Misleading Ads Sow Mistrust
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has recently launched a concerning campaign of poster ads, billboard ads, and magazine ads that falsely accuse home appraisers of basing their valuations on the personal characteristics of the homeowners or prospective buyers, rather than solely on the objective merits and features of the property itself. This is a deeply misleading and unjust narrative that undermines the integrity of the appraisal profession, which is founded on the core principle of providing an independent, impartial assessment of a home’s value.
Appraisers are highly trained and educated individuals who are legally and ethically bound to evaluate properties based on market data, comparable sales, and tangible property characteristics – they have no vested interest in the personal identities or backgrounds of the involved parties. To suggest that appraisers would jeopardize their entire livelihoods by incorporating biases or prejudices into their work is simply not grounded in reality. Despite the persistent accusations around racial bias in home valuations, the reality is that there is no documented legal case in which an appraiser has been convicted of racial discrimination.
Appraisers are the neutral, third-party experts whose role is to analyze what has objectively occurred in the real estate market, not to determine or influence what should happen. Yet these misleading ad campaigns, seemingly backed by funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are sowing seeds of mistrust in a time-tested profession. In an age where public faith in institutions is already alarmingly low, the perpetuation of such false narratives without any real consequences for the accusers is deeply concerning. Until those who peddle such false narratives are held accountable for the damage they cause, the vital role of professional appraisers will continue to be unfairly maligned, to the detriment of the entire housing ecosystem.
- Appraisal Regulation Compliance Council Exposes Disturbing AMC Violations - August 30, 2024
- Misleading Ads Sow Mistrust - August 29, 2024
- Fight Unfair AMC Practices – Leverage State Authorities - August 14, 2024
I don’t know about others, but I seldom see anyone in my practice. I do strictly residential. Most of what I do is for loan origination. These days I do strictly VA. When I do a refi, I introduce myself to the homeowner and briefly chat about things like the weather. I’ll make a nice comment about their home, “this is such a beautiful home”, I do my appraisal inspection and ask any questions I may have. Once I’m done, I quickly thank the homeowner and leave. I’ve made it my business NOT to get into any type of conversation with anyone. Doing so has often come back to bite me in the *ss. When someone starts to get into a deep conversation with me, I just say I’m going to be late for my next appointment and respectfully leave. Thankfully, in my particular practice, I only run into a homeowner maybe 25% of the time. If the assignment is for a refi, I get a lot of kids or the in-laws that let me into the property. Another thing I do if it is the kids, I make sure that are at least 18 years old.
Keep sending this stuff to Cindy Chance the new AI CEO. I sent this to her and everyone here needs to do the same. She has been supporting us and she need to make a stand loud and clear! This is defamation and LIBEL. A class action suit needs to follow!
Maybe there’s bias in this industry, idk. But this type of campaign is gonna lead nowhere good for the buyers, especially so the historically disadvantaged folks. Artificially overvalued and oversized loans resulting from these bullying tactics are going to create an excessive burden for the very people this billboard claims to care about…
Misuse of United States government agency logos and trademarks.
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is not a United States government agency. It is a non-profit organization that focuses on advocating for fair housing practices and fighting against housing discrimination. The NFHA collaborates with various government agencies, private organizations, and individuals to promote equal housing opportunities and enforce the Fair Housing Act, but it operates independently of the government.
NFHA’s use of the Department of Housing and Urban Development “HUD” logo depicted in some of its advertising is misleading and likely prohibited by law. Generally, it is not acceptable for a non-profit organization to use United States government agency logos without explicit permission. Government logos are typically protected by federal law, and unauthorized use can be considered misleading or imply an endorsement that doesn’t exist.
The primary concerns include: Implied Endorsement: Using a government logo without permission could falsely imply that the government endorses the non-profit or its activities.
Trademark and Copyright Laws: Government logos may be subject to trademark protections, and unauthorized use can lead to legal consequences.
Regulations: Some agencies have specific guidelines or regulations governing the use of their logos. These guidelines must be followed strictly.
