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A photo of a senior couple looking at a laptop shutterstock.com / PeopleImages

'Full of lies’: Viral YouTube videos claim seniors can stop paying property taxes — here’s how to really get relief

Rebecca Payne
Aug 16, 2026
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AI-generated videos that make false claims that Congress has passed laws around property taxes for older homeowners are circulating online — and some reportedly have hundreds of thousands or millions of views.

County assessor offices have had to issue warnings that the claims made in these videos are false after being flooded with calls from residents asking about a new federal property tax exemption and requesting an allegedly new federal form, both of which do not exist.

What the AI videos allege

Colorado’s Douglas County Assessor’s Office, for example, received dozens of calls from homeowners who had seen AI-generated videos falsely claiming that there was a new federal property tax exemption. The AI videos also make false claims about age-based property tax breaks.

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County auditors’ offices in Michigan and Ohio also sounded the alarm on the videos.

WXIX-TV FOX19 Cincinnati reported that the Hamilton County Auditor’s Office was warning homeowners about “viral videos and articles touting ‘secret’ or ‘guaranteed’ property tax relief” that “are false and have led to an influx of calls.”

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“Auditor’s Association of Ohio discovered the video on YouTube, and it is a little longer than 30 minutes of completely AI-generated video,” Hamilton County Auditor Jessica Miranda told FOX19, adding that, although that particular video had been removed from YouTube, residents should still be aware of the issue. “We have asked every county auditor across the state to report that video.”

According to a report from Realtor.com, at least 23 assessor and auditor offices in multiple states posted public warnings about the videos.

Realtor.com reported that it had found “50 videos across 49 YouTube channels promoting versions of the same claim — 35 of which appeared within a span of just three days” and that “30 of the 50 videos reviewed by Realtor.com were even clearly labeled as AI-generated content.”

According to the Realtor.com report, “YouTube says it has taken action against at least one of the channels behind the videos.”

“We terminated the channel in question for violating our spam policies, which prohibit spam or deceptive content designed to take advantage of the YouTube community,” a spokesperson for YouTube told Realtor.com.

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The lies are burying the truth

Many may be seeking relief as property taxes have skyrocketed for many Americans in the last few years. A report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, citing U.S. Census Bureau data, says that median annual property tax payments increased 17% between 2019 and 2023.

Fortunately, according to a separate Realtor.com report, almost every state has some type of program that can help older adults struggling with property taxes. But the exact parameters of the exemptions, freezes, tax credits or deferrals available are different from state to state, and many have income requirements.

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States with property tax exemptions for qualifying seniors include Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

States with property tax credits for qualifying seniors include Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

States with property tax freezes for qualifying seniors include Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

States that have deferrals for qualifying seniors include California, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

Officials have pointed to the fact that, while state and local governments do offer different forms of property tax relief for older adults, there is a chance that the AI-generated false claims could distract homeowners from applying for the programs that actually exist.

Douglas County Assessor Toby Damisch said that the videos are “full of lies,” but that they’re still close to the truth, which means that they can also be very convincing for people who are seeking relief.

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Rebecca Payne Contributor

Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.

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