big data - Appraisers Blogs

Who Controls Access in UAD 3.6

Guest Author — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:30:34 +0000

Access has become the most expensive word in the appraisal industry, a reminder that every new “solution” seems to cost appraisers more while giving them less control. Today’s Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, and the space he invades, he gets by on you. Those words feel strangely appropriate as the appraisal profession moves into UAD 3.6. The new appraisal environment is not simply a revised form. It is a data-rich, data-driven system built around large amounts of property information being routed directly into appraisal software. Matrix MLS systems already exchange structured data through API-based pathways using standards such...

The 3.6 Rollout: Chaos Now, Clarity Later? The 3.6 rollout has raised more questions than answers, leaving the industry navigating a landscape that remains unclear. UAD 3.6…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…
Flags Over Facts: The Road to Obsolescence The latest round of modernization comes wrapped in friendly language, but the flags are hard to miss if you’ve been…

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Fannie, Freddie’s Offshore Gambit Imperils Privacy of Millions

Jeremy Bagott — Mon, 20 May 2024 12:30:58 +0000

The offshore firm will data-mine millions of images showing the personal spaces of U.S. homeowners and tenants. Fearing the Chinese government could access sensitive user data through the video app TikTok, House lawmakers passed a bill last month that would ban the app if it isn’t sold to new owners. But a greater peril looms. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reportedly “bench-testing” an arrangement with a foreign AI firm in which the offshore firm will data-mine millions of images showing the personal spaces of U.S. homeowners and tenants. If your home was appraised for a refinance or...

Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…
New UAD Overhaul: What Appraisers Can Expect in 2025… Folks, I recently attended a Train the Trainer 1.5 day class about the new UAD/URAR, jointly facilitated by Fannie Mae,…
HUD's Use of Convicted Felons to Ramp Up… It wants to bootstrap released felons by allowing them to work as so-called “fair-housing testers” for the many nonprofits HUD…

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‘Pesky’ Words. Keeping Appraisers out of Language Purgatory

Dave Towne — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 12:30:29 +0000

Appraisers, on July 17, 2023, a document from Freddie Mac was circulated to numerous appraisers around the US which identified certain words and other info that can be considered to be ‘BIASED’ in appraisal reports. Here is the Link to the Bulletin. We need to step back for a moment and carefully analyze and consider why that was done, and what it means to appraisers. In many ways, appraisers forget the purpose of the appraisal assignment – which is to value real estate. In other words, the physical structures tied to the land. But too often, elements of personal or...

What's Wrong With this Sentence? AMC says sentence was unacceptable based on one word in that sentence Beware appraisers, big brother is watching what you…
Objective Terminology Appraisers should avoid using words that lend themselves to bias judgments. Instead, the appraisal report should document objective facts.…
Desirable, Rite or Rong? Desirable, banned or permitted? I was caught up in a minor ‘dispute’ last week when a review appraiser wacked my…

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Dazzled by Wizardry, Federal Mortgage Regulators Ignore Zillow Debacle

Jeremy Bagott — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 12:30:18 +0000

This rulemaking is one more sign that federal bureaucrats are all in on a whacky plan to use technical wizardry to tease out the value of individual properties across the country… Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was a committed technocrat. Under his direction, a team of policy advisors descended into the Pentagon’s cavernous basement in 1967. They fed punch cards into the basement’s IBM mainframe computers with everything that could be quantified about the Vietnam War. Numbers of ships, tanks, transport helicopters, gunships, fixed-wing aircraft, artillery, troop strength, machine guns, ammo. They queried the computers, “What year will we win...

AVMs... Garbage In, Garbage Out Garbage data in means garbage results out every time! It's no secret that AVMs have been a thorn in the…
AVMs... The Not So Accurate Magic Bullet That article mentioned three on-line services which claim to provide accurate property values. In alphabetical order, those services were REDFIN,…
Promoting False "Racist Appraiser" Narrative Some Lenders promoting false "racist appraiser" narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their…

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ASA Concerned About the Expansion of FNMA Appraisal Waiver Program

AppraisersBlogs — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 12:30:48 +0000

In response to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) decision to allow Fannie Mae to expand its appraisal waiver program, the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) has released an op-ed by ASA’s Strategic Partnership Officer, John D. Russell, JD, criticizing this move. ASA believes that by expanding the appraisal waiver program and relying on data and models for mortgage lending instead of human interaction, Fannie Mae is leaving behind two very important aspects: safety and soundness as well as consumer protection. The fear is that overvaluation may occur due to a reliance on models which always try to chase value...

