Lone Star Tax Advisors 3730 Kirby Drive, Houston, TX 77098

"I'd love to edit this review and give a higher rating; however, I haven't received a single phone call from them since trying to reach out. I have called a total of 3 times with as many voicemails requesting to get in touch, but to no avail. I'd like to do business with this company, but so far I'm not able to!"

"Russell and his team are outstanding! Not only did they open a protest for me AFTER the protest deadline had passed, but they successfully lowered my assessment to a number which was even less than the 2018 contested amount (done by another firm). They are Houston based, professional, with great communication. I had an exceptional experience."

"They have been taking care of my property taxes for a couple years now. Great service!"

"I decided to look into having Lone Star represent me to protest my property taxes. This was in April of this year. I based my decision on the high recommendation of Lone Star from one resident in a neighborhood close to me. He posted it on Nextdoorcom and recommended the company repeatedly in other posts. I hadn't been happy with Texas ProTax the previous year--the tax reduction I'd received was very small. I should have paid attention to this red flag: it took repeated attempts to get someone from Lonestar to communicate with me after I paid my fee by going to the company website. I tried repeatedly to call, but no one returned my calls. Only when I sent an email to the company email address that verified they'd received my payment did I get a reply. I said I wanted my fee return if I hadn't heard from someone by a certain date.  Now, I got an email from an employee.  They preferred to go "paperless" (which I guess also meant "phone-less"),  he  emailed me. The company representative was named Manny. I asked him if he (or anyone else who would work on my case) had the time to devote to it. Also, did Lonestar advocate at the next level if the first attempt did not get my taxes reduced? He answered affirmatively to both. He asked me to submit a form authorizing the company to represent me. I'm still unpacking, so didn't yet have my scanner/fax set up. Could I mail the form? I asked in an email. I couldn't get a reply from Manny, so I looked up the company's address online. It was in Houston, not Austin (another red flag) so I mailed it there. After a week went by and Manny denied receiving it, I was able to get what he said was the correct mailing address, which was in Dallas. I emailed: doesn't the company have a way for mail received at the Houston address to get to Dallas? I could never get an answer.  I mailed the form to the Dallas address, but 2 weeks later, he said he still hadn't received it. Finally, with the help of a friend, I was able to get it scanned and I emailed it as an attachment. By now, a month had gone by, but Manny did finally email he'd received it. Now, Manny asked for proof that there was something wrong with the house: evidence of foundation damage, for example. I do have foundation damage but he said I had to have a professional examine the foundation and give me a written bid to fix it. I made multiple calls, but by now, I guess many people were trying to get bids, because I couldn't get anyone to come look at the damage before the deadline Manny had given me. I emailed him that I couldn't get a professional in the given time, but I would take pictures of the damage--where should I submit them? He told me to use the same email address. But the photos wouldn't upload there. Another week went by before he replied that there was another address to submit them to--that one wasn't able to handle large files like pictures. Another week before I got confirmation that he'd received the photos. By now, I knew this company wasn't going to adequately represent me. Clearly, it was too small a firm to spend time with me, and I was not a priority. But now, it was too late to find another attorney. Then, the most bizarre thing happened. I got the authorization form back in the mail. Not the first one--that was never returned. The one I'd mailed to Dallas. It was the correct address, the address Manny had given me. But all the address information I'd written had been carefully blacked out with a magic marker. I checked with the post office: no postal employee had done that. Someone at Lonestar had carefully blacked out the correct address information and written "return to sender" on it. Of course I was furious. It took more company time to return the letter than to read it! Why go to all that trouble? After the filing deadline--AFTER!--I received an email from Manny that there was nothing he could do to protest my property taxes. I insisted Lonestar credit my card for their fee, but I never heard anything back from anyone at the company."

"I recently worked with Lone Star Tax Advisors to protest property taxes at two homes in Houston (my main residence and a rental property). My experience with Lone Star was excellent. Here's why: - Fees - The service fees that Lone Star offered were based on a percentage of any property tax savings they were able to negotiate. Their percentage was substantially less than what I had seen from their competitors. This saved me significant amounts of money. - Efficiency - Only a single, brief phone call was required. They never contacted me for any additional information. Within a few months, I had received comprehensive reports from them detailing the property tax hearings and the results. It was extremely easy and required almost no work on my part whatsoever. - Results - Lone Star was able to reduce the appraised taxable value on my main residence by a substantial percentage. This will save me significant money, both at tax time this year and in years ahead. I was very surprised (pleasantly) at the reduction they were able to achieve. The results were excellent and made me wish I had signed up with them years ago. - Honesty - They were not able to negotiate a reduction in the taxable value of my rental property. They stated this clearly in their report, and they explained why. I appreciated their professional opinion on the matter and agree with it. Furthermore, there are no service fees to be paid when no tax reduction is achieved. At no cost to me, this process gave me confidence that my rental house property taxes were fair. - Payment System - After receiving the reports, I used their online payment system to settle my bill. Very easy and straight forward. Within minutes it was all taken care of. I am very pleased with Lone Star Tax Advisors. I plan to continue working with them in the future and I have been recommending them to my friends and coworkers as well."