Change in Ownership Statement, Death of Real Property Owner

Submit the completed form to the San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s Office. An incomplete form will be denied.

The law requires that the Assessor-Recorder be notified of a change in ownership as the result of a death of real property owner within 150 days of the date of death, or if the estate is probated; at the same time that the “inventory and appraisal” is filed.  Failure to notify the Assessor-Recorder may result in the assessment of failure-to-file penalties.

Submission Deadline: The failure to file a Change in Ownership Statement, Death of Real Property owner within 90 days of the written request or within 150 days after the date of death or at the same time that the “inventory and appraisal” is filed results in a penalty of either:

1. One hundred dollars ($100), or
2. 10% of the taxes applicable to the new base year value of the real property or manufactured home, whichever is greater, but not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) if the property is eligible for the homeowners’ exemption or twenty thousand if the property is not eligible for the homeowners’ exemption if that failure to file was not willful.

This penalty will be added to the assessment roll and shall be collected like any other delinquent property taxes, and be subject to the same penalties for nonpayment.