A Viral AI Property Tax Hoax Is Targeting Some Homeowners—and It Could Cost Them Real Relief

Douglas County Assessor Toby Damisch first suspected something was wrong when Colorado homeowners started calling his office with some unusual questions.“Hey, I hear I don't have to pay the school property tax anymore,” he recalls constituents saying. Others told his office they had heard their property values could be capped once they turned 70.At first, there were a handful of calls and emails a day. Then there were dozens.“They clearly had received some information from some source, because they were asking the same questions,” Damisch tells Realtor.com®.The source was a rapidly growing wave of videos falsely claiming Congress had created sweeping new property tax protections for older homeowners.Realtor.com identified 50 videos across 49 YouTube channels promoting versions of the same claim—35 of which appeared within a span of just three days. As they spread, assessor and auditor offices across multiple states began fielding the same questions as Damisch’s office, prompting at least 23 to post public warnings.In Douglas County, the timing was particularly bad. While viral videos were spreading fake news about relief, the state's deadline to claim a powerful senior property tax...