There have been several instances where U.S. government agencies have asked private entities or non-profits to cease using their logos due to concerns over unauthorized use or potential implications of endorsement. Here are a few notable examples:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): In 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group that was using the VA’s logo on a website that appeared to be an official VA site. The VA was concerned that the site was misleading veterans into believing it was a government-affiliated site, which could lead to confusion or exploitation.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS): In 2013, the DHS requested a private security company to stop using its logo on company vehicles and uniforms. The company had been using the DHS logo to suggest that it was working in partnership with the federal agency, which was not the case. The DHS took action to prevent any misrepresentation of a formal relationship.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC): In 2010, the FTC issued warnings to several companies that were using the FTC logo on their websites in a way that could mislead consumers into thinking that the FTC endorsed or approved the products being sold. The FTC was particularly vigilant about ensuring that its logo was not used to lend credibility to potentially fraudulent schemes.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The EPA has on multiple occasions asked companies and non-profits to stop using its logo in promotional materials or on products that had not been officially approved or certified by the agency. For example, companies selling environmental products sometimes used the EPA logo without permission to imply endorsement or certification that was not granted.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS): The IRS has taken action against tax preparation services and other financial entities that used the IRS logo to suggest affiliation or endorsement. Unauthorized use of the IRS logo could lead consumers to believe that the IRS had reviewed or approved certain tax services, which was not the case.
These examples highlight the government’s efforts to protect the integrity of its logos and prevent the public from being misled by unauthorized usage.
Ive said it before and I’ll say it again DEFAMATION AND ANTI TRUST LAWSUIT!
If Appraisers were smart and organized, we would put up our own “pro-Appraiser” message on a billboard near it.
I love it. Get cost to do it, get something good to say and let us know how much to pitch in and then send the two billboards next to each other to the media!!!
Put up a pro appraiser billboard? Um…. That’s exactly what TAF is supposed to be in place for, ‘protecting the public trust in the appraiser profession.’ Literally. Word. For. Word. Demand TAF do something about this. They won’t do anything, guaranteed. Too busy having milk and cookies with Andre from Brookings, getting free meals and expense paid trips to watch progressive documentaries on fine furniture in fancy buildings, deciding what gifts to award themselves with next and who gets the larger raise. Thinking about fine art paintings, forming endless committees pondering why some appraisers are not comfortable defrauding home owners alongside the amc industry. Inventing interesting ad campaigns to attract another round of fresh victims, and how to trick them into accepting appraisers licenses. Obviously the go to solution is to rewrite the ethics book, again.
Come on, we all know TAF is as beneficial as an extra pound of sand in a desert. Also, too busy defrauding appraisers of $ for USPAP.
They are against us not for us, that is the unfortunate Reality. We need to blast social media, billboard media, any kind of media we can in order to shake things up and get some attention from people who GET it and can support us.
>:(
seems like they’re having a hard time responding to the claims they have on the books..do they really need to advertise ?
https://nationalfairhousing.org/issue/issue-appraisal-bias/
‘Moreover, time and again, failings in the mortgage market and the home appraisal process.’ / False premise. Improperly combining the failings of the mortgage market with appraisers. Appraisers have literally no control over how the mortgage market is managed.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PsrrxYiR8bpe_OXaqoDnsccerC3a2kv4/view
Read about their ‘avm appraisal bias hackathon’. / The current home appraisal system creates disparities that Goal: Promote the fair valuation of homes across all neighborhoods regardless of the racial composition of the area.
Totally ignore all other factors, just focus on race, identifying that certain peoples houses cost less, and are subsequently valued less. This is a debt trap setup. Higher prices for everyone! Partnered with the Brookings Institute. What exactly is wrong with lower housing prices? Lower prices means; easier purchase access, lower taxes, lower payments, lower agency fees, less amortized interest, more mobility in ones life’s housing interests. Government programs pushing higher pricing tend to be associated with increases in the scale of welfare systems. That is the base mechanism by which taxpayer money is laundered away to private hands.
Check out this groups IRS returns. Another 501c progressive jukebox. They manufacture problems to sell a solution. That’s how they stay in business. Here is another one paying themselves and their lawyers a kings share.
https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/
52-1676364
https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/521676364_202109_990_2022040119811741.pdf
Independent Appraisers should litigate this as slander and “misinformation”. Prove me wrong.
I think it is far past time for AI to also step up (as well as TAF, etc) More Craig Steinley failures? Why is he allowed to continue to negatively impact the appraisal profession? When will appraisers wake up?
Who the Hell has time to be biased?!
