team-member

Robert Gaines

Waltham, MA

Licensed for 44 years

Law Degree

Awards

Primary Practice Area

Tax Law

Language

English

About

Robert J. Gaines, Esq. is a practicing attorney and principal of Robert J. Gaines, Attorney At Law and Ridgefield Valuation in Waltham, MA, which concentrate on ad valorem law and property tax representation. He has had extensive experience filing, and negotiating property tax abatements on behalf of commercial and industrial property owners before local Massachusetts assessors, and has provided legal representation in over 4,000 property tax appeals before local Board of Assessors and the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board. He handles all types of commercial property tax matters includng office, retail, industrial and large residential cases. He has a particular speciality in affordable housing property tax matters, and property's affected by environmental contamination. Prior to his work in this field, Attorney Gaines was an Assistant Attorney General in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Public Protection Bureau, and later was a General Partner for a Massachusetts real estate development company. Attorney Gaines prides himself on his high level of client attention and accessibility. He treats every appeal as if it was his most important case, and has an impeccable record of success in excess of 95%. His company Ridgefield Valuation, which represents clients at the local assessor level has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Language

English

Contact

Attorney at Law1077 Lexington StreetSte. 205Waltham, MA, 024521077 Lexington StreetSte. 205Ste. 205Waltham, MA, 02452

Office: N/A

Website: N/A

Reviews

David
December 29, 2015

Bob knows his field very well. He has handled multiple real estate tax appeals for me in three different cities over the last several years. In all but one case, each appeal was settled satisfactorily without going to the appellate tax board. We won the one that did go to the appellate tax board! He is reasonable and represented my organization with the cities in an evenhanded manner. I highly recommend him.

Chuck
December 20, 2015

I have utilized Bob's services since at least 2003. He has effectively reduced my RE Tax Bills at a myriad of types of properties in a number of Cities/Towns in MA. I am about to make a potential purchase of Residential Rental RE for which I know the RE Taxes are too low due to the property having only recently been completed. Bob has assisted me and my office in understanding the likely scenarios. I have had situation where Bob may not have had any experience with the Assessor's office in a particular town and he has welcomed the opportunity to lower (and succeeded in doing so) my RE Tax Expense. A couple of years back, I purchased a piece of cleared but generally undeveloped land. Bob detected that the undeveloped land was actually made up of two parcels. So he worked with us to split the land into two parcels and thus lowered the RE Tax Bill(s) for the undeveloped parcel(s). Beyond his experience and expertise, Bob is fun to work with.

Richard
December 15, 2015

Atty Gaines KNOWS his business. I have used him for a number of years specifically to analyze the taxes on various commercial properties, and to file for Abatements when appropriate. He is the best I've seen at this work. I wouldn't consider using anyonelse.

Dee
December 15, 2015

We've hired Mr. Gaines to do real estate tax abatements for our company several times. Usually I will file for the abatement myself but if I don't get a satisfactory offer from the town, I hire Mr. Gaines to pursue the abatement. I've never been disappointed in the results.

Alexandra
December 14, 2015

We use Bob for our Massachusetts real estate tax consulting work. He knows the localities, the players, and strategies to get the job done!

anonymous
December 11, 2015

Unlike other lawyers we attempted to work with on this case, Robert Gaines was able to clearly see the issues and validity of our case. He made it clear he would only take the case if he felt there was merit, but regardless made it clear we could still loose. He was able to work directly with the assessor to come to a much more reasonable assessment. We were pleased with the outcome. Mr. Gaines was a good communicator and always professional. We highly recommend his services.

David
December 29, 2015

Bob knows his field very well. He has handled multiple real estate tax appeals for me in three different cities over the last several years. In all but one case, each appeal was settled satisfactorily without going to the appellate tax board. We won the one that did go to the appellate tax board! He is reasonable and represented my organization with the cities in an evenhanded manner. I highly recommend him.

