I remember the lenders having that as a policy. I could never find a FNMA or FreddieMac one-mile limitation that I can recall. Either way, valid point.

Also in Georgia appraisers are required under state regulations to attempt to find comparables within the same subdivision, and only if they cannot are they permitted to go further out…with an explanation.

Please DO tell us about the Indiana case Tim. I’ve spoken with the appraiser (actually there are three involved, but I spoke to one). Highly credible explanations. I can’t say more.

And as all appraisers know, the ‘A’ in Zillow stands for accuracy.

Let’s boil it ALL the way down to basics Tim. I absolutely agree with you when you state “Every claim of racial bias is wrong or a liar…” Definitely, the more probable likelihood BASED SOLELY ON THE PUBLICIZED CASES TO DATE.

People keep reponding with things like no one would risk their license over racial bias, there are laws to prevents this kind of thing or we are trained to remove any bias in the process. You all know not one of those things prevents a person from doing wrong. If that was the case no one would ever lose their license for any reason. And no one has ever lost their license right??? Let’s just boil this down to the basics. Because only one thing can be true. Which is more likely to be true? Every claim of racial bias in the appraisal process is false and therefore every person making the claim is wrong or a liar or there are some valid claims of racial bias in the appraisal process?

That one is easy Mr. Tim. The uproar is because it is a HOT topic about white against black and how racism is presumed rampant in the Appraisal World even to the point that we are trained how to perpetuate bias. REALLY? USPAP trains us NOT to apply bias or you stand to lose your license, period! Black owners put white people in their homes and all of a sudden values are higher. Yeah, likely because they used comps in higher priced neighborhoods rather than the subject neighborhood which is prohibited and provides an incorrect value of the property. Likely because they had no clue about the area in which they appraised. OR get this, likely because that lower valuation was indeed the correct one. But oh we don’t want to accept that answer. How can a lower value be the right one? It has to be bias. That kind of news makes headlines and people jump on that bandwagon without doing their research.

Kind of like if it Bleeds it LEADS!

Here is the hard truth one has to ask of Buyers and their Realtors..WHY are buyers paying less in certain neighborhoods over others? FIX those issues and values will rise. The current argument is this: Way back in time Black borrwers and homeowners had depressed values due to redlining and other tactics by lenders and we as Appraisers are continuing that bias by actually picking sales inside the same neighborhood as the Subject, which was the case in Marin County. Unless all the powers that be want to change the very foundation of how valuation is done, then we will as Appraisers use sales inside the same neighborhood as the Subject. WHY would we do that? Has nothing to do with bias, it has everything to do with reporting what the market (BUYERS) are doing. They are actually suggesting that we go into other neighborhoods to BUMP values for black neighborhoods, or forget about the sales comparison approach and use cost approach or maybe even income approach to value OR worse yet, due to the decades of suppression of values, make some kind of bias adjustment upward for prior bad acts of LENDERS, not Appraisers. Sorry, Mr. Tim but this is insanity and USPAP again does not allow any type of bias to enter into the appraisal process. So again unless the powers that be say hey you cannot use sales that are THE most representative of the Subject property, you must use other sales to bump values (which lenders will not allow due to risk factors), this talk of Appraisal bias is just that…Talk because it leads in the media.

Those making this news need an education on how appraisal valuation actually works. If you give the Appraiser the power to select higher priced homes to bump values, what is to stop them from selecting lower priced homes to suppress values elsewhere in white or other neighborhoods. Bias works both ways here people. You don’t want Appraisers to have that kind of power to select any comps they want and fabricate values. If that happens you have lost complete public trust in the TRUE value of their properties. Everyone in the process stands to gain financially EXCEPT the Appraiser (other than their measly fee for the report) We get paid regardless if a loan closes. Again you need to ask Buyers why they are paying less and fix those issues. They dictate values, Appraisers report facts and analzye, period! Buyers lead the way to getting black neighborhoods out of decades of low values so focus on the heart of the problems here not the end product. Thank you!

As a matter of fact his studies were based on Zillow

Setups mean nothing. One aspect of the real estate appraisal industry is that it’s difficult to drum up public opinion regarding this profession. Unlike the propaganda mechanisms supposedly predictable effects, most people whom would be asked to form an opinion about appraisers already have one, having previously used valuation services. That perception is largely positive. On account of the appraiser often being the only human being people actually communicate with in person prior to closing. Minimize away at your convenience, price will never equal value. Some of these comments would be better received at an antique trade show blog, promoting such disregard for commonly understood valuation principals. Value in use is not a color coded consideration.

In response to your use of Mary Cummings as your source of defense her logic is flawed. In the Marin case she states that for if there was racism in one appraisal it means there has to be racism in every appraisal which patently stupid. Even if every homeowner in Marin was black it does not mean every appraiser was racist. She also shoes bias by her statements in the Jacksonville case by trying to belittle the homeowners with her comments about she make a lot of money in her new career by talking about what she encountered on media outlets. Again, my point has been proven. Not 1 person said every appraiser is racist but you are all saying every person that says they faced racism in the appraisal process is a liar. We all know that is not true.

The truth is not as clean and simple as you want to make it seem. The liars are not always the accusers just like the liars are not always the accused. How about this truth. If there are only a few complaints of racism that would mean there are only a few instances of someone making false accusations. So tell me why there is such an uproar about this topic? You can’t minimize one without minimizing the other.

