Mary may well be the best researcher around on the properties involved in all the false bias claims cases. She’s VERY thorough!

And…………….. Now they’re trolling and doxxing. What a class act.

Baggs, Colorado Law has zero force in California.

My understanding (after a lot of research) is that size (GLA) was significantly increased for 2nd appraisal. Roughly 1800sf to 3000+-sf. There were no sales of similar-sized improvements in the neighborhood (you’d have to look at a map to understand why…bit of a peninsula) .

Going out of the area was not unreasonable given the size increase (IF it was a legal living area—which is still uncertain) The biggest issue I’ve been told /learned appears to be two different sizes and progress points for in-process renovations and remodeling. There was a significant gap in time between the two appraisals.

The bottom line, without a copy of each, no one can possibly know who was right or wrong; OR if an actual value discrepancy ever existed as the property existed on each date.

were, not we’re It would be nice to see both and know the market well enough to make a judgment as to which is closer to market value at the time of the first appraisal.

A nonprofit fair-housing legal advocacy group that brought the federal lawsuit with the homeowners announced a settlement deal with AMC Links LLC, a Utah-based appraisal management company named in the December 2021 federal lawsuit brought by homeowners Tenisha and Paul Tate-Austin. Terms of the agreement are confidential.

But the case is ongoing against the other defendants — appraiser Janette Miller and her San Rafael company, Miller and Perotti Real Estate Appraisals Inc. of San Rafael, according to Caroline Peattie, executive director of Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California.

“We are in the discovery phase now, and the case is set for trial for fall of 2023,” Peattie told the Business Journal in an email Wednesday.

https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/firm-named-in-marin-county-real-estate-appraisal-bias-lawsuit-gets-settleme/

Mike, right on the money again.

This is the best response piece to date that I have read:
https://appraisersblogs.com/refuting-the-negative-race-bated-accusations
Ten thumbs up for American Enterprise Institute on this excellent presentation.

I have become the king of run on sentences and grammatically incorrect use of paragraph spacing. A consequence of typing too fast. Old mechanic hands smoking these buttons, with an actual cigarette and cup of coffee on the side. Picture me with the cig in mouth, eyes squinting, and utilizing a keyboard with robotic accuracy like some sci fi novel. If you happen to hear of me yelling at computer screens when nobody is around, that’ means I’m blogging.

Mike, I do hope they get somewhere with libel or false accusation, whatever they are doing. People need to learn they can’t make all sorts of false accusations about total strangers without consequences. Journalism is supposed to be a check to power, not a boot stomp to the face of innocent people.

Thank you.

Baggs! Paragraphs my man.

In one case that cannot be further identified there absolutely is an intent to sue the accusers AND the media that falsely reported known incorrect information as true, resulting in death threats to the appraiser(s) involved.

2. At the time of the first appraisal there was unpermitted work in progress. Specifically unpermitted additions were being made in a downslope, subterranean area that under ANSI would not today even be considered a living area.

3. When the couple was interviewed in a televised news article the repairs/ renovations appeared to have been completed.

4. Without either appraiser being deficient, it is absolutely possible that an ‘as is’ (FNMA requires ‘as is’) appraisal result for 1500sf to 2000 of using local comparable sales was proper. It is also possible that a subsequent appraisal employing a hypothetical condition of completion could have considered the living area to be double (or at least significantly larger) to the extent that no immediate area sales were available in that size range and broadened market area consideration to the adjacent higher-priced area could have been warranted. Its also possible that the second appraiser (pre-ANSI mandatory adoption) may have included an unpermitted subterranean area or its possible after-the-fact permits may have been obtained after the first appraisal. There are so many reasons the values could have differed with neither appraiser doing anything wrong.

5. Then there is always the possibility that either one or both appraisers were simply wrong in their opinions. No evidence has been presented to suggest this.

Mary Cummings, a Los Angeles-based appraiser has researched this and most of the other cases in which appraiser bias has been alleged. I have done the same to the extent feasible (based on Mary’s initial research).

6. This (and each of the other cases) are tied to another issue which is being conflated with falsely alleged ‘low values’. That is the issue whereby certain activism groups are pushing for reparations for conditions that existed after slavery yet before the Civil Rights Act or Fair Housing Act (1964 & 1968) respectively.

The current contention is that systemic racism (in all aspects of American life) caused ‘devaluation’ in Black neighborhoods that did not happen anywhere else in America.

100% ignored is the impact of decades of Affirmative Action or communities that went far out of their way to create and preserve diverse (mixed race) communities. The Leadership Homes area of Carson CA is one such example.

Also ignored is the impact of a crime arising from disproportionate numbers of crimes by black (nonfatal and fatal crimes) relative to their population representation. (U.S. Dept. of Justice https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/revcoa18.pdf

The truth is that people (of all races) choose to live where it is safer and typically pay a premium for living in such areas… regardless of races found there). Also, WHY do all the referenced ‘studies’ supporting racism claims ignore the Asian community? They compare Latino & White & Black areas. Apparently Asians never buy, sell or refinance real estate.

