NY Times -Kamala Harris Says ‘Inequality Persists’ in Home Appraisals
The vice president announced new plans to prevent racial bias in home appraisals, following evidence of widespread discrimination against Black homeowners.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday announced
a series of new actions designed to root out racial bias from the home appraisal industry, including ensuring the data used in appraisal software doesn’t perpetuate discrimination and making information about home valuations and the race and ethnicity of homeowners available to the broader public.
“For generations, many people of color have been prevented from taking full advantage of the benefits of home ownership,” Ms. Harris said in her announcement. “Today that legacy of inequity persists in part in the home appraisal system.”
Ninety-seven percent of appraisers are white, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Allegations of
low-balled values from Black homeowners have created a firestorm of criticism over the past three years, and the actions announced on Thursday build upon two years of work from the Biden administration to tackle the issue.
They include rules that would ensure Automated Valuation Models, the popular software-based tools that determine property values, are not using biased data and thus spitting out biased values; a clearer, industry-consistent pathway for homeowners to challenge what they believe is an unfair appraisal; and increased transparency of federal appraisal statistics. The administration would also publish a dashboard showing which states impose overly stringent requirements for becoming an appraiser, a move Ms. Harris said would reduce unnecessary
barriers that deter Black would-be appraisers from entering the industry.