Here is an investigation into the case in Marin. There was no racism or bias. Plaintiffs incorrectly believe that using sales of like properties in the same area is racism. It’s not. Appraisers must use the most similar comps in the same area. https://mary–cummins.blogspot.com/2021/02/alleged-discrimination-home-appraisal.html

Here is an investigation into the case in Jacksonville. Similar issues. https://mary–cummins.blogspot.com/2020/08/black-homeowner-claims-discrimination.html

Andre Perry’s paper posted at Brookings is not peer reviewed or published research. This article shows the major statistical flaws in his “analysis” besides the fact that he used robot appraisals from failure Zillow. https://mary–cummins.blogspot.com/2021/06/false-statement-by-president-joe-biden.html

Don’t just believe every media article title you read. Do some research like I did. Yes, racism and bias exist. That doesn’t mean every appraisal someone doesn’t like is the result of discrimination or bias.

We’re all exposed to racism on a daily basis. False accusations being just one example of that. Color coded policies keep the issue alive.

What exactly is wrong with lower prices? In times of plenty things cost less not more. The notion that we need to drive up housing prices and in turn levy higher taxes in order to help people achieve the American dream is not a logical position. Price is not the same as value.

Want to know the secret of ‘the Jones’es’? You know, the rich couple up the street in this same neighborhood whom has all the nice things and lives so carefree? They have half the mortgage payment amount compared to most people.

Tim, you mention the Brookings study as if it is credible. I think it’s safe to assume that you are not an appraiser. Here is a good article for you to start with “Racial Bias Claims Without Proof or Logic”

https://appraisersblogs.com/brookings-institute-n-new-york-times-blaming-appraisers-of-racial-bias-without-proof-or-logic

“The only difference was (photo related)”. One presumes a different appraiser was involved as well. The logical fallacy of the apology culture is on display. Laws for illegal activity are already on the books. Holding people accountable does not need to shift away from a rigidly applied rule of law principal to some subjective emotional consideration. One might also dare to consider possibly inconvenient points like competency, appropriate research boundary, experience level, scope of work, how the perceived inevitable bias applied by borrowers may have altered their own behavioral and vendor acquisition patterns… That fish bowl is just not as entertaining as clickbait. Want to take a bite out of crime? Follow the money.

Boy, Tim, you are drinking the cool aide with gusto. We (appraisers) have not seen any of the appraisal reports in question; therefore, we do not know if the appraisers are racially biased or lack competency. Further, without seeing any of the appraisals, we cannot determine which report is valid, incompetent, or racially biased (if any are).

I forgot to mention that the woman in Indiana to her claim to HUD and there is an active clai. With them. So i just gave you 1 case to dispute the author directly. But to address the systemic comments. If homes in black neighborhoods are devalued by 20% that erases over 100 billion dollars of wealth from homeowners. Just the fact that a person work alone does not prevent their feelings or hatred for people to go into their work. To even imply that is silly. A racist person is more likely to use their position to hinder those they don’t like if they think nobody will see what they did. Hence all the crazy stuff on the internet. And as far as saying people dont have time to be a racist is dismissive at best. Racists will always have time to be racists. They don’t just turn it off. I’ll ask you this question. How much racism are you comfortable with other being on the receiving end of? Because to deny or act like it doesn’t happen is in effect condoning the practice.

What lunacy comment are you making? Unless we are god we cannot be perfect. To blame it on racism even when this appraiser was found innocent shows you’re the racist. Maybe people with your point of view in our profession need to either remove themselves or focus on BLM. People are tired of this bullSH$# that this agenda is doing. People like you put a bad name on our profession.

1st, I never used the term systematic I said there is racism but the question was how much. 2nd, if you cannot see there are valid claims and lawsuits out there you just don’t want to see them. Its not hard to find cases where people received wildly differing valuations in a short period of time. 3rd I never said the author was wrong just that he used a very specifc sample pool and people used his comments to cover the entire industry which is inaccurate. My while point is that people responding to this post have completely dismissed what some people have faced and are trying to say every appraiser is under attack which is by far not the case. There has been valid claims of race based valuations that have gained national attention. Just like there are people who were not happy and falsely claimed it was racism. The people that are guilty of both should be held accountable. But of you want examples try the couple in Marin CA that had an appraisal of 1.4 million in 2019 . In 2020 when property values were skyrocketing the appraisal was 995k. 1 month later a new appraisal was around 1.5 million. The only difference was the couple taking down pictures and artwork and having a white person there for the appraisal. Or the couple in Jacksonville FL that received a 100k increase in their appraisal after removing pictures and having the white husband meet the appraiser alone. There is the woman in Indiana that received appraisals from 110k to 125k but when she removed pictures and book and had her white friend greet the appraiser tje appraisal went to 259k. These are not small amounts for the homeowners. Or you could check the research by the Brookings Instruction that shows homes in black neighborhoods are under valued by over 20% even after considering factors as schools, crime and other metrics. How happy would you be if you had to erase yourself from your own home to get a fair appraisal? To act like it doesn’t happen allows the issue to continue. I can admit that in some cases the claim of racism is false or even worse a lie. But what I’ve read on this post and comments shows that many of the people refuse to admit that it exists and is happening to people in 2022.