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Welcome to the webpage I set up to help business owners file their claims and get their money back!!
Note the links to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and Case Status page at the top of this screen.
I’m Edward Teyssier and I’m attorney who successfully sued the City of San Diego in the Weisblat case and I want to help business owners get refunded all the City’s “Processing Fee” money owed to them.
Business Owners May File Claims
Against City for Charging Illegal “Fee.”
by Edward M. Teyssier, Attorney at Law
If you are the owner or manager of a business located within the City of San Diego, you have probably been paying an annual so-called “processing fee” on your city business tax. The City of San Diego instigated this “fee” starting in 2004 and, every year since, has levied it against landlords (anyone who owns even one rental property) as well as businesses. This “fee” was $25 when first imposed, but then lowered it to $15 shortly after the city was served with a lawsuit.
Recently, the Fourth District Court of Appeals has ruled that this City processing fee” is illegal, as it was imposed without a vote of the people, as required under California Constitution Article XIII C. (See, Weisblat, et. al., v. City of San Diego, (“Weisblat”), 176 Cal. App.4th 1022, August 18, 2009).
As a result of the Weisblat ruling, the City stopped collecting the fee from both businesses as well as landlords and has decided to refund fees paid to landlords, but only for fees paid within the last 12 months. The City has NOT decided to refund any money to businesses. This is wrong. The City should be issuing credits or refunds for ALL illegally imposed fees collected without regard as to who paid it or when. But apparently the City won’t refund it’s illegally gotten monies without some kind of pressure from the business-owners themselves.
But the business owners cannot sue the City unless and until the owners have filed a claim and had that claim rejected.
Therefore, the first step for business-owners who wish to get back their hard-earned money is to download a copy of the City’s claim form. Once the City receives the correctly completed claim form, the City can either pay what it thinks it owes or deny the claim. Hopefully, the claim will be paid, but that’s not likely because, firstly, completing the City’s form can be a bit tricky because the City’s form asks for data which is not relevant to filing a claim for a refund of illegally imposed taxes. Then the form has to be properly filed with the correct department at City Hall. Then the City can, instead of granting the claim, deny it on any sort of technicality. This means the owner would have to make the required corrections and re-file it. The City is probably expecting is that many owners will simply look at the form and decide it’s not worth the hassle before they even download it.
Even if the form is correctly completed and filed, the City can still deny the claim or pay only a pittance of what is owed. At that point, the claimant has the alternative of either filing a lawsuit or just giving up. The City is probably expecting that since the fee has only been $15 per year for the last several years, it is simply uneconomical to hire an attorney and file a suit.
This website is intended to address all those concerns and to help business owners get the money they deserve. The overall purpose of this website is to help business owners file their claims, and to present a unified front to demand that the City refund their money. Then, if the City still refuses, to have all the elements in place to file a class action lawsuit to force the City to refund.
There is a link below to a form, which the business owners will fill out, and the required data will be inserted into all the correct places on the City Claim form. Once the data has been correctly entered, all the forms will be downloaded by my law office and properly filed with the City. The City should then refund all the “processing fee” money paid by the business during at least the last 12 months, if not all the fees collected since 2004.
If the City denies their claims then those businesses will be able to join together, to be represented by me, into a lawsuit to force the City to disgorge its illegally imposed fees.
If you’re a business owner interested in stopping the City from charging and keeping illegal fees, then I urge you to file your claim. Please find the city in which your business is registered in the list below, and click the link to fill out the appropriate form.
Click on the "San Diego" link below to go to the Claims Form webpage to fill out your claim.
NOTICE IN ACCORDANCE WITH RULE 3-410 OF CALIF. RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2010 REQUIRING NOTIFICATION OF STATUS OF LEGAL MALPRACTICE INSURANCE: Edward Teyssier, Esq. does not carry any professional malpractice insurance.