Really? Enough is enough. This kind of action is totally intended to promote division and racism in this country with the appraiser being the preferred vehicle to that end. These ads are racist driven inferring because the majority of appraisers are white they are all racists. That is utter BS. There are bad apples in any profession and I’m a realist and know it can happen from time to time but stop painting it with a broad brush. The only color I’ve seen in 40 years is the color of the house. They pushed us to the edge of extension with subjective lies and we need to get off our asses and form a coalition to bring legal actions in a court of law based on facts and not subjective enuendo.
AMEN
One more comment, you do realize this sick onslaught of negativity is being perpetuated by a banking industry out of control that has employed the help of our government. There is no shame at the lengths they will go to have free reign with no over-sight. This should tell everyone, including the minorities being USED to perpetuate, it’s not about them but the almighty dollar.
AGREE. The Public has no clue what is going on. They think they are being helped! NOT!
I’ll take a different view here. The charade that there is systematic appraisal bias is crumbling, and the victim industry is desperate to keep the money train flowing. If there were thousands of cases they wouldn’t be advertising like this. But there aren’t, and they are desperate to find some glaring examples of racial bias. The weak cases they do have are languishing because they know they can’t prove bias.
I agree with everything you say. However as the general public is brainwashed into believing this, the mortgage industry players believe it is worth the settlements to make it go away as they will rip a return on the settlement many times that once the only check and balance (appraisers) are a thing of the past opening the flood gates.
In agreement with your statement TB. Check this out from their 2021 tax return statements. Image attached. What we can learn from this is how much success the group had in correcting many verifiable issues. But then after those issues were corrected, they needed to find more things to do in order to sustain the increasing grant money flowing in. The Tech Equity program is a reasonable idea but one which did not translate very well to the appraisal industries. Primarily because most appraisers do not rely on this sort of tech, algorithms do not drive an appraisers independent decisions which are based on real world sales and market data.
https://nationalfairhousing.org/issue/tech-equity-initiative/
https://appraisersblogs.com/fannie-mae-census-block-grid-adjustment-raises-redlining-concerns/#comment-40972
Specifically this patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US8775300B2/en?q=(~patent%2fUS20160078573A1)
My day as an appraiser. The story of Corelogic and the appraisal industry.
https://appraisersblogs.com/corelogic-big-corporation-vs-appraisers/
The PAVE task force, Brookings, NFHA, FHFA, and others, all apparently failed to read and/or comprehend the AEI study refuting the misinterpreted data revolving around alleged appraisal outcome discrimination.
https://appraisersblogs.com/refuting-the-negative-race-bated-accusations
At this point summarizing previous research is pretty easy. The appraisal industry at large already put the work in to discredit these fallacies over many many years.
The patent abstract: Image attached.
Good stuff Baggins. I dare say the reason core logic tapped every software and appraisal company they did is so they could accumulate enough date to massage it in whatever direction they wanted. It’s all just a money game for them. Problem is no one in high places wants to admit they don’t have a clue what their reasoning is, so they go along hoping they don’t appear stupid. “Yea, I’ll have another glass of that cool aid”.
Thanks. Take just a minute to scroll way down on that patent, and read the stereo typical categorizations the machine learning assigns human beings. You’ll see them described categorically visually as single line items if you scroll far enough down. If you’re in a community with bad credit prevalence, you yourself may be subjected to different lending or management terms and outcomes, even if your behavior is opposite of your surroundings. That’s one of the points I inferred anyways, please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
So I take the fictitious accusations of appraiser racism with a grain of salt. There are problems in the system. But those problems have nothing to do with appraisers and everything to do with predatory corporations. It’s just that the people trying to solve the problem are not as adept at problem identification as they think they are. Misguided government grant incentives do not help either. They inhibit the necessary effort and time frames necessary to properly research the issue. Because the issues become politicized so they seek a predetermined result to secure the funding.
Patent reading is an unforgiving exercise in extreme patience, paying detailed attention, and informational retention. Another appraiser here suggested this and it was truly an inspired break through. I’ve been trying to get more people to become educated on this matter. The appraisal modernization movement if successful will institutionalize the fundamental problems these people have with the system. The human appraiser whom does not rely on automation and outsourcing is one of their last defenses. They really don’t understand the issue. Central planning never works. Which type of borrower are you?