Tarrant Appraisal District to launch investigation into whether director used official position to submit a complaint against an individual

For nearly five years, Chandler Crouch, a real estate broker and tax consultant, has helped property owners protest their appraisal with the Tarrant Appraisal District. Just this year, Crouch says he has assisted nearly 28,000 homeowners so far — for free. But in November 2021, the real estate broker received a letter from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation about four complaints filed by someone at the Tarrant Appraisal District, stating that he misrepresented facts and abused his dual position as a property tax consultant and Realtor to “intentionally mislead members of the Tarrant Review Board.”

These four complaints are the district’s attempt to “silence me,” Crouch said. “I’m the guy that’s out there trying to help a bunch of people for free. And they’re trying to silence me, and it’s a matter of public concern,” Crouch said. The four complaints were signed by Randy Armstrong, director of residential appraisal. In the complaints, Armstrong wrote that Crouch was attempting to discredit TAD staff while presenting false information at the hearings. “Misrepresentations of fact in TARB hearings to achieve unwarranted value reductions by Mr. Crouch will likely continue only to promote his name and real estate brokerage. Mr. Crouch’s actions do in-fact create equity issues and inconsistent market values for all taxpayers in Tarrant County,” Armstrong wrote in one of the complaints. In the complaint, Armstrong states that Crouch was appraising homes for far lower value than what he sold them to his clients. Armstrong also states that Crouch has protested over 20,000 but appeared to protest in person for only 730 properties. For the remaining properties, sworn affidavits were filed with “more than 191,000 pages of evidence” that contain false testimony, according to Armstrong. The complaint letters submitted to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation are signed off with Armstrong’s official title as director of residential appraisal and lists his work email as a contact. The mailing envelope sent to the state licensing board also lists the appraisal district as the return address.