Appraisals

Recently, issues of fair housing concerns in the appraisal process has been receiving national attention. Please also visit our Lending or Sales pages for more info.

Government Guidance & Resources:

• Appraisal Review and Reconsideration of Value Updates, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, May 1, 2024 (Rescinded June 27, 2025)
• Statement on Examination Principles Related to Valuation Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, February 12, 2024
• Action Plan to Advance Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, March 24, 2022 (Rescinded June 27, 2025)
• CFPB Small Business Advisory Review Panel for Automated Valuation Model (AVM) Rulemaking, February 23, 2022
• DOJ Statement of Interest in Austin, et al v. Miller, et al., February 14, 2022
• Appraisal discrimination is illegal under federal law, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, February 4, 2022

News Stories of Interest:

• Mixed-Race Couple Sues U.S. Bank, Ohio Appraiser for ‘Whitewashed’ Home Valuation Spike, National Mortgage News, February 29, 2024
• Our America: LOWBALLED, ABC News, December 2, 2022
• Owner: $472,000. With a White Owner: $750,000. The New York Times, August 25, 2022
• Black Homeowners Are Getting Lower Appraisals Than White Neighbors, Newsy/Scripps News Group, February 2, 2022
• Black couple says home value was underestimated by half a million dollars because of their race, CBS News, December 8, 2021
• This Black family’s home appraisal grew by $92,000 after they removed all signs of their race, WCPO Cincinnati, August 19, 2021
• ‘Present-day redlining’: A Black homeowner says her Oakland property was undervalued by $400K, San Francisco Chronicle, July 23, 2021
• When My Home Appraisal Came Back Low, I Realized We Need to Change the System, Good Housekeeping, June 2, 2021
• No Diversity: 96.5% Of U.S. Appraisers Are White, Matrix Blog, May 18, 2021
• After she concealed her race, Black Indianapolis owner’s home value more than doubled, NBC News NOW, May 17, 2021
• When a Black homeowner concealed her race, her home’s appraisal value doubled, CNN, May 19, 2021
• Racial Inequality In How Chicago-Area Homes Are Valued Is Increasing, WBEZ Chicago, May 17, 2021
• ‘Missing Out’: Homes In Black Neighborhoods Undervalued By $46,000 on Average, Economist Says, Atlanta Black Star, April 27, 2021
• Black East Oakland homeowner beats system after lowballed $155K in appraisal, ABC7News, March 30, 2021
• What It Will Take to Close the Race Gap in Home Appraisals, Bloomberg CityLab, March 3, 2021
• The Black Tax: Race and Housing, WRBC, February 25, 2021
• Home appraisals drive America’s racial wealth gap — 95% of Philly’s appraisers are white., Cherelle L. Parker, Ira Goldstein, & Gregory D. Squires, WHYY PBS, February 25, 2021
• Black couple lowballed by $500K in appraisal, believe race a factor, ABC7News, February 12, 2021
• For black homeowners, a common conundrum with appraisals, Washington Post, January 21, 2021
• Black homeowner, 2 appraisals, $62,000 difference, Chicago Sun-Times, October 7, 2020
• A Neighborhood’s Race Affects Home Values More Now Than in 1980, CityLab, September 21, 2020
• Black Homeowners Face Discrimination in Appraisals, New York Times, August 25, 2020

Reports of Interest:

• Governing the ascendancy of automated valuation models – Regulating AI in residential property valuation, Brookings, October 12, 2023
• Discrimination in Home Lending and Appraisals: Challenges for Black Homebuyers in Massachusetts, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, March 30, 2023
• Appraised: The Persistent Evaluation of White Neighborhoods as More Valuable Than Communities of Color, Junia Howell, Ph.D. and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Ph.D., November 2, 2022
• Mystery-Shopper Testing In Home Appraisals Exposes Racial Bias Undermining Black Wealth, NCRC, October 2022.
• Groundbreaking Report Identifies Bias and Systemic Barriers in Real Estate Appraisals, National Fair Housing Alliance, January 19, 2022
• Reducing Valuation Bias by Addressing Appraiser and Property Valuation Commentary, FHFA, December 14, 2021
• Racial and Ethnic Valuation Gaps In Home Purchase Appraisals, Freddie Mac, September 20, 2021
• Property Valuation, Appraisals, and Racial Wealth Disparities, Gregory D. Squires and Ira Goldstein, Poverty & Race, Vol. 30, No. 2, May – August 2021
• The Price of Racial Bias: Homes in Black Neighborhoods Are Valued at an Average of $46,000 Less Than Similar Homes in White Neighborhoods, Redfin, May 3, 2021
• Housing Gains Could Increase Black Wealth More than Half a Trillion Dollars by 2031, Zillow, April 26, 2021
• America’s Housing Inequality and the Racial Wealth Divide, Clever, April 26, 2021
• How Automated Valuation Models Can Disproportionately Affect Majority Black Neighborhoods, Michael Neal, Sarah Strochak, Linna Zhu, and Caitlin Young, Urban Institute, 2020
• The Increasing Effect of Neighborhood Racial Composition on Housing Values, 1980–2015, Junia Howell & Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, September 4, 2020
• The devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods, Andre Perry, Jonathan Rothwell, & David Harshbarger, Brookings, November 2018
• Housing Discrimination and the Appraisal Industry, Robert G. Schwemm, Chapter 12 of the Mortgage Lending, Racial Discrimination, and Federal Policy, 1996

Cases of Interest:

• U.S. v. Rocket Mortgage, Solidifi, Maverick Appraisal Group (2024)
• Connolly and Mott v. Lanham, et al. (2022)
• Austin, et al. v. Miller, et al., Statement of Interest by the U.S. Department of Justice, February 12, 2022
• Redacted v. JPMorgan Chase (2021)
• Swanson v. CitiBank (2010)
• U.S. v. American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers (1976)

If you feel you may have been discriminated against in a home appraisal, please contact the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana or the local fair housing organization in your area.