This is a link to the original article written on Fort Worth Weekly. Skyrocketing property valuations, culture of deception, and baseless allegations. What's the worst that could happen? On June 10, 2022, I stood up early in the meeting to address the five-member board of the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD). I had come to inform the board that I would not allow any further attacks by Randy Armstrong, TAD's director of home valuation. It is clear as day that Armstrong, and by extension, TAD do not appear to be my supporters. Mainly because I devote most of my spare time to assisting residents to challenge their exorbitant property values. This pushed Armstrong to file a complaint against me. During the meeting, I stated that there is an item on the agenda regarding the letter that my attorney addressed to the board. There haven't been many information regarding what's going on up until now. Someone filed complaints against my licensure as a property tax consultant in October 2021. I initially dismissed the complaint as unfounded. But for the board, this becomes significant because of who filed the complaint and how Jeff Law, the chief appraiser, strongly supports it. I went on to say that an investigator with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) purportedly indicated that the complaints were made by TAD, not a TAD employee. Armstrong's use of TAD letterhead and the personal knowledge revealed in his accusations indicate that he is allegedly utilizing TAD resources. Despite the fact that the topic was just discussed and not voted on, the board members decided that Law should look into it, in spite of having been aware of the allegations since November and has done no action to curb Armstrong's alleged misbehavior. Law, who usually deals with personnel issues, agreed to oversee the probe. However, that is a conflict of interest according to Gary Losada, a former TAD member. For Losada, Law should not be allowed to probe his own activities due to a history of withholding embarrassing facts from the board, something we've heard before in the form of a whistleblower complaint. We revealed details from a series of anonymous letters purportedly written by one or more TAD employees a year ago ("Shining a Light on TAD," June 2021). Law was singled out by the whistleblower, who claimed that the top appraiser used his position to conceal software flaws that resulted in incorrect property tax estimates over the years. It pains me to know that TAD's board of directors declined to hold Law accountable for failing to handle significant claims like mine. TAD's leadership may have set the appraisal district on a road that would eventually force the board of directors to evaluate if maintaining Law as chief appraiser is worth the financial risk.

This is a link to the original article written on Texas Scorecard by Robert Montoya. Dropping truth bombs and getting to the bottom of the truth: Who filed a case against me and how deep are the layers of this complaint? We all cannot deny that our property tax system is broken. This have made me realize my calling to serve the community. In 2017, we served 322 homeowners. In 2021, we have helped more than 21,000. This is more than $10 million worth of services for free. We are exerting so much effort to make the people's voices be heard and fix our taxing system. So, I think it is fair to say that these accusations are completely baseless.On November 1, 2021, I received a letter from the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) about a complaint against me. This is crazy. The letter contained three complaints; they alleged that last year, I had “intentionally misled members of the Tarrant Appraisal Review Board” (TARB) when I protested values assigned to properties by TAD. In one case, it alleged that I also misled “Tarrant County taxpayers” and is making a “mockery of the current tax system.” Nowhere in the document did it identify who specifically filed these complaints. Initially, records obtained by Texas Scorecard show Armstrong used TAD's name and address in mailings. However, the assigned TDLR investigator admitted that Randall "Randy" Armstrong, the director of residential appraisal at TAD, had filed the complaint.  He also used taxpayer-funded tools to interact with TDLR, such as his TAD email address. He signed his emails in such a way that it appeared he was working on behalf of TAD in an official role. It is also concerning to know that if he received the materials while operating in his capacity as a district employee and not through a public information act request, there is a significant conflict. TAD was served with an open documents request by Texas Scorecard, demanding any requests from Armstrong to the district for the properties named in his complaints that occurred in 2020 and 2021. TAD responded, "The district has no records responsive to your PIA request." Armstrong's initial complaint was submitted online with TDLR on October 5, 2021, at 3:19 p.m., according to records. Armstrong worked eight hours that day, according to TAD records, and entered the building at 7:54 a.m. With a timestamp of 3:06 p.m. on October 19, 2021, the second complaint was submitted. He worked 6.5 hours that day, with 1.5 hours given to sick leave to assist his mother, according to TAD records. He initially arrived on TAD property at 9:31 a.m., according to records. The date the third complaint was filed is unknown based on TDLR documents. With a timestamp of 11:36 a.m. on December 22, 2021, the fourth and last complaint was submitted. Armstrong worked eight hours that day, according to TAD records, and initially entered TAD at 7:53 am. On June 10, 2022, I confronted the TAD board and asked the following: Was it the Tarrant Appraisal District? Was it Randy Armstrong? How much does Jeff Law support this complaint? I told them that if I’m guilty, there are an army of people here that are guilty as well, and there’s a big problem that somebody didn’t speak up until this complaint was filed. If I’m innocent, what is the Tarrant Appraisal District okay with? Are they okay with the fact that somebody filed that complaint knowingly? Did Mr. Law know that this complaint was filed? Matthew Tepper, the board's attorney replied that TAD did not file it and nobody who had the authority of the appraisal district to file the complaint did it. Law stated that he has not seen the complaints and that is the first time he has seen a portion of the complaints. He later altered his mind, claiming that it wasn't until open records requests were submitted that he discovered the TAD address had been used on TDLR envelopes, and that Armstrong had signed them "Director of Residential Appraisal." He added that Armstrong had filed the complaint on his own and he did not direct Armstrong to submit a complaint against you. It is clear that TAD's lack of action on this implicates them. The board resolved to discuss the topic in closed session, which will be held in two months. I sincerely hope that we can all get to the bottom of this so we can all unite to serve the community.