Bill targets discrimination in home and commercial appraisals
A new congressional bill seeks to root out racial discrimination in the residential and commercial real estate appraisal industry.
The
measure, sponsored by Reps. Emanuel Cleaver II and Ritchie Torres, would create an interagency task force to study factors that lead to disparities in property valuations and lay out specific steps to combat them. The task force would examine federal collateral underwriting standards and guidance, as well as
barriers to entry that disproportionately prevent minorities from becoming appraisers.
“Appraisal discrimination is hard to detect and it’s hard to solve,” Torres, a Democrat who represents the South Bronx, said in an interview. He said that rather than simply enacting sweeping legislation, the task force approach would allow civil rights activists, industry professionals and other stakeholders to think deeply about how to address bias in property valuations.
Last month, more than 30 members of Congress, including Cleaver and
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker, signed a letter calling on the
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, which regulates appraisals, to work with the industry to “reduce the racial appraisal gap and to address the
long-term undervaluation of neighborhoods of color.”
“Years of discriminatory policies — such as segregation,
limited access to federally backed mortgages, and restrictive neighborhood covenants — have created significant barriers to homeownership for families of color,” the letter states. “These structural factors continue to exist today.”
A new bill, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver II and Ritchie Torres, seeks to root out racial discrimination in the residential and commercial real estate appraisal industry.
therealdeal.com
what is so political
LMAO