opinion of value - Appraisers Blogs

No, Appraisers Didn’t Cause America’s Racial Wealth Gap

Jeremy Bagott — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 12:30:10 +0000

Appraisers are being dragged into the racial wealth gap debate, but the real gap is between racial accusation and actual evidence, and courts aren’t buying it. After years of feckless payouts by insurance companies and corporations, the era of using the courts to harass appraisers for their value opinions has ended. Last week, a U.S. District Court judge in Maryland threw out a discrimination lawsuit on summary judgment. It was brought against an appraiser by a militant professor at Johns Hopkins University and his wife, who passed away since the filing of the suit. She, too, was a professor at...

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…
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…

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VaCAP Supports Shane Lanham’s Legal Fight

VaCAP Board — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:30:48 +0000

The outcome of this case will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications for the future of the appraisal industry, making Shane Lanham’s fight one that concerns us all. A fellow appraiser is in need of your assistance. Many of you may have heard of a Maryland Appraiser, Shane Lanham, the defendant in a lawsuit for a “low opinion of value based on the race of the homeowner.” Shane is counter suing the accuser for defamation as this has been a very publicized story. Let’s be clear, he is not just fighting for himself, he is fighting for each and every appraiser. As...

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…
No, Appraisers Didn’t Cause America’s Racial Wealth Gap Appraisers are being dragged into the racial wealth gap debate, but the real gap is between racial accusation and actual…
Shane Lanham Countersuing Black Homeowners for Defamation Shane Lanham, a Maryland appraiser, has found himself in a difficult situation as he is being sued in The United…

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Accurate Appraisal Underreporting

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 12:30:01 +0000

The HousingWire article highlighting that only 40% of homes sold include an “accurate” appraisal, as defined by the Corporate Settlement Solutions (CSS) report, is deeply problematic and indicative of a concerning lack of understanding around the appraisal process. The report cited from CSS, analyzed appraisal data across 10 states in the East Coast and Midwest, finding that only around 40% of home sales included an appraisal that was within $2,500 of the final sale price. This is being presented as evidence that the vast majority of home appraisals are inaccurate. Appraising a home’s value is an inherently complex endeavor, with...

Sale Price vs Appraised Value Disconnect How can it be said that valuing a property lower than its eventual sale price based on current market evidence…
A Low Appraisal is Now a Bad Appraisal A low appraisal is now a bad appraisal. Well, that's according to the headline. The article does not stress ‘bad.’…
Low Value = Material Deficiencies? New FHA ROV Policy The implication that if the VALUE is too low, then there must be “material deficiencies” present, is deeply troubling! Up…

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AI to Counter Flawed Appraiser Bias Narrative

AppraisersBlogs — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 12:30:07 +0000

In reality, appraisers have a great story to tell, but we have a long way to go to refocus the terribly flawed “appraiser bias” narrative onto facts and science. Last week’s email from Cindy Chance, the CEO of the Appraisal Institute, marks an important and long overdue shift in the organization’s approach to addressing accusations of bias in the appraisal profession. For too long, appraisers have faced sweeping claims that their valuations are biased against certain groups, despite appraisers’ ethical standards, rigorous training, and lack of financial stake in transactions. As Chance acknowledges, the Institute should have done more to...

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…
HUD Investigation Leads to Illegal Break-In &… Over the past four years, I have been subjected to a relentless, unjust investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing…
The Appraisal Profession’s Perfect Storm: A… The new UAD form, the AMC fee gouging, the waivers, the false bias claims. It’s a perfect storm of assaults. …

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At Federal Agency, The Mayhem Is the Message

Jeremy Bagott — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 12:30:13 +0000

Mullinix has become a student of the “Title VIII Complaint Intake, Investigation, and Conciliation Handbook (8024.1).” The handbook is designed to protect citizens from overzealous federal workers. He found section after section had been violated in his own investigation by the HUD contractor. Czech-German author Franz Kafka wrote “The Trial” in 1915. The novel is a reflection on bureaucracy, power and absurdity. Its protagonist, Josef, is arrested and prosecuted by a mysterious and inaccessible authority for a crime that is never revealed to him or the reader. It’s a man’s journey through an incomprehensible and dehumanizing landscape. Ken Mullinix has...