Dear Representative, FNMA Has Gone Rogue! Dear representative, waiving/eliminating property appraisal for lending purposes is wanton recklessness. Fannie Mae’s decision to waive/eliminate property appraisal for lending…
No Appraisals Required. The End of Appraisers? No appraisal may be required in the future! Fannie Mae took a direct shot at appraisers with the announcement of…
Eroding Consumer Protection Waiving appraisal requirements on residential homes could erode consumer protection, stall attempts to create diversity in the profession... The recent…

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AVMs… Garbage In, Garbage Out

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 12:30:07 +0000

Garbage data in means garbage results out every time! It’s no secret that AVMs have been a thorn in the side of real estate appraisers since they first came out. Despite all their bells and whistles, these automated valuation models still rely on inaccurate public records and often come up with wildly inaccurate home values. Unfortunately, some consumers don’t realize this until it’s too late – when reality comes crashing down from a local real estate professional after they’ve already gotten their hopes up about their home value thanks to an AVM. Yesterday, a Virginia assessor emailed us with an...

House Measurement by Property Data Collector Gone Wrong The lender allowed an unlicensed property data collector give bad data to the appraiser... I work for this lender and…
Exactly How Are Property Data Collectors… Somebody explain to me exactly how Property Data Collectors are “professionally trained” per Fannie Mae directives. The fact is, Fannie…
No Appraisals Required. The End of Appraisers? No appraisal may be required in the future! Fannie Mae took a direct shot at appraisers with the announcement of…

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Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession!

Dave Towne — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 13:30:13 +0000

Some people want to bring more people (primarily of color, which is great) into a dying profession. But the profession is being killed off by (mostly white!) people who think technology is the golden spoon to accurate valuations. Appraisers, I’ve been studying, and writing about since 2006, all kind of issues surrounding our profession, and frankly some currently does not make sense. As many know, ‘we’ have been accused of not having “enough black people” in appraiser ranks. The claim is that blacks only represent 3% or so of the total population of appraisers. The people engaged in blaming appraisers...

What Is My Incentive? Why would I bother taking on the added risk of an inconvenient process? Where is my incentive again? As an…
Anti-Appraiser Agenda Money may have been used to buy influence and promote the current anti-appraiser narrative being embraced by key public servants…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…

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Are Computer Programs Biased or Unbiased?

Guest Author — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 12:30:04 +0000

Whether or not computer programs are despised or supported depends on the narrative being spewed. Which is it? Are computer programs good for generating appraisal values but when the narrative is to influence an anti-police sentiment using computer programs is too problematic? Last week’s article titled “The Government Screwing Over an Entire Industry” strengthened my conviction how eager and anxious Fannie, Freddie, and certain Congress persons are to replace appraisers with computer programs. The idea is that computers will do it more fairly and with equal justice and allow for “generational wealth”. They contend that appraisers are trying very hard...

The Government Screwing Over an Entire Industry The government wants to move to a fully automated appraisal format, and the more that they can dirty the narrative…
Racial Bias: Redlining in the Modern Era ...are they behind this modern day redlining?... The broad definition of an algorithm according to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary is “a…
Human Real Estate Appraisers Unnecessary? "Real estate appraisers will not exist in the future." - Reasons Behind Matt Rider's Projection and Why He's Wrong Technology…

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Bias in Automated Valuation Models

VaCAP Board — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 13:30:35 +0000

The CFPB is reviewing bias in Automated Valuation Models (AVMs). The proposed rules are a joint effort by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Controller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. These agencies are concerned AVMs may reflect bias in design and function. The mathematical models rely on biased data resulting in inaccurate valuations. Basically the agencies are stating historical data going back to redlining is built into these models and do not reflect current market data. Remember markets are not static and are...

What If the Algorithms Are Wrong? Algorithms are everywhere... “Algorithms decide who gets a loan, who gets a job interview, who gets insurance and much more…
Is Race Baked into Big Data? Chicago appraiser and friend (even though she calls me “fancy pants”) writes a stellar explanation of what an appraiser actual…
Use of Census Data in AVM & Discrimination Every single appraisal any of us do has a census tract number as a required element. There are no exceptions…

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DEAR HUD… What’s Your End Game?

Mark Skapinetz — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 12:30:25 +0000

Dear HUD, recently, within the past year or so, you have been on a crusade to prove discrimination and racism in the appraisal process. Your actions haven’t gone unnoticed by many within the appraisal profession as well as outside it. It’s become clear that you are the go to organization for complaints. Ok. Please read this in its entirety and see my thoughts at the end before making a judgement. The reason I am writing you this letter is for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I am writing this letter to ask you what your TRUE intentions are...

