Black appraisers call out industry's racial bias and need for systemic change

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“It’s frustrating because even when you do your job or you may know the value of the community, somebody that's not from that community, a lot of times, they're not going to see the value,” says Michael Tidwell, a Black appraiser.

The appraisal industry continues to be criticized for racially based bias against Black homeowners, like in the case of awho after concealing her race received an appraisal value of more than double that of two previous appraisals where her race was known, according to the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, a nonprofit that filed a housing discrimination on the woman's behalf.

Since there are so few Black appraisers, it's not clear what impact diversity would have on the industry, Faber said, but he added that other research on the benefits of diversity in institutions does suggest that it could help alleviate some of the racial bias in individual appraisals even though there are bigger structural problems with the way that homes are appraised.

“As appraisers, we know there is a level of artistry and discernment when it comes to appraising,” she said. “There is some discretion given to an appraiser, so the industry being open to reconsidering how we think about this is important if we want to address some of the bias.” Much of the basis of these rebuttals is the idea that the appraisers assigned were not geographically competent, she said.“We have people who have no understanding of a neighborhood come into neighborhoods of color and they make their own assumptions. There are differences within Black neighborhoods, just like there are differences within white neighborhoods, and if you don't know the neighborhoods, you really shouldn't be in them, and you should not be making valuations, period.

Despite years of stagnation and even a failure to recognize the problems that exist within the real estate industry, there has been some movement on the issue of home appraisals.

 

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She is an appraiser, period, boycott NBC.

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