False Claims of Racism Against Appraiser ...my career, business, and health at risk due to false claims made by a homeowner. As a professional real estate…
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…
Lack of Evidence, Appraiser Challenges Discrimination Claims The next morning I went to my trusted AI program and asked if there was any evidence of bias. "Where…

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Should Property Data Collectors Be Licensed?

Peter Christensen — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:30:02 +0000

Should “property data collectors” who inspect properties and provide information to real estate appraisers be licensed by state appraiser boards? In Mississippi, a bill has been introduced this week to require exactly that. The legislator behind the bill happens to be an appraiser. HB1663 would establish a license category for property data collectors under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Real Estate Appraisal Board. A property data collector would be defined as an individual or company, who is not a licensed appraiser and “who collects, either physically, virtually, or digitally, any information on real property, and produces such information to a...

AMC Hires a Convicted Felon as Property Data Collector The recent case of Paschal Uchendu, a convicted felon awaiting sentencing for orchestrating a $1.2 million armed robbery of a…
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…
West Virginia Appraisal Board Scheme The Doomed Quest to Reform a corrupt West Virginia Licensing Board “Board members earn money working for a law firm…

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Using Discrimination As a Bully Tactic

Guest Author — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 13:30:26 +0000

As an appraiser who has been appraising in rural south for 20 years I have seen a few things. This wave of discrimination has gotten out of control. Sure, there has been some discrimination going on which is not the norm, but to accuse someone of discrimination because the value came in lower than an expected value is pure asinine. It is not our job to validate lenders and borrowers expected values. I have had very few borrowers get mad, that I am aware of, because my opinion of value was lower than their expected values. I can remember three...

The Scam of Racial Discrimination by Appraisers
Under-Valuations Unrelated to Racial Bias Under-valuations that more accurately reflect the homes' “true” value as opposed to the contract price will also alert the buyer,…
Bias and Discrimination in Reports, Yes or No? Appraisers, should we include discussion of B&D in our reports? Wait, What?? Bondage and Discipline? No, not that. Bias and Discrimination.…

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Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me

AppraisersBlogs — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:30:39 +0000

An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a complaint against me with my state appraisal board. Here’s what happened. The Report In June of 2021, I completed an appraisal for a conventional purchase. The appraisal was ordered by an AMC on behalf of a lender. At that time, the real estate market was still being wildly affected by the COVID pandemic. Remote work was in full swing, and consumers were desperately seeking to get out of the cities. Prices for all types of residential properties were rising rapidly,...

Fannie's Loan Buyback Sophistry Relies on Modifying… “Many of the repurchase letters make no sense,” said the insider. If analysts don’t write enough defects on those files,…
FNMA Continued Effort to Get Rid of Appraisers Fannie Mae Continues Their Effort To Get Rid Of Appraisers: Sends “Tips” For the past year, Fannie Mae has sent…
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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GLA Adjustment: Adjusting Full Difference vs a Threshold Amount

Dave Towne — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:30:02 +0000

Appraisers, on Thursday, before the Memorial Day holiday, I circulated across the US an email asking for response to a simple two question survey about how you “adjust” the GLA square footage between the Subject and Comparables. The questions: adjust 100% of the square foot difference, or adjust the difference after a ‘threshold’ square foot amount (meaning not the full 100% difference). I received a respectable number of responses compared to emails sent out, and also posted to 3 different web forums, nearly 200 replies. So that’s enough to validate the percentage of both responses, and report the trends. As...

Schizophrenic Adjustments Appraisers, I’ve written in the past about what I believe are strange ways to report adjustments in appraisals, and suggested…
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…
Is ANSI for Appraisers Really the Answer? The real estate industry has a square footage credibility problem. ANSI has been out since 1996 with no new pages…

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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,…
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…

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Woke ‘Bounty’ Bill Will Chill Speech of New York Appraisers

Jeremy Bagott — Wed, 10 May 2023 11:45:10 +0000

A bill being crafted by the New York state Senate’s Finance Committee would, in effect, place a $2,000 bounty on the head of any heretical real estate appraiser in the Empire State who dares conclude a value that fails to satisfy a seller, serial refinancer or commissioned broker in a deal. Vulnerable buyers, who could be paying off inflated loans based on coerced values, would simply have to live with it. If enacted, the bill would authorize fines to be levied on appraisers for a new category of thoughtcrime – something called “appraisal discrimination.” Half the proceeds from the fines...