Secret HUD Meeting on 'Appraiser Bias' The exclusion of the appraisal profession from events looking at valuation bias sends the message – intentional or not –…
Why is Only One Side of This Story Being Told? There are always two sides to every story; however, understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, their side, and the…
Racial Bias in Real Estate: Is it the Appraisers’ Fault? In the past year, the appraisal industry has been under attack from various academics who claim “racial bias” on the…

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Racial Bias Narrative to Remove Appraisers

Guest Author — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 12:30:27 +0000

…the racial bias narrative will be what is utilized to remove appraisers from the lending equation… Removing us will finally put the FOX completely in charge of the HEN HOUSE…this entire narrative could very well end up costing us all, our way to make a living… Unfortunately, Professional Appraisers have no organized voice and I don’t see that we ever will. There is no one to defend us. And that has been used against us for years. After all that Appraisers have been through over the last 15 years, the racial bias narrative and the allegations of racial discrimination in...

The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…
Promoting False "Racist Appraiser" Narrative Some Lenders promoting false "racist appraiser" narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…

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Statistically Supported Appraisal

Hamp Thomas — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 12:30:57 +0000

Lenders are convinced that a statistically supported appraisal is a more reliable valuation. Wow! Does anyone that understands the home valuation process really think a “statically supported” appraisal makes for a better quality report? This is not that hard to understand. What does “statically supported” really mean? It means you get a computerized report, similar to what Zillow or Trulia provides, based on the information in public records. Statistically speaking, the margins of error are frightening!!! Great products for entertainment, NOT for determining the value of your home. This all comes down to the Golden Rule. Lenders are looking for...

Security Bars Removal Law Debunks Alleged Racial… Complainant stated appraiser told them they should remove security bars from windows. Complainant stated this is evidence of "racist discrimination"...…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…
Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…

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Train Us and Trust Us

Hamp Thomas — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 13:30:38 +0000

The most weighted technique in most automated valuation programs comes down to one over-simplified formula, based on a guesstimation from an outside source that has no interest in the real estate system… Dear FHFA: Please accept the following comments in regard to Question A1.4. The response also includes comments on several additional questions. Thank you for taking the time to review these thoughts. Technology has made so many improvements in the last decade and we now have the chance to truly improve our home valuation system. With that being said, the last piece of the quality puzzle starts at the...

The Great Debate on Appraisal Fees She included several different fee split examples indicating AMCs retained as much as 70 percent of the total appraisal fee…
The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…

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Bids to Acquire CoreLogic

Dave Towne — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 13:30:39 +0000

I heard from a number of appraisers about their adverse situations involving CoStar… It was announced on Feb. 4, 2021 that CoreLogic will be sold, with the transfer happening in the April-June 2021 time frame. See Inman news service article, “CoreLogic Acquired By Stone Point Capital, Insight Partners For $6B – Inman”. From the article: The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to shareholder approval. See another news source here. CoreLogic currently owns several companies with ties to appraising: A la mode – appraisal report software Columbia Institute – appraiser education service provider Matrix...

Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…

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Special Briefing on Appraiser Racial Bias

AppraisersBlogs — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:30:20 +0000

We encourage everyone to sign up for the “Special Briefing on Appraiser Racial Bias”. American Enterprise Institute (AEI) analyzed actual data to see if there was any racial bias in appraisals and published their findings in a study titled “How Common Is Appraiser Racial Bias? An Analysis Using Big Data to Determine Whether It Is Common or Uncommon that an Appraiser’s Knowledge of an Applicant’s Race Results in Valuation Bias“ AEI Special Briefing on the Presence of Appraiser Racial Bias: Join AEI’s Housing Center director Ed Pinto and director of research Tobias Peter for a special briefing on the presence...

The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
The Real Cause of the Home Value Gap Is the Income Gap Blaming appraisers for the income gap will never solve the real underlying problem... Blaming appraisers for the income gap is…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…

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Racial Bias by Appraisers Is Uncommon & Not Systemic

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 13:30:36 +0000

Intentional and unintentional racial bias by appraisers on refinance loans is uncommon and not systemic… On January 4, 2021, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) published a study titled “How Common Is Appraiser Racial Bias? An Analysis Using Big Data to Determine Whether It Is Common or Uncommon that an Appraiser’s Knowledge of an Applicant’s Race Results in Valuation Bias“. They concluded allegation that knowing the race of the applicant results in racial bias by appraisers on refinance loans is uncommon and not systemic. This same analysis supports the conclusion that unintentional bias based on race is also uncommon and not...

Racial Bias Claims Without Proof or Logic The Appraisal Institute just sent a letter to The Appraisal Foundation to address things that have been floating out in…
HUD Dismisses Claims Alleging Racism ...white America (government) keeps trying to 'fix' Black People who are not broken in the first place! We’ve all heard…
How to Destroy the Appraisal Profession Anytime the government gets involved in an issue, it tends to have more adverse effects than positive ones. It makes…

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Appraisal Racism… Fact or Fiction?