Pandering by the United States President, and now PC pandering by authors of currently pending proposed draft legislation (Latinx advocates) demonstrate the issue is not really about appraisers’ bias. For the record, my part Mexican daughter is not Latinx. She is biracially & culturally a Latina… or white-whichever SHE prefers (angle-European and mestizo (Spanish-Indian-Mexican-weighted to the Mexican Indigenous side more than White Spanish)). Chicana is also acceptable. LatinX is not.

Even Marc Morial of the Urban League was careful (& honest) enough to stress the belief is not that appraisers are biased, but rather the methods used to reflect some forms of systemic bias.

HUD is charged with enforcing the Fair Housing Act. Yet it was their very own FHA in 1934 that promoted segregation and racism in housing valuation. I question whether the parent organization of the federal agency that published and promoted racist guidelines is the best investigator. It’s odd they never brought out their own contribution to the official systemic racism that President Biden confessed to on America’s behalf. Without the concurrence of America itself.

Couple the pandering with outfits like Black Knight wanting to sell THEIR garbage AVM services as an alternative to human appraisers, and the interesting fact that one of the first racial bias complainants was Black Knight’s very own Corporate Counsel… and the recently announced news that Black Knight is current entertaining buy out offers & we find that not all is as it appears.

Add in self-interest advocacy groups whose funding and existence are tied to finding causes to fight, or an author known as an activist author (Julian Glover) that cannot easily be reached to rebut his findings, and racist books by Dr. Perry (Brookings Inst.) and it is no surprise that America has lost all trust in the appraisal profession today.

That is even before the dissatisfaction many logically feel after losing a deal because the appraised value wasn’t inflated.

The judge obviously had their (gender-neutral) own legal reasons for allowing this case to go forward. I can only hope it was the objective pursuit of truth & actual law as opposed to interpretive ‘social equity activism law’ that prompted the decision.

I hope appraisers will reach out to the law firm handling the accused’s case as professional experts and cite legitimate appraisal theory, principles, laws, and guidelines that relate to the known aspects of this case.

Thank you. No, I am staying two degrees away if possible. It’s why I never even take credit here, post under a pen name. Baggins, the little fellow whom shows surprising resilience to the forces of evil. One presumes that the person this is happening to is well aware of the limited news and blog sites detailing. I’m no expert, I just blog for kicks.

Our home has excessive deferred maintenance after having ran over a decade of cost savings by simply ignoring the issues. It’s an interesting strategy, let the kids and time itself run things down then when it’s time to sell, remodel and present as shiny new. And now if we want to move, the bill is due. If anyone knows of appraisers whom are so bold as to over value my home, please let me know! That is truly mission impossible. I can’t even find a plumber to install the classic hot and cold shower controls separate, as in our state there are silly regulations these have to be combined items for water saving. I miss the old days of running the hot on super low and hardly any cold, we used to use less water with separate controls, hot water lasted much longer, and we were more environmentally conscious. Now in order to get to hot, have to turn up the flow volume every time and then the restriction flow items always fail or fail to deliver to specs. I’m ready for a mist shower if that’s what it takes. For the life of me, despite having tried for many years I can’t even find a plumber to go off guidelines for this seemingly innocuous home improvement of having 2 water control handles rather than 1. Good luck to anyone thinking they can hire an appraiser to deliver pre determined reporting results based on skin color.

We also want solar, but not the kind they’re pandering today. We want this truly 100% recyclable metallurgy based solar instead. This has got to be one of the most interesting magazines I’ve ever ran across. It’s called low tech magazine. This guy scours over 100 year old scientific publications and brings history to life. It’s really interesting.
https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2021/10/how-to-build-a-low-tech-solar-panel.html

Bodies of rich information like that are available at our fingertips. As the bureaucrats continue to waste time and money in an effort to find someone else to blame for all the problems their government predecessors caused. The best way to stay insulated from government, is to stay insulated from government. I hope they waste a lot of money on this appraisers are racist thing, because the longer ‘the investigation’ takes, that’s money they won’t be using to expand government further. Until they do, which is also an inevitable conclusion. The appraiser may be eventually vindicated, but not before the event is used to expand the size of government with new and counter productive institutions and for profit programs from governments private industry partners. It’s predictable, that’s how these things work. Create a new institution to manage the problem the last institution created. Never shut down or allow sun setting of the existing institutions. Never take responsibility and never admit defeat. If anyone wants to talk bias, let’s talk about the preconceived notion that appraisers must be racist, as the only explanation here. Now that’s obvious bias! The appraisers professional standing has been rendered equivalent to click bait. The appraisers should sue whomever ran these stories for defamation, agreed. Absent financial consequences for the slander, the story will continue on under a never ending series of minutely different iterations. What is this, the 5th or 6th iteration already? Give me a break.

