APPRAISALS

Recently, issues around fair housing violations and appraisals have been receiving more national attention. Below are items of interest. The FHCCI is continuing to investigate this topic and will add more items as identified. Please also visit our Lending or Sales Pages for more info.

HUD/FEDERAL GUIDANCE:

• Appraisal Review and Reconsideration of Value Updates, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, May 1, 2024
• 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
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Outlines Options To Prevent Algorithmic Bias In Home Valuations, February 23, 2022
• DOJ Statement of Interest, February 14, 2022
• Appraisal discrimination is illegal under federal law, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, February 4, 2022
• FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Build Black Wealth and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap, White House, June 1, 2021

NEWS STORIES OF INTEREST:

• Mixed-Race Couple Sues U.S. Bank, Ohio Appraiser for ‘Whitewashed’ Home Valuation Spike, bnn, 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, 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
• 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)
• United States v. American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers (1976)

FHCCI VIDEOS OF INTEREST:

• History of Redlining
• History of Real Estate Sales Discrimination in Indianapolis
• Reverse Redlining 101
• 8 Modern Day Forms of Lending Discrimination
• Our America: LOWBALLED, ABC News, December 2, 2022

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.