Fort Bend Lawsuit Property Tax Savings over $38MM in 2024
Fort Bend has suffered the slings and arrows of aggressive taxation for decades. Sometimes, the combined power of informal and formal property tax protests is not enough and citizens must file a lawsuit against the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD) to get the best deal on their elite property. These are called judicial appeals and 2023 saw 984 of them filed against FBCAD. 617 commercial properties alone were taken to court, and the total value of protested property was estimated at $10.74 billion. Join O’Connor’s Property Tax Protection Program™ today and get an expert legal team that will take FBCAD for all it is worth. You will never pay a single legal fee or suffer an upfront cost and will only pay if your lawsuit is successful. Enroll, relax, and save.
Judicial Appeals by Property Type Fort Bend CountySource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Judicial Appeals | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total Number of lawsuits | 127 | 117 | 117 | 151 | 180 | 209 | 377 | 558 | 719 | 984 | 1,057 | |
| Single Family Residential | 79 | 55 | 28 | 39 | 78 | 116 | 43 | 76 | 86 | 196 | 210 | |
| Multi Family Residential | 7 | 20 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 67 | 84 | 90 | 111 | 129 | |
| Commercial real and personal property | 31 | 35 | 76 | 85 | 77 | 69 | 242 | 369 | 505 | 617 | 668 | |
| All Other | 10 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 25 | 29 | 38 | 60 | 50 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since You can’t evaluate the strength of your appeal until you obtain the hearing evidence file. You have to protest to obtain the hearing evidence file (available free upon request via U.S. mail).
FBCAD Judicial Appeals of ARB Hearing
The versatile judicial appeal is the most common type of post-administrative appeal. It is used to resolve disputes involving high-value properties, such as luxury mansions, industrial facilities, apartment complexes, and commercial buildings, and serves as a legal tool to protect some of the largest and most expensive properties in Texas. With each property protested being worth millions or billions, the stake for every lawsuit could not be higher.
These lawsuits against the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD) bring high rewards and high stress. Let O’Connor lead your judicial appeal for you and relax knowing that you have one of the largest property tax protest specialists in the United States on your side. For 50 years, the Houston-based O’Connor has been advocating for the rights of taxpayers and has gotten clients millions of dollars in tax reductions.
FBCAD Judicial Appeals Filed by Property Type
District court lawsuits are typically used as the capstone on a long-running property tax protest. The objective is usually to squeeze more out of FBCAD to enhance a formal appeal victory. This process can take a few years, as it depends on the backlog of the district courts. These suits are typically used only for large business properties, as single family homes are not worth the effort or cost to go all the way to the post-administrative level.
Judicial appeals for Fort Bend all followed this pattern to the letter. Of the 1,057 lawsuits in 2024, 668 were for commercial properties alone. This has always been the case and commercial properties are the main reason that lawsuits have risen 732.28% in the past decade. Multi family residences added an additional 129 cases, while industrial and related properties appealed 50 times. Outside of these various businesses, there was a record of 210 homes.
Value Involved in Judicial Appeals - Fort Bend CountySource: Texas Comptroller, compiled by O’Connor, and not affiliated with any appraisal district.
| Billions of $ | ||||||||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Value of All Judicial Appeals | 3.675 | 0.931 | 1.028 | 1.308 | 2.199 | 1.507 | 5.217 | 7.172 | 8.957 | 10.743 | 13.688 | |
| Single Family Res | 0.233 | 0.097 | 0.042 | 0.079 | 0.745 | 0.169 | 0.089 | 0.26 | 0.342 | 0.424 | 0.651 | |
| Multi Family Res | 1.312 | 0.467 | 0 | 0.339 | 0.391 | 0.416 | 1.634 | 2.465 | 2.978 | 3.49 | 5.087 | |
| Commercial | 2.059 | 0.3 | 0.94 | 0.848 | 1.063 | 0.827 | 3.43 | 4.357 | 5.517 | 6.677 | 7.799 | |
| All Other | 0.071 | 0.067 | 0.047 | 0.042 | 0 | 0.094 | 0.064 | 0.089 | 0.12 | 0.151 | 0.151 | |
Texas property owners should protest annually since An annual appeal minimizes property taxes, sometimes well below market value.
FBCAD Value Involved in Judicial Appeals
$13.69 billion in property was protested with court lawsuits in 2024, the most ever in the county. As is usual, this was spurred on by $7.80 billion in value from commercial properties. The second contributor was multi family homes, which were worth $5.09 billion. Apartments or other properties of that type have routinely been in second place in the county. Single family homes were valued at $651 million, quite impressive considering there were only 210 homes being protested.