Appraisals Discrimination Again?

[Ron Brady]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/0...

Story behind the NYT paywall. Summary: Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott are suing an appraiser and a mortgage lender after their Baltimore home was estimated to be worth $472,000. After the couple removed any indications that Black people lived there, a second appraiser valued the home at $750,000.

1. I hope justice prevails here.

2. As a black investor with a very light-skinned wife, we always "whitewash" our properties for appraisals, I always have my wife meet the appraisers even though I am the finance person in our partnership, and I make sure I am never around when we're marketing our properties to potential residents. We know that investing while black can, potentially, leave money on the table we'd rather have in our pockets.

3. We're always glad when stories like these are published. Our profession needs to be on guard to ensure our anti-discrimination laws are followed. The legal system will determine the final outcome, but the facts here sure don't look good for the appraiser.