NATIONAL

How a Secret Rent Algorithm Pushes Rents Higher
ProPublica
On a summer day last year, a group of real estate tech executives gathered at a conference hall in Nashville to boast about one of their company's signature products: software that uses a mysterious algorithm to help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants. “Never before have we seen these numbers,” said Jay Parsons, a vice president of RealPage, as convention goers wandered by.

What the Housing Market Slowdown Will Mean for Property Taxes
Route Fifty
As quickly as the housing market heated up during the pandemic, it's cooling down. At the beginning of this summer, home prices were nearly 16% higher than the previous year and up nearly 9% from the beginning of this year, according to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

CALIFORNIA

Opinion: Taxing California Tribal Lands After They're Returned Adds Insult to Injury
Times of San Diego
The #LandBack movement seeks to return lands to tribal nations. These lands, with few exceptions, are subject to state property taxes. The Legislature should amend California's tax codes to exempt these lands from property taxes. Doing so would impede the exploitation of Indigenous peoples that has been part of the nation's history since before its independence.

INDIANA

County decides to return tax money paid for 'thin air'
kpcnews.com
The Steuben County Board of Commissioners approved refunding some $1,600 in property taxes paid by an Angola business on land that didn't exist. Angola Sports Center former owner Connie Crowl discovered when she was selling her store on West Maumee Street that they had been paying taxes on a parcel for years that didn't exist.

TEXAS

Brazos County Commissioners Break Quorum to Prevent Property Tax Increase
The Texan
Brazos County Commissioners Steve Aldrich and Russ Ford are counting down the days to October 22 — the date at which the county can no longer pass a tax increase and their weeks-long stint playing hooky may end. Similar to the ongoing situation in Harris County, the pair in Brazos County are objecting to a property tax increase proposed by the county budget.

VIRGINIA

Competing Richmond property tax relief proposals to be heard this week
NBC12
Competing tax proposals looking to lower the current property tax rate by four and 10 cents respectively will go head to head at Richmond City Hall Thursday. The real estate tax rate is $1.20 per $100 of assessed value, and there's a push to keep it there. But, two other proposals would lower the rate: one by four cents, the other by 10 cents.