How will you know if a property you’re interested in purchasing is part of a CFD? Be sure to do your due diligence, but the seller is required to make a good faith effort to provide you with a tax levy disclosure notice — a “Notice of Special Tax” — from each agency assessing a Mello-Roos tax. Among other things, the notice must specify the maximum tax that the particular agency can levy.

Effective January 1, 2002, a seller must also provide you with disclosures regarding the Improvement Bond Act of 1915, which, like the Mello-Roos Act, permits local governments to issue bonds to fund various projects. If a property you are interested in buying is subject to a continuing assessment to repay bonds issued under the Improvement Bond Act, the seller must also make a good faith effort to provide you with a notice of the assessment. This notice must be delivered with any other disclosure documents relating to Mello-Roos tax levies.

For more information about property tax obligations in San Francisco, call (415) 554-4400 or email your questions to Treasurer.TaxCollector@sfgov.org. You can also visit the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector Web site to view the “Property Tax Calendar” and get details on “How to Read Your Property Tax Bill.”