Chuck
December 20, 2015

I have utilized Bob's services since at least 2003. He has effectively reduced my RE Tax Bills at a myriad of types of properties in a number of Cities/Towns in MA. I am about to make a potential purchase of Residential Rental RE for which I know the RE Taxes are too low due to the property having only recently been completed. Bob has assisted me and my office in understanding the likely scenarios. I have had situation where Bob may not have had any experience with the Assessor's office in a particular town and he has welcomed the opportunity to lower (and succeeded in doing so) my RE Tax Expense. A couple of years back, I purchased a piece of cleared but generally undeveloped land. Bob detected that the undeveloped land was actually made up of two parcels. So he worked with us to split the land into two parcels and thus lowered the RE Tax Bill(s) for the undeveloped parcel(s). Beyond his experience and expertise, Bob is fun to work with.

Richard
December 15, 2015

Atty Gaines KNOWS his business. I have used him for a number of years specifically to analyze the taxes on various commercial properties, and to file for Abatements when appropriate. He is the best I've seen at this work. I wouldn't consider using anyonelse.

Dee
December 15, 2015

We've hired Mr. Gaines to do real estate tax abatements for our company several times. Usually I will file for the abatement myself but if I don't get a satisfactory offer from the town, I hire Mr. Gaines to pursue the abatement. I've never been disappointed in the results.

Alexandra
December 14, 2015

We use Bob for our Massachusetts real estate tax consulting work. He knows the localities, the players, and strategies to get the job done!

anonymous
December 11, 2015

Unlike other lawyers we attempted to work with on this case, Robert Gaines was able to clearly see the issues and validity of our case. He made it clear he would only take the case if he felt there was merit, but regardless made it clear we could still loose. He was able to work directly with the assessor to come to a much more reasonable assessment. We were pleased with the outcome. Mr. Gaines was a good communicator and always professional. We highly recommend his services.

David
December 29, 2015

Bob knows his field very well. He has handled multiple real estate tax appeals for me in three different cities over the last several years. In all but one case, each appeal was settled satisfactorily without going to the appellate tax board. We won the one that did go to the appellate tax board! He is reasonable and represented my organization with the cities in an evenhanded manner. I highly recommend him.

Chuck
December 20, 2015

I have utilized Bob's services since at least 2003. He has effectively reduced my RE Tax Bills at a myriad of types of properties in a number of Cities/Towns in MA. I am about to make a potential purchase of Residential Rental RE for which I know the RE Taxes are too low due to the property having only recently been completed. Bob has assisted me and my office in understanding the likely scenarios. I have had situation where Bob may not have had any experience with the Assessor's office in a particular town and he has welcomed the opportunity to lower (and succeeded in doing so) my RE Tax Expense. A couple of years back, I purchased a piece of cleared but generally undeveloped land. Bob detected that the undeveloped land was actually made up of two parcels. So he worked with us to split the land into two parcels and thus lowered the RE Tax Bill(s) for the undeveloped parcel(s). Beyond his experience and expertise, Bob is fun to work with.

Richard
December 15, 2015

Atty Gaines KNOWS his business. I have used him for a number of years specifically to analyze the taxes on various commercial properties, and to file for Abatements when appropriate. He is the best I've seen at this work. I wouldn't consider using anyonelse.

Dee
December 15, 2015

We've hired Mr. Gaines to do real estate tax abatements for our company several times. Usually I will file for the abatement myself but if I don't get a satisfactory offer from the town, I hire Mr. Gaines to pursue the abatement. I've never been disappointed in the results.

Alexandra
December 14, 2015

We use Bob for our Massachusetts real estate tax consulting work. He knows the localities, the players, and strategies to get the job done!

anonymous
December 11, 2015

Unlike other lawyers we attempted to work with on this case, Robert Gaines was able to clearly see the issues and validity of our case. He made it clear he would only take the case if he felt there was merit, but regardless made it clear we could still loose. He was able to work directly with the assessor to come to a much more reasonable assessment. We were pleased with the outcome. Mr. Gaines was a good communicator and always professional. We highly recommend his services.