Reassessments cause Habitat for Humanity home values to skyrocket

PITTSBURGH — Some Pittsburgh-area local homeowners are outraged after their assessments skyrocketed. What makes this assessment story different is that these homes were built by Habitat for Humanity.

The values of the homes Channel 11 News looked into tripled and even quadrupled in some cases. Reporter Cara Sapida also found a local law firm is taking on the cases at no cost.

Some homes along Corey Avenue in Braddock are a few of the nearly 70 Habitat for Humanity homes in Pittsburgh. Families who live in them have put in their own work and went through a tough selection process to get them.

But thanks to the new reassessments, the low-income families aren't so lucky and suddenly risk losing their homes.

Rev. Harold Robertson recently learned that the value of his home tripled.

“For us, it's been a blessing, but the value the assessment value, I don’t think it's correct,” said Robertson. “Our taxes are going to go up with everything else.”

Robertson's home's market value was listed at $36,300 and was reassessed at more than $100,000, a 176 percent increase.

“I have questions how they calculated that number,” said Robertson.

“They've all bumped up over $100,000,” said Maggie Withrow of Habitat for Humanity.

Withrow, the executive director of Habitat, took Channel 11 on a tour of another Habitat home that is almost ready for a family to move into.

Withrow said it's one of about 30 homes in Braddock, Duquesne, Wilkinsburg and the Hill District that the organization believes were over-assessed.

“I believe it’s a nice home but shouldn't be valued at $110,000,” said Withrow.

For one home, the market value was listed at $32,000. It, too, was reassessed for  more than $100,000, a 188 percent increase.

“We just had it appraised two years ago for $32,000,” said Withrow.

That's now the question that local law firm Babst Calland will be asking on Habitat’s behalf.

WPXI