WHAT IS A "SUPPLEMENTAL TAX" BILL.?

Lets say you buy a house in SF for $200,000. The seller had bought it a year earlier for $100,000.
So his tax bill was a bit over $1,000 per year, whereas yours will be a bit over $2,000.

This change could happen instantly, on the day the sale is recorded, and all could be neat and clean.

It is not like that. What happens: Aftter 9 months, or more, the SF Assessor Office gives the info to the Tax Collector "Here is the new assessed value, and here is the resultant tax bill for the next fiscal year, (starting July 1), so go generate tax bills, and collect.

Now, what about the time between when you became the new owner, and the time your regular tax bills start coming? That is what leads to "the Pickle Closet". The Tax Collector sends you a one time bill, callled a Supplemental Bill. If he sends it to a wrong address, such as to the property address in question, in the case of a rental property that you bought, he will eventually send you a warning letter(s) to that same address that got you in the Pickle Closet in the first place. The unpaid Supplemental will NEVER show up on any of your subsequent regular tax bills.... Not unless you are advised by some professional the there is an outstanding bill, will you discover that there is a pickle in the closet, for you.

How did the pro (realtor, accountant, lawyer, etc) know of the pickle.? They noted two little words, off to the side, in small print, not any part of the acounting of what you owe. Those two little words : "taxes defaulted". They just lie there, with no explanatory text, no clue that they are really a "silent alarm".