Again so many salient points here with which I agree! And even on that same townhome scenario if there was a difference, maybe just maybe it had nothing to do with the owner of the home and had to do with condition or quality etc. they never looked into the other reports that were higher and that flies in the face of slanted bias against the Appraiser. They need someone to blame rather than looking at the fraud they committed as you noted. Maybe you should share your thoughts with the Attorney for the Appraiser in Marin City. She needs all the help she can get. This lawsuit is insanity and defamation in my book!

Thank you Mary. These repeat stories of this same activity of misrepresenting one selves identity to a licensed professional got me thinking; is that even legal? Can the story be as simple as black vs white when the white stand in has an obvious provable motivation to appeal and advocate for a higher value of the home appraisal process? That is the specific reason why they are standing in and committing a crime themselves, identity fraud for monetary gain of another.

Every last one of these stories coming from the national syndicates fails to recognize; ‘assignment conditions’. Assignment conditions matter. These organizations are not familiar with our industries appraisal valuation rules guidelines ethical standards and concepts, which is why they make assumptions which provide the perceived validation of the story. Assignment elements matter. The scope of work matters. Any one of those can effect the valuation opinion. Furthermore wasn’t the amc and lender aware of this? How and why did the home owner get all the way to hiring and retaining a lawyer to push a federal lawsuit? Perhaps I’m confused, how many lenders are available to them in CA? Was there any ROV requests? How did the state board respond? Whom suggested they file a federal lawsuit ahead of these other available due process actions which could have brought clarity to the situation and/or rectified the problem? What actions did the amc and the lender pursue to validate or invalidate the first appraisal? Was a field review ordered? What were the results of that review? Did the lender pursue AVM value indicators, if so how many, and what were those value estimate results? Even in a judicial arbitration setting they don’t just get two appraisals, they get three. And each party gets to cast out one opinion, quite often leaving the middle range value opinion as the report left standing, the one to rely on. Was there a third appraisal?

I self identify as an ameture legal concept researcher. But if I self identified as a licensed appraiser when I was not… Or if I self identified as a duly recognized peace officer when I was not… Or if I self identified as another home owner and dealt with licensed professionals on their behalf, without having any power of attorney, and misled them to my true identity… That’s a crime right? It’s called impersonation fraud. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Look on the bright side, we’ve all just been given a method to drive our assessment basis down. If we want a lower value for tax purposes, that’s apparently as simple as having someone else stand in and impersonate us, they will be instructed to make the home all messy and point out all the faults. But you know, in the real world it’s not that simple. You’re more likely to get an appraiser whom does their job correctly and focuses on the home not the people. And in less complex real property markets, you can get a hundred different opinions, they’ll all be basically the same within a limited range of value result. To date, nobody has tested the other side of this theory in a simple market. If appraiser racism was so prolific, why don’t we hear about this in uniform townhome condo type markets?

The core concept of advocacy comes into play. They’re advocating for one cause or the other. If an appraiser realtor or mortgage broker performed this action it would be some form of material fraud and be a felony, grounds for immoral behavior recognition and immediate suspension of licensing. Whomever is the ‘stand in’ for these stories should take heed, if they have any professional licensing themselves they have just violated moral turpitude provisions which are common provisions in state licensing guidelines. Those provisions are specifically there for the in between or grey area considerations. For when you can’t specifically identify a violation of code but the behavior or accusation is on it’s face, an obvious departure from traditionally accepted standards of professionalism and moral behavior. I think misrepresentation of identity meets that standard.

Hypothetical: You get ahead of this as a home owner. You apply for a mortgage. You have a neighbor ‘stand in’. You get the value you want, no problem. Your stand in lies to the appraiser. You’re scheduled for closing. You disclose how you approached this with a stand in to your mortgage lender. Question: Is the mortgage lender obligated to still work with you? Is the mortgage lender obligated to redo the entire process because you have just admitted to engaging in impersonation fraud during the course of your new origination application? These are important legal questions which need recognized and answered. Thank you.

Well that puts a whole new very important TWIST on this. Thank you for this! Totally agree!

Scott, I’m a Certified Review Appraiser for over 20 years and I have been saying the same thing since this whole brewhaha started.

Also, why is everyone giving these people all this moral credit? They’ve admitted to a committing a crime themselves. It’s called criminal impersonation for monetary benefit.

https://www.shazamlaw.com/theft-and-economic-crimes/criminal-impersonation/

What exactly does Criminal Impersonation mean?
According to our state law, CO Revised Stature § 18-5-113, a person commits Criminal Impersonation if he knowingly assumes a false or fictitious identity or capacity, and in such identity or capacity he does any other act with intent to unlawfully gain a benefit for himself or another or injure or defraud another. In other words, you pretended to be someone else in order to gain something, whether that something is money, goods, or some other benefit.

The question begs answering; if there was disproportionate treatment in the valuation process, whom did it?

A. The appraiser supposedly devaluing a black couples home.

B. The appraiser supposedly over valuing a white couples home.

Oooops. We’re not supposed to talk about that part!

Appraiser A is an amc appraiser.

Whom contracted appraiser B?

Were the assignment conditions the same?