Evidence for a Florida VAB Petition

A VAB petition is only as good as the evidence behind it. This page organizes the main evidence types by what you are trying to show — and what each one, by itself, does not show.

Three different jobs for evidence

• Screening: deciding whether the assessment is worth questioning at all (done privately, before filing).
• Appraisal: determining what the property is worth (a professional valuation — the VAB process is not an appraisal).
• VAB evidence: documentation that meets the statutory exchange rules and that the special magistrate or board will actually weigh.

Evidence that helps you screen may not be admissible or persuasive at a hearing, and vice versa. Keep the jobs separate.

Market-value evidence

• Comparable sales — what similar properties sold for, from public records or your own research. What it can show: what the market was doing around your property. What it does not show: that any specific number is your property's just value; properties are not comparable merely because they are nearby. Florida law lists the factors behind just valuation — including location, size, condition, and net sale proceeds — which are the same factors that make a comparison meaningful or meaningless.
• A professional appraisal — an independent opinion of value as of the assessment date. What it can show: a qualified opinion. What it does not show: it is still evidence the board weighs, not a binding determination.

Property-record and condition evidence

• Your property record card — the property appraiser must give it to you when your petition is received (unless it is available online). Check the characteristics: living area, year built, condition codes. A factual error here is the clearest kind of problem to raise.
• Photographs and repair documentation — dated photos, contractor estimates, receipts. What they can show: condition relative to the January 1 assessment date. What they do not show: a fixed dollar reduction — the review body weighs them with everything else.

The exchange rules change how you prepare

Florida's process is document-driven in a way Texas's is not: at least 15 days before the hearing you must deliver your evidence list and copies to the property appraiser, and you cannot later present evidence you withheld from a written request. Practically: decide your evidence before the exchange deadline — not at the hearing.

Worked example (illustrative)

Illustrative example with made-up numbers — not a valuation and not a prediction of any outcome.

1. Inputs: your notice shows market value $450,000. You find two genuinely similar recent sales nearby at $405,000 and $420,000, and your record card shows 2,400 sq ft while your plans show 2,150 sq ft.
2. Reasoning: the sales suggest the market near your property supported values in the low $400,000s around the relevant period; the area discrepancy is a checkable fact.
3. Screening conclusion: there is a fact worth raising (the area) and a market question worth asking (the sales).

What this tells you: factual record issues and market context are different arguments, and both start with documents you can obtain yourself.

What it does not tell you: whether the sales are truly comparable (adjustments matter), whether the area record is actually wrong (verify with the appraiser's measurement method), or what the VAB will decide.

Next steps

• Understand the timing in filing a VAB petition.
• Read the TRIM notice page to find the figures these documents should match.