Occupational Licensing Used to Intimidate It provides no better illustration of how occupational licensing promotes groupthink and intolerance to differing viewpoints... CALIFORNIA: WHERE RIGOROUS INQUIRY…
Low Appraised Value = Racial Bias? When the appraised value didn’t meet the sale price, the first assumption was that the appraiser conspired to lower the…
HUD's Private Inquisitors Will Chill Protected… HUD awarded $54 million to 182 nonprofits to serve as posses in a a Spanish Inquisition-style drive. The deep pockets…

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Are the Courts a Remedy for Nation’s Financial Truth-Tellers?

Jeremy Bagott — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 12:30:55 +0000

Politicized boards and commissions with little accountability to the electorate want to deplatform these truth-tellers at every turn. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Regulatory State. Financial analysts, fiduciaries, auditors and appraisers should take heart. Those targeted by a growing number of independent agencies, boards and commissions may now immediately challenge an agency’s constitutionality in federal court without having to submit to a drawn-out administrative process that frequently serves only the interests of the agency being challenged. The decision couldn’t have come soon enough, as an army of assorted technocrats, believers, grand viziers, cronies, hustlers...

HUD's Private Inquisitors Will Chill Protected… HUD awarded $54 million to 182 nonprofits to serve as posses in a a Spanish Inquisition-style drive. The deep pockets…
HUD Secretary's Comments Evoke Folly of 1919 Sex Scandal Secretary Fudge launched into what sounded remarkably like discriminatory rhetoric: "The problem is who is in the appraisal industry. When…
How U.S. Home Valuations Are Being Subverted At the crossroads of it all is a campaign to weaken or eliminate valuations... The nonprofit is now exploring ways…

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House Measurement by Property Data Collector Gone Wrong

Guest Author — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:30:12 +0000

The lender allowed an unlicensed property data collector give bad data to the appraiser… I work for this lender and they will not let my trainee inspect. The owners are now underwater by more than $100,000… I’m sad and I’m mad! I recently took on a measure job for a client who was questioning the square footage of their home. The couple bought the house at the height of the market last year. They paid 12% over list price to get the house. They put an appraisal waiver in the contract which meant they could not walk away if the...

Appraisers Liable for Third Parties Data Ultimately the appraiser is responsible and liable for data collected by third parties. There has been a lot of discussion…
Desktop Appraisals: Has The Devil Infiltrated The… Are desktop appraisals with third-party inspectors protecting the public, or are these products about to destroy the very profession I…
Train Us and Trust Us The most weighted technique in most automated valuation programs comes down to one over-simplified formula, based on a guesstimation from…

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All This Will Do is CREATE BIAS!

Guest Author — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 13:30:55 +0000

All this will do is CREATE BIAS… How does one stay unbiased if they repeatedly get sued or raked over the coals every time they do an honest, true appraisal that does not meet the expectation of untrained members of the general public… Does bias exist? Of course. Does it exist in appraising? Rarely, if ever. Not one of the publicly aired cases has shown any verifiable facts or data to prove their claims. Bias in appraising is rare and far less than in nearly all other vocations. Why? Because appraisers are and have been, for decades, already held to...

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.…
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…
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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Remove Predominant Price from New Forms

Dave Towne — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 12:30:40 +0000

Something that has ‘stuck in my craw’ or ‘frosted my cookies’ for years is the nonsense about stating a specific “PREDOMINANT” price for neighborhood homes. And then being forced to explain why the Opinion of Value is not precisely that number, and if not, why not. Real estate is IMPERFECT. Properties, especially comparables, seldom, if ever, sell for the very same or extremely similar prices. If that is the case, how can there be an exact “PREDOMINANT” figure? The possible exception to this are highly dense urban developments where the new construction homes are cookie cutters, and the builder sells...

Changes from Fannie Mae Fannie Mae has decided to make at least 2 significant changes... The New Year is here and along with that…
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.…
Proposed Design of the URAR Here’s the link to the ‘slide show’ the GSE’s have produced showing proposed design of the future, revised, URAR appraisal…

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Eminent Domain Attorney Review

Guest Author — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 12:30:15 +0000

How Does an Eminent Domain Attorney Critique and Review An Appraisal Upon Which His Client’s Just Compensation Is Based? Attorneys representing property owners and appraisers responsible for documenting the value of the property being taken often work together in an eminent domain case. The appraiser develops an independent opinion of value for the property through an appraisal, and the attorney ensures that the appraisal is sufficient to support a just compensation determination in what is essentially a legal proceeding. The stakes can be high when a client’s valuation conclusion rests on a weak or improper appraisal. If the property owner’s...