Guest Author — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 13:30:19 +0000

Not one single point provides any evidence to the appraiser engaging in a racist act… No appraisal reports or actual evidence of racism has been produced by the accuser… Not one single case has been presented to the appraisal state boards… The real estate community is aware of the recent onslaught of articles going around accusing real estate appraisers of racism and appraising homes for less than what the actual homeowner thinks the home is worth. It started with Abena Horton in Jacksonville, FL Additional accusations were made in Chicago, Denver, and Newark, NJ. Each article written accuses the appraiser...

Racial Bias Claims Without Proof or Logic The Appraisal Institute just sent a letter to The Appraisal Foundation to address things that have been floating out in…
Maxine Waters Wants Appraisers Investigated On February 22, 2022, Maxine Waters sent a letter to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, TAF, ASC and AI regarding ongoing…
Security Bars Removal Law Debunks Alleged Racial… Complainant stated appraiser told them they should remove security bars from windows. Complainant stated this is evidence of "racist discrimination"...…

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Reconciling the Erosion Within My Profession

Maureen Sweeney — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 12:30:02 +0000

The continued reliance of unregulated aggregators and bifurcated products continues to erode the public trust at the expense of discarding the profession specifically intended to promote the public trust. How does this protect the public?… On June 14, 2005 Steve Jobs told a class of graduates, “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward” Around the same time, I was appointed as the sole residential member of the appraisal licensing board of my state. Little did I realize that this 2005 governor-appointed position would eventually lead me to sharing a stage in 2018 with...

Is Race Baked into Big Data? Chicago appraiser and friend (even though she calls me “fancy pants”) writes a stellar explanation of what an appraiser actual…
Racial Bias Claims Without Proof or Logic The Appraisal Institute just sent a letter to The Appraisal Foundation to address things that have been floating out in…
Honest Appraisers Who Risked Their Careers Meet the Honest Appraisers Whose Warnings Should Have Prevented the Great Financial Crisis The honest appraisers’ warning was ideal. It…

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Will Big Data Put Appraisers Out of Business?

Dustin Harris — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 12:30:46 +0000

Part of the boom in the availability of data has led to companies such as Trulia and Zillow who claim they can “Zestimate” a home’s value instantaneously. But can your potential customers trust such value? In the old days, if a homeowner really wanted to find out how much their property was worth in the current market, they called an appraiser. Our customers understood that a licenced and qualified appraiser is trained, experienced, knowledgeable, and unbiased in his or her own marketplace. In the past few years, the Information Age has flooded us with data; lots of data. Big data...

Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…

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The Collective Rot

Frederick E Rossiter — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:30:27 +0000

Over 11,000 appraisers signed that petition… The US Congress completely ignored it and, as a result, The Great Real Estate Depression followed. Déjà vu: Or is it Déjà Poo (I’ve heard this crap before)? The Collective Rot Growing Within the Shadows of the Great Real Estate Depression We are just 11 years past the beginning of the Great Recession. Some estimate the US suffered a $14 trillion loss in wealth. Others estimated the loss as high as $21 trillion. This event is more commonly referred to as The Great Real Estate Depression by those of us who are or were in the real estate industry...

FDIC Says NO to Appraisals The FDIC voted to increase the minimum appraisal threshold to $400,000 for residential appraisals, despite the overwhelming opposition. The vote…
Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
Promoting False "Racist Appraiser" Narrative Some Lenders promoting false "racist appraiser" narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their…

The post The Collective Rot appeared on Appraisers Blogs.

big data - Appraisers Blogs

Who Controls Access in UAD 3.6

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Fannie, Freddie’s Offshore Gambit Imperils Privacy of Millions

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‘Pesky’ Words. Keeping Appraisers out of Language Purgatory

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Dazzled by Wizardry, Federal Mortgage Regulators Ignore Zillow Debacle

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ASA Concerned About the Expansion of FNMA Appraisal Waiver Program

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AVMs… Garbage In, Garbage Out

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Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession!

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Are Computer Programs Biased or Unbiased?

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Bias in Automated Valuation Models

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DEAR HUD… What’s Your End Game?

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Racial Bias Narrative to Remove Appraisers

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Statistically Supported Appraisal

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Train Us and Trust Us

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Bids to Acquire CoreLogic

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Special Briefing on Appraiser Racial Bias

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Racial Bias by Appraisers Is Uncommon & Not Systemic

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Appraisal Racism… Fact or Fiction?

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Reconciling the Erosion Within My Profession

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Will Big Data Put Appraisers Out of Business?

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