.

Clarence Cooper, client relations director for O'Connor & Associates, said he thinks people still will use the firm because the iSettle process does not provide the one-on-one negotiation process.

He said a property owner can protest the values, but his firm has an extensive database to look at sales comparisons and research how every property has been assessed in a particular neighborhood.

"So, we do have a little bit more ammunition to look at," Cooper said. "And we also know what will be a reasonable offer and whether or not to accept that offer." 

From the old school

Hall said the online method sounded OK but added, "I'm from the old school."

"My son said he does it online," Hall said. "It's probably a lot easier, but this way I know it gets done right."