Jim, I'm curious what square footage the appraiser has in his appraisal. Do you recall getting a copy of the appraisal and/or ever looking it over before you amde the purchase?

And Patrick's right below, the standard contract states that if square footage is of a material concern to you, it is your job to check it. Not your agent's, or the appraiser's, but yours.

However, if the seller intentionally mis-represented the square footage, you might have a case. Probably not, but you might. Not being a lawyer, I'd think you'd need to prove the seller's intent to mis-represent, which certainly would be difficult.

Personally, I know of many houses in which the assessor has fumble fingered the square footage of a house. It's sadly all too common.

Jim,

Just checking:

Have you measured it yourself? The records are not always correct in the tax records. Also, if you got a loan to buy your property, how did your appraiser measure your property? 1350 SF or 1560 SF? If there would have been a big difference, the appraiser and/or your Real Estate agent most likely would have caught it.

In the future, always have your agent measure the home as well and check the appraisal report before closing as well.

Well you are getting money back from the assessor. That`s something.

18 months ago your resale contract had you initial a box that said. If the square footage is important to you. You will verify it.
Another little ditty is
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Buyer to verify all information.

Now you could file a complaint with the Realtor board. If it was listed in the records as 1560 Sq ft over 18 months ago before the listing was active. Than the listing agent just took the info off of the records.
If the listing agent is guilty it will show.

Records are wrong, I have seen a few homes which included the Garage, because they measure from the outside and did not deduct the garage in the end. Bad Builder?, Bad Assessor? who knows who did it. Most of the bad records happened in the seventies, and eighties

Good luck.

Were you represented by a Realtor for your purchase? Part of a Realtor's job is to point out to their buyer any discrepancies between the tax record and the listing. If it's any consolation, tax records aren't always correct and in fact are often in error. The only way to know for sure is to have the property measured by an appraiser. I hope it turns out for the better!