AvalonBay Communities, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles

INTRODUCTION

Appellant AvalonBay Communities, Inc., was assessed a 10 percent tax penalty after submitting a delinquent property tax payment. Avalon requested *893 that the Los Angeles County Tax Collector (Tax Collector) cancel the penalty under Revenue and Taxation Code section 4985.2 because the late payment was the result of an inadvertent employee error. The Tax Collector denied the request.

Avalon filed a petition for writ of mandate asserting that the Tax Collector had a mandatory duty to cancel the penalty pursuant to section 4985.2. Alternatively, the petition argued that Avalon was entitled to an evidentiary hearing before a neutral arbiter to determine whether it was entitled to cancellation.

The trial court held that section 4985.2 only permits the cancellation of a tax penalty if the delinquent payment was caused by an act outside the taxpayer’s control. The court further concluded that Avalon could not make such a showing because it admitted the late payment was caused by an employee error. The court also denied Avalon’s request for an administrative hearing, but ordered the Tax Collector to “issue an objective, written procedure by which the Tax…