Complaint Review: Property Tax Assessor Records

I bought a home in Dallas, Texas in 2003. In 2004 I back filed a homestead exemption. I was entitled to a refund of approximately $600 - $700 after filing this. Property Tax Assessor Records Corp. sent me a letter, that appeared to be a letter from the Dallas County Tax Assessor office asking me for a fee of $45.00 in order to process my refund. So I sent a check to them for this fee. About six weeks later when I called the Tax Assessor office to see if they had received this check I was told by a representative in that office that they didn't receive my check and that they never charge a fee for their services so they weren't the ones that I mailed my check to.

I was told that the company that I sent the check to was probably attempting to obtain my refund as a third party that I had authorized to do this. It was never made clear when I sent the check for $45.00 that I was authorizing their companty to represent me and they were entitled to my tax refund. I can't believe it's legal for them to do this. I was told by the Tax Assessor's office representative that they get calls like mine all the time. So obviously they do this frequently.

Sharon
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.