Justice for Texas Appraiser? You Bet. Price Tag: $99,000 The Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board is a hot mess, but one with a malicious and callous streak. That…
Why Hire an Eminent Domain Attorney? Taking private property for public use is one of the most powerful government actions under the constitution. The exercise of…
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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I’ve Retired & I’m So Glad I Did

Guest Author — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:30:08 +0000

What we got, was 30+ years of complaints from the lenders and politicians who blamed appraisers for all of the lenders and political wrong doings… I retired 2 months ago, and I am SO GLAD I did. I’ve had enough. I decided on an appraisal career because I found real estate, and especially the valuation of homes to be extremely fascinating and challenging, and although I had heard that the appraisal profession was making changes back 30+ years ago, I “assumed” it was becoming a more upstanding, professional occupation, in the eyes of the lenders, politicians and general public,...

Amrock Mandatory Diversity Training An appraiser shared the following with us. Amrock is requiring all appraisers on their panel to complete a diversity, equity…
Dear AMC, Goodbye... Why I'm Leaving Residential Appraisal - Dear AMC, Goodbye! The Law of Unintended Consequences is a law, like Murphy’s Law,…
Truisms - Taxes, Death... and Bias Training ...other states will also modify their appraisal license renewal CE class requirements to include some form of anti-bias training... Folks,…

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Racial Bias in Real Estate: Is it the Appraisers’ Fault?

Maureen Sweeney — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 12:30:14 +0000

In the past year, the appraisal industry has been under attack from various academics who claim “racial bias” on the part of real property appraisers providing appraisal services to lenders who provide home mortgages. These academics do not fully understand various types of valuation specialties, the appraisers who practice in these specialties, and the myriad of laws that must be followed. Help is needed to explain the appraisal industry, including the specialties and the types of reports. An understanding of the different components of the appraisal industry is necessary to assist various academics, journalists, the media, the public, and the public...

Independent Fee Appraisers Under Attack Appraisers, I have reached my boiling point about the negative press ‘we’ Independent Fee Appraisers have been receiving for many…
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…
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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The Other Side, Racism in Appraisals

Mark Skapinetz — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 12:30:51 +0000

…the other side of things, the appraiser profession side since no other news media and organizations are willing to do so… Note: The following blog article is not to defend anyone or to place blame. It is simply a blog looking at this issue from the other side of things, the side that hasn’t been discussed in the media. A couple weeks ago, I was privileged to speak on The National Real Estate Post about appraisal issues. One of the issues we discussed briefly was the ever-growing number of articles being written about allegations of racial discrimination in the appraisal...

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…
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…
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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Modernization Should Only Be Determined by the Appraisal Profession

Guest Author — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 13:30:07 +0000

The appraisal professions should be the only ones to determine any modernization; whatever that is… When Things Don’t Go as Expected Like so many others, I have learned the hard way not to accept any assignment without a little due diligent research first. Make no mistake I do not shy away from difficult assignments. I am under the firm belief the more difficult, the better. I actually enjoy the challenge. I recently accepted a private assignment over the phone for a lot in the City. I was driving and did not have access to MLS or locality records. I knew...

FHFA to Screw Up Appraisals The FHFA is looking for comments on how they can better screw up the appraisal process. So if you’ve got…
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…
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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opinion of value - Appraisers Blogs

No, Appraisers Didn’t Cause America’s Racial Wealth Gap

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VaCAP Supports Shane Lanham’s Legal Fight

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Accurate Appraisal Underreporting

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AI to Counter Flawed Appraiser Bias Narrative

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At Federal Agency, The Mayhem Is the Message

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Should Property Data Collectors Be Licensed?

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Using Discrimination As a Bully Tactic

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Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me

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GLA Adjustment: Adjusting Full Difference vs a Threshold Amount

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Dazzled by Wizardry, Federal Mortgage Regulators Ignore Zillow Debacle

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Woke ‘Bounty’ Bill Will Chill Speech of New York Appraisers

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All This Will Do is CREATE BIAS!

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I’ve Retired & I’m So Glad I Did

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