Property owners in Davidson County should beware of a new scam letter being distributed, warns the county’s property assessor.
Davidson County Assessor of Property Vivian Wilhoite wants property owners who recently received a mailer regarding their property to know that it is not from the Office of the Assessor of Property and that it is a scam.
A copy of the scam letter can be found here.
Assessor Wilhoite was first alerted and provided a copy of the letter by text message from a property owner, followed by an email from another property owner, and now the office is receiving numerous calls regarding the scam letter, according to a media release by the property assessor’s office.
“There are a number of red flags that cause concern,” Wilhoite said in a statement. “For one, the scam letter closely resembles the Notice of Informal Review my office sends out this time of year to inform property owners of our Informal Review decisions. While the scam letter says that it is a ‘solicitation’ and adds other language, we do not want property owners to be confused and become victims, thinking that the Office of the Assessor of Property is requesting any type of payment. The Office of the Assessor of Property does not accept any type of tax payment.”
The Office of the Assessor of Property is not a fee-receiving or collecting office, the media release states. Additionally, Wilhoite points out the Nashville address referenced in the scam letter appears to come from a Nashville address and requests the property owner send payment to an address in St Petersburg, Florida. Furthermore, the Nashville location referenced in the scam letter does not appear in the property records of the Assessor of Property’s Office and does not exist.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
