Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector Reminds Property Owners of  Upcoming First Installment Delinquency Date

KEITH KNOX, Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector, reminds property owners that the first installment of the 2020-21 Annual Secured Property Taxes becomes delinquent if not received by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time or United States Postal Service (USPS) postmarked on or before Thursday, December 10, 2020.  “To avoid late penalties, property owners should not wait until the last day to make payment; please pay early” says Treasurer and Tax Collector Knox.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our offices are currently closed to the public,” Mr. Knox advised.  Please visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov for up-to-date information and self-service options.

Mr. Knox further said, “Property owners may find it difficult to reach us on the telephone.  They may obtain answers to the great majority of their questions, including how to request a copy  of a property tax bill, obtain the amount due on any parcel, or find the tax payment history  for the past three fiscal tax years on the Los Angeles County Property Tax Portal at propertytax.lacounty.gov. Property owners may also call the toll-free Property Tax Information Line at 1(888) 807-2111, where automated information is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

PAYMENT OPTIONS

PARTIAL PAYMENTS – We recommend you pay the total amount due.  However, if you are unable to do so, we accept partial payments, which reduce the amount of penalties imposed.

PAY ONLINE – To make payments online, go to propertytax.lacounty.gov and select  “Pay Property Taxes Online.”  You can make online payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week up to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the delinquency date.

There is no cost to you for electronic check (eCheck) payments. The Annual Secured Property Tax Bill contains your Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN) and Personal Identification Number (PIN), which you will need to complete the transaction.  Each eCheck transaction is limited to $999,999.99.

You may view a step-by-step video on how to make an eCheck payment at ttc.lacounty.gov/ pay-secured-property-taxes-online. The video is available in multiple languages.

When paying by eCheck, your bank account must be Automated Clearing House (ACH)enabled, meaning the transaction can settle through the ACH Network.  If your bank account has a debit block to prevent unauthorized organizations from debiting your account via ACH, you must notify your bank to authorize ACH debits from Los Angeles County with a debit filter with the Company Identification Number of 0 0 0 0 0 7 9 1 6 1.  Los Angeles County updated its Company Identification Number in September 2018, so you must update this Company Identification Number if you previously had a debit filter on your bank account.

You may also pay online by using major credit cards or debit cards.  Each online credit/debit card transaction is limited to $99,999.99, including a cost, currently 2.22 percent of the transaction amount.

PAY BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD OVER THE TELEPHONE – We accept major credit card and debit card payments over the telephone.  To pay by telephone, call toll-free 1(888) 473-0835.  The Annual Secured Property Tax Bill contains your Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN), Year, and Sequence, which you will need to complete the transaction.  Each credit/debit card transaction is limited to $99,999.99, including a cost, currently 2.22 percent of the transaction amount.

BY MAIL – Please use the envelope enclosed in your Annual Secured Property Tax Bill and include the payment stub from the property tax bill.  If paying both installments, please include both payment stubs.  Do not attach staples, clips, tape, or correspondence.  You must mail property tax payments to the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector, Post Office Box 54018, Los Angeles, CA 90054-0018.  Do not mail your payments to any other address.  Property tax payments must be received or USPS postmarked by the delinquency date to avoid penalties.  If we receive your payment after the delinquency date, with no postmark, the payment is late and we will impose penalties, in accordance with State law.  We caution taxpayers who send their payments by mail that the USPS only postmarks certain mail depending on the type of postage used and may not postmark mail on the same day taxpayers deposit envelopes.  To assist taxpayers in understanding how to avoid penalties that could result from postmark issues, we have compiled important information on how to “Avoid Penalties by Understanding Postmarks.”  Visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov/avoid-penalties-byunderstanding-postmarks.

You may use an Internal Revenue Service designated delivery service (DHL Express, FedEx, or UPS) to mail your payment, properly addressed with the required fee prepaid, delivery of which shall not be later than 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on the next business day after the effective delinquency date (Thursday, December 10, 2020).  Mail payments to Los Angeles County Tax Collector, Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 225 North Hill Street, Room 137, Los Angeles, CA 90012.  Do not mail your payments to any other address.  The remittance shall be deemed received on the date shown on the packing slip or air bill attached to the outside of the envelope or package containing the remittance.

PAY IN PERSON – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our offices are currently closed to the public.  Please visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov for up-to-date information related to in-person services.

ONLINE BANKING OR BILL PAYMENT SERVICES – We DO NOT recommend using these

services to pay property taxes.  The USPS does not postmark the envelopes these firms use  to mail us the payment.  In the absence of a postmark, we determine penalties based exclusively on the date we receive payment.  For more information on how to “Avoid Penalties  by Understanding Postmarks,” visit our website at ttc.lacounty.gov/avoid-penalties-byunderstanding-postmarks.

EMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVICE

Property owners can subscribe to receive property tax related emails from the Treasurer and Tax Collector regarding special notices and upcoming events, such as annual property tax deadline reminders, office location updates and other news.  To subscribe, taxpayers may go to Email Notification Service at ttc.lacounty.gov/eNotify.