Mary Katheryn Bryant

I. Facts and Summary of Pleadings

The only issue in dispute is the value of the Property as of December 16, 2013, the date of the filing of Debtor’s voluntary Chapter 7 petition (the “Petition Date”). MCT asserts that the Property was worth $395,000 as of the Petition Date. MCT supports its valuation with the broker’s price opinion of Justin Bonney (the “BPO”). Debtor contends that the Property was worth $289,106 as of the Petition Date. Debtor’s valuation is based upon the Property’s 2013 tax assessment.

II. Findings and Conclusions

A. The Property Was Worth $395,000 as of the Petition Date The Court finds that the BPO provides a more reliable indication of the Property’s value than the 2013 tax assessment. In California, tax assessments provide limited insight into a Property’s value because assessed values cannot increase by more than 2% per year. See California Constitution, Art. XIIIA, § 2(b). An exception to this assessment limitation is that a change of ownership triggers a reassessment up to current appraised value. Id. at § 2(a). The Property was last sold on July 20, 2010. The sales price was $275,000. As a result of the 2% annual limit on increases in the assessment,…