Thousands of Richmond residents sent real estate tax bills in error due to data import issue

Last week, thousands of Richmond homeowners unexpectedly received real estate tax bills typically sent to mortgage lenders. The issue stems from a data import error that occurred during the City of Richmond’s real estate billing process.

The City’s Department of Finance confirmed that over 33,000 taxpayer records failed to import correctly during its biannual update from mortgage lenders. These incomplete records lacked the necessary data to associate individual taxpayers with their mortgage lenders. As a result, many property owners directly received “2025 Second Half Real Estate Tax Bills” that would normally be paid through escrow accounts.

The disruption occurred after an upgrade to the MUNIS system, the software used to manage the City’s real estate tax billing. The first-half tax billing earlier this year used the old version of MUNIS and processed without issue. The second-half billing, however, was handled under the upgraded system, and that’s when the import failure happened.

The City is now working with MUNIS to determine the root cause of the problem. In the coming days, officials plan to reimport, check, and verify all mortgage lender data. Once corrected, new bills will be issued to mortgage companies.

What you should do

• If your mortgage lender usually pays your tax bill and you received a bill directly, contact your lender to ensure they will handle payment.

• If you normally pay your own bill, you must pay by June 16.

• If you already paid the bill and your lender ends up paying it too, the City will credit your account. You can also request a refund by calling 311.

• If you received a bill for a property you no longer own, log into your online account to cancel any scheduled electronic payment, or call 311 for help.

• If you didn’t get a bill, check your online account or contact 311.

The Department of Finance is also implementing new standard operating procedures, staff training, and review processes to prevent future errors. Additional system updates may follow depending on the outcome of the ongoing investigation.

For questions or help with your bill, call 311.