Black home owners get lower appraisals than white owners.

Climber

Climber

Well-known member
Black Homeowners Face Discrimination in Appraisals
Abena and Alex Horton wanted to take advantage of low home-refinance rates brought on by the coronavirus crisis. So in June, they took the first step in that process, welcoming a home appraiser into their four-bedroom, four-bath ranch-style house in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Hortons live just minutes from the Ortega River, in a predominantly white neighborhood of 1950s homes that tend to sell for $350,000 to $550,000. They had expected their home to appraise for around $450,000, but the appraiser felt differently, assigning a value of $330,000. Ms. Horton, who is Black, immediately suspected discrimination.

The couple’s bank agreed that the value was off and ordered a second appraisal. But before the new appraiser could arrive, Ms. Horton, a lawyer, began an experiment: She took all family photos off the mantle. Instead, she hung up a series of oil paintings of Mr. Horton, who is white, and his grandparents that had been in storage. Books by Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison were taken off the shelves, and holiday photo cards sent by friends were edited so that only those showing white families were left on display. On the day of the appraisal, Ms. Horton took the couple’s 6-year-old son on a shopping trip to Target, and left Mr. Horton alone at home to answer the door.
Click to expand...
Sickening. This is that hidden racism that exists in this country.
 
Blankpage

Blankpage

alien
Might have actually gained from it if they were not planning to sell. Wouldn’t they pay lower taxes on a lower appraised home.
 
Blankpage

Blankpage

alien
Yeah I reckon it didn’t help in that regard but depending on the tax rate the lower tax liability may have offset the difference.

The city kept reassessing my place higher and higher every year beyond what it was worth on the market. I scheduled a hearing with them where I had to appear in from of a panel to make my case why it would never sell for their assessed amount. They dropped it by $100K
The neighbours were pissed but in my hood the cities assessed value hold no weight when it comes to selling. The city just wanted more tax revenue.
 
byke

byke

Well-known member
Just need to state the somewhat obvious here, which is that this case of discrimination is one area where we see systemic racism materialize. Where thoughts turn into actions, even if it's not consciously malicious. Conveyance of racism isn't just in the form of a physical assault, which is the most obvious and least common. Most common is like what we see here in this case and quite often it's subconscious. This type of stuff is going to linger for a looooooong time.
 
Last edited:
Climber

Climber

Well-known member
The thing I'm wondering is whether the auditor applied racism or whether it was a program that included a box for race and it was the programming that factored in race as part of the calculation.
 
Mike95060

Mike95060

Work In Progress
byke said:
Just need to state the somewhat obvious here, which is that this case of discrimination is one area where we see systemic racism materialize. Where thoughts turn into actions, even if it's not consciously malicious. Conveyance of racism isn't just in the form of a physical assault, which is the most obvious and least common. Most common is like what we see here in this case and quite often it's subconscious. This type of stuff is going to linger for a looooooong time.
Click to expand...

Which is exactly why it needs to be shown and talked about. Especially in lily white social circles.
 
Climber

Climber

Well-known member
Read the story, she posted on facebook and got feedback from many other people who experienced similar things,
 
Killroy1999

Killroy1999

Well-known member
No doubt, racism is real.

I would still like to know more and I am not sure if I agree with some parts of article:

"Appraisals, by nature, are subjective."

Is it? I thought it was more objective by $/square foot and sampling like homes in your neighborhood. This is probably unethical by the appraiser, but I even told an appraiser what part of the neighborhood to avoid and what my price target is.

A appraiser gets paid by report, they have no incentive to put a high or low value on the report unless the bank calls BS. Right?

Also, you can do research with a Facebook post.

When you get a appraisal, you get a report of how it was done and you may be able to pick out the problem.
 
Last edited:
stangmx13

stangmx13

not Stan
Mike95060 said:
Housing is ground zero for systemic racism.
Click to expand...

especially because it already exists historically. its sad the article had to call out that the owners live in a "predominantly white neighborhood". of course, that just makes the result (of racism) even more apparent.
 
JesasaurusRex

JesasaurusRex

Deleted User
Blankpage said:
Yeah I reckon it didn’t help in that regard but depending on the tax rate the lower tax liability may have offset the difference.

The city kept reassessing my place higher and higher every year beyond what it was worth on the market. I scheduled a hearing with them where I had to appear in from of a panel to make my case why it would never sell for their assessed amount. They dropped it by $100K
The neighbours were pissed but in my hood the cities assessed value hold no weight when it comes to selling. The city just wanted more tax revenue.
Click to expand...

had a very similar experience that I won't bore the masses with
now i just pay a lawyer to do it for me since they've made it such a hassle
sucks, but cheaper than the increases they keep looking for
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top