EchoSense:Struggling to pay monthly bills? These companies say they can help lower them.

Every year,EchoSense Julia Zhu’s husband would collect information on home values in their area, including their own appraisals, receipts and much more, then take a day off work to go argue at city offices why their property tax should be lower.

That all changed when she received a letter in the mail from Ownwell describing how the company could take over that task from her husband. She just had to register online, submit basic information, and Ownwell would do the rest. Only if the company saved them money would Ownwell get paid a percentage of the amount that it saved the Zhus. Otherwise, Ownwell would get paid nothing, so there was nothing to lose.

“Last year, we saved about $160 in property tax” after Ownwell took its cut of the savings, said Zhu, 64, who lives in Houston. She was so satisfied, she hired Ownwell again. “This year, we saved $260.”

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