Extra Digit On Apn

[George A Easton]

i have one particular lender i work with in California (i'm in arizona). and on every single file, i get conditioned on the APN. they always request that i add an extra digit that is showing up on the prelim. they fax prelim over to me and sure enough there it is- and it's always a number, not a letter. when doing the report, i look on two sources and there is no extra digit. however, i ONLY get this popping up for this particular lender...

so what could be the cause of this and how can i nip it in the bud before i get conditioned if i'm not even seeing that extra digit.

example (for you locals)
apn 241-33-080 (maricopa county). they're requesting that i add a "1" at the end per prelim which i'm looking at right now. i looked up on netvaluecentral and maricopa.gov AND ndc and none show that "1"

 

[Ultraviolet]

George,

I get this from time to time also, must be the same CA MB!

The underwriter has requested that the assessor’s parcel number be changed to match the title report which shows the number as 116-04-zzz-4. The additional digit (4) is a reference number for the treasurer and is not part of the assessor’s parcel number. A search of the assessor’s records for this property would be unsuccessful if this additional digit were to be included as part of the parcel number. It is not appropriate to include the additional number used by the treasurer as part of the APN.

The assessor’s parcel number, as reported in the original appraisal, is correct and the report remains unchanged.

Never heard back from them so it must've satisfied the UW.

Maybe JoAnn will jump in and give us more specifics about the extra digit. Something to do with the property type and/or specific county for tax purposes.

 

[Otis Key]

Why don't you just scan the assessor's parcel number into the report and let them read it themselves. Just put "See Attached" in the UPC section of the report and then you won't have to deal with it. It's a direct printout from the assessor's office. I do that with long legals of metes & bounds.

 

[George A Easton]

Rae,

I love that canned comment and will most likely use it, but how can i verify this (not that i don't trust you, but it's one of my best clients so i want to be able to explain where this information came from)

 

[Ultraviolet]

EDIT - SEE INFO PROVIDED BY JO ANN BECAUSE MINE IS WRONG !!!!!!!

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

The extra digit they are requesting has nothing to do with the identification of the property. The assessor's parcel number would be 241-33-080 if there has been a split it might be known as 241-33-080A or B or X or Y or Z etc.

The extra trailing digit is what is called a "check digit". The computer does a math calculation of all the numbers in the assessor's parcel number based on a specific formula--if the answer to the math calculation matches the "check digit" the computer knows that the typist typed in the correct assessor's parcel number combination. If the number typed doesn't add up to that "check digit" the computer system will not accept any changes to that parcel that the county employee is attempting to make. Oh the fun we had when they came up with that check and balance system about thirty years ago. Back in those days the assessor's office had to hand write a form called property information transmittal AKA as PITS, then ship the form to Department of Revenue in Phoenix, where 24 hour shifts of key punchers typed the information into the computer system. Then three months later the assessor's office would get a shipment of property information cards AKA as PICs that would have to be proof read, then more PITS sent to Phoenix to get things corrected, then PICS back and around and around we would go. When the check digit didn't calculate correctly, the assessor's office didn't get PICs back and sometimes to get the correct info into the computer system would take six to twelve months. Then eventually, computers were placed in the assessor's office where the local assessor's personnel would do the typing but we would have to wait for the PICs to be shipped back before we know whether a typing error had been made. Now days the assessor's office can type in the info and a few minutes later print out the new Property Status Inquiry with the current info. They still use PITs when creating new parcels and communicate back and forth in the office.

And now you know more than you ever wanted to know about check digits!! For multiple parcels we had a form called Arizona Revenue Multiple Property Information Transmittals--AKA the ARMPITs---it lived up to its acronym because it stunk. I use to carry boxes of PITs and PICs around with me and would proof read as I watched my kids at their activities, sit at the kitchen table at night, while in the car and some body else drove, etc, etc. I guess those boxes were one of the first lap top computers!

 

[Ultraviolet]

Jo Ann,

Then why do I remember specificially, when doing property tax appeals, learning that the digit had to do with the treasurer's office?

Of course, my boss was an MAI so that could've been part of the problem! :lol:

Thanks for the updated information, straight from the source!

Maybe this will be the job where I get sued for providing erroneous information

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Probably there isn't a assessor's office or treasurer's office employee in the state (unless they worked in a small county over thirty years ago) that knows the story behind check digits. I know the current employees in Graham and Greenlee County don't (except for Linda the assessor in Greenlee, and that is because she has worked in the assessor's office for over twenty years). So to all the newbies (employees with less than 25 years experience) the check digit is just an extra number that they don't understand why it is there.

It becomes very important when they print the tax bill so that the right information gets printed for the right parcel for the right amount of taxes--that is might be why your MAI thought it had to do with taxes. A tax bill is printed directly from the information provided by the assessor's office. Tax rates are developed for each tax code by the supervisor's to the assessor's office, then that tax for that code is applied to the assessed value based on the ratio assigned by the assessor's office to create the amount of taxes--which then gets printed out on the tax bill and entered into the treasurer's system.

Prior to 1968 each assessor and treasurer did their own thing. In 1964 all the railroads sued all the counties because of the inequality of tax assessments. The state Legislature (with Sandra Day O'Connor the main author of the legislation) established the state office that would create a state wide system. It took four years for state employees to pick up every taxable real estate property in the state and then the records were turned over to the county assessor's in 1968. From 1968 to 1976 we would get about six fan fold printouts twice a year. Had to correct those fan fold printouts and then send back to the state. In 1976 the legislature appropriated enough money for a new computer system. State asked all the county assessor's office what kind of printouts they wanted and what information on the printouts. I cut and pasted bits of information on to a legal sized piece of paper and said here this is what I want and how I want it handled. If you ever go directly to an assessor's office that has the Department of Revenue handle the data processing today and get a printout called a Property Status Inquiry you will see what my legal sized piece of paper that I cut and pasted 29 years ago looks like. At that time I also helped developed the property use code system that is still currently in use (which by the way doesn't have a thing to do with zoning).

My husband was chief deputy assessor in Greenlee County from 1964 to 1968. I worked for the state from 1968 to 1971, then Graham County Assessor's office from 1972 to 1982, then Yuma County chief deputy in 1984 and 1985. So I have watched the system develop from almost the first day the legislation went into effect in 1964. Not too many of us old timers around any more.

 

[Ultraviolet]

Thank you, Jo Ann. Now I don't feel so ignorant for not knowing something I should've known!

So to all the newbies (employees with less than 25 years experience)

:rainfro: :rainfro: :rainfro:

If Jo Ann says it's so - I believe it !!! She's been appraising longer than I've been alive and has forgotten more than I'll ever know.

 

[Peacemaker]

George on maricopa.gov on the gis page click on 'view tax info' and you will see the extra digit. I get it from Cali lenders too, kinda funny.

And ditto what Rae says about Jo Ann. Never knew what it meant, that is good to know.