---
title: "Missing HOA fee or property taxes? (B1124-026)"
description: "What a $0 note means, how to find the real figure, and when the tax field is locked."
url: https://homes-support.padzilly.com/en/articles/3-missing-hoa-fee-or-property-taxes-b1124-026
collection: "Using Padzilly"
updated: 2026-10-01
language: en
alternates: [es]
---

# Missing HOA fee or property taxes? (B1124-026)

What a $0 note means, how to find the real figure, and when the tax field is locked.

Sometimes a listing reports **$0** for the HOA fee or for property taxes. Padzilly tells you when that happens, because both figures go into your qualification — and a missing one makes a home look more affordable than it is.

You will see a note on the property:

-   **"This listing shows $0 HOA fee."**
    
-   **"This listing shows $0 in property taxes."**
    

* * *

### Why these two matter so much

**HOA fees.** Condominiums, townhouses and homes in planned communities usually carry one. Your lender counts it as part of your monthly obligation, exactly like the mortgage. A $450 fee that is missing from the listing is $450 of qualification you do not actually have.

**Property taxes.** An annual bill that varies enormously by county. It is also part of the lender's calculation. A home reporting $0 in taxes is almost never a home with no taxes — it is a home whose tax figure did not make it into the MLS record.

So a $0 on either one does not mean "free". It means "unknown", and an unknown counted as zero flatters the payment.

* * *

### How to find the real numbers

**For the HOA fee:**

-   **Call the listing agent.** Fastest and most reliable. They know whether there is an association and what it costs.
    
-   **Look at another listing in the same subdivision.** If a neighbouring home shows a fee, yours almost certainly has one too.
    

**For property taxes:**

-   **Call the listing agent.** They should have the annual figure.
    
-   **Check the county property appraiser's website.** Most counties let you look up a property by address or parcel number, and the tax record is public.
    
-   **Estimate at 1% of the value.** If you cannot verify it any other way, 1% is the conservative rule of thumb. Lenders need some number, and a slightly high estimate is far safer than a zero.
    

* * *

### Putting the right numbers into Padzilly

Open **OfferPro** on that property. You can type the real figures in and watch the payment and the qualification update.

**The HOA fee you can always edit.** Put in what the association actually charges.

**The tax figure you can usually edit — but not always.** If your lender has set a minimum qualifying property tax and that rule is being applied to this home, the field is locked and Padzilly tells you why: _Property taxes are locked because your lender's minimum qualifying property tax is being used. This amount cannot be reduced._

When that happens you will also see **"Alternate min. tax used for qualifying"** in the payment breakdown.

**This is a protection, not a malfunction.** Your lender decided that a suspiciously low tax figure should be replaced with a realistic minimum when deciding what you qualify for — which is exactly what their underwriter will do later. Padzilly shows you the number that will actually be used, not the optimistic one. You cannot lower it because your lender would not lower it.

If you are on a practice or demo account, both fields are read-only.

* * *

### The real fix: get your approval into Padzilly

All of this works better when your loan officer has uploaded your approval. Then Padzilly applies your real loan parameters — your rate, your loan type, your limits and your lender's own tax rules — to every property you look at, instead of estimating.

It is the difference between a search that shows you homes you might afford and a search that shows you homes you qualify for.

* * *

### The habit worth keeping

Whenever you get serious about a specific house, verify the HOA fee and the tax bill before you make an offer, even if the listing shows numbers. Listings carry errors in both directions, and these two line items move a monthly payment more than almost anything else you can control.