Black couple sues after they say home valuation rises nearly $300,000 when shown by White colleague

[Rickeroo]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/19/us/black-couple-home-appraisal-lawsuit-reaj/index.html

dramatically undervaluing their home in an appraisal because of Plaintiffs' race and their home's location adjacent to a Black census block, notwithstanding that it is also located within Homeland, an affluent, mostly white neighborhood,"
The suit claims this valuation came back at $750,000, more than a quarter of a million dollars higher than 20/20 Valuations' appraisal of $472,000

Lawsuit and street address is public information. Rarely do I laugh out loud while typing here for DP, but this item in the lawsuit really amused me:

Dr. Connolly’s scholarship focuses primarily on issues of racism, capitalism, politics, cities, and migration in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Dr. Mott’s scholarship focuses primarily on twentieth century African-American and American literature and history.

Capitalism, right. Here are actual sale prices, with distance in linear feet from the house in question:



Were they lowballed? Sure. But $300k and front page news?

 

[notquiteright]

View attachment 67407751


https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/19/us/black-couple-home-appraisal-lawsuit-reaj/index.html

dramatically undervaluing their home in an appraisal because of Plaintiffs' race and their home's location adjacent to a Black census block, notwithstanding that it is also located within Homeland, an affluent, mostly white neighborhood,"
The suit claims this valuation came back at $750,000, more than a quarter of a million dollars higher than 20/20 Valuations' appraisal of $472,000

Lawsuit and street address is public information. Rarely do I laugh out loud while typing here for DP, but this item in the lawsuit really amused me:

Dr. Connolly’s scholarship focuses primarily on issues of racism, capitalism, politics, cities, and migration in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Dr. Mott’s scholarship focuses primarily on twentieth century African-American and American literature and history.

Capitalism, right. Here are actual sale prices, with distance in linear feet from the house in question:

View attachment 67407752

Were they lowballed? Sure. But $300k and front page news?

If you don't shine a light on it...

How many times have 'Conservatives' claimed there isn't such a thing as systemic racism???

 

[JMB802]

Capitalism, right. Here are actual sale prices, with distance in linear feet from the house in question:



Were they lowballed? Sure. But $300k and front page news?

Do you really not know how appraisals work? Or did you just cherry-pick the distance part of the equation because it supports YOUR narrative? What about a comparison that includes square footage, lot size and construction quality?

 

[NatMorton]

If you don't shine a light on it...

How many times have 'Conservatives' claimed there isn't such a thing as systemic racism???

How many times is evidence overlooked by the left in favor of unproven, self-serving charges of racism? (Whatever the number is, you've just added to the tally with your post.)

 

[less right]

The outrage here isn't that this black couple got screwed but that it was reported as front page news?

Way to get to the meat(head) of the matter.

 

[notquiteright]

How many times is evidence overlooked by the left in favor of unproven, self-serving charges of racism? (Whatever the number is, you've just added to the tally with your post.)

How many times has the Rabid Right/MAGA overlooked the spotlight on systemic racism??? Add yours to that tally...

See how easy that is??? It writes itself...

 

[Mr Person]

Were they lowballed? Sure. But $300k and front page news?

Now why am I not surprised that Rickeroo thinks a black couple should just shut up, sit down, and eat a mere three hundred thousand dollar "lowballing" that appears race-based on first and second glance?

Might it have to do with his one and only focus on DP?

 

[NatMorton]

How many times has the Rabid Right/MAGA overlooked the spotlight on systemic racism??? Add yours to that tally...

See how easy that is??? It writes itself...

Actually, it's not easy at all for you, seeing has how I am neither a MAGA supporter nor have I made any assertion whether the OP describes an example of "systemic racism" or not. All you've done here is again jump to conclusions and, in the process, managed yet a further demonstration of the point I made in post #4.

Well done.

 

[notquiteright]

Actually, it's not easy at all for you, seeing has how I am neither a MAGA supporter nor have I made any assertion whether the OP describes an example of "systemic racism" or not. All you've done here is again jump to conclusions and, in the process, managed yet a further demonstration of the point I made in post #4.

Well done.

Walks like a duck, quacks and you know the rest...

You claimed something to try and deflect from the topic of systemic racism... deny all you want... typical Rabid Right/ MAGA BS...

No jumping, it was an easy two steps...

 

[NatMorton]

Walks like a duck, quacks and you know the rest...

You claimed something to try and deflect from the topic of systemic racism... deny all you want... typical Rabid Right/ MAGA BS...

No jumping, it was an easy two steps...

You're now talking through the sale.

 

[notquiteright]

You're now talking through the sale.

I'm sure that sounded better in your head....

The Rabid Right/MAGA crowd has repeatedly claimed there is no such thing as systemic racism. They deflect from each example as a one-off....

 

[j brown's body]

How many times is evidence overlooked by the left in favor of unproven, self-serving charges of racism? (Whatever the number is, you've just added to the tally with your post.)

You provide evidence with your racist sentiment that its about inferior black culture. So there is that.

 

[Rickeroo]

Homeland, MD. House location in green. A short distance to the east is Bellona Ave, where property values drop off precipitously. E Northern Parkway is a 4 lane road. Not included in the OP was 5419 Saint Albans Way, which abuts the parkway and sold for $166 a square foot.

The lawsuit asserts that the apprasier "failed to consider houses throughout Homeland, both north and south of Northern Parkway, that were more similar to Plaintiffs’ house than ones he used for his valuation". St Dunstan's Road is in the center of Homeland, a home like this is what the lawsuit says the property is worth, at $307 a square foot.

This may come as a shock to some, but even when a homeowner focuses primarily on issues of racism, capitalism, politics, cities, and migration in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, he still can't move his house from a busy road on the outskirts of a primarily white neighborhood and pretend it's at the center of said neighborhood.

Is anyone else "not seeing" $750k houses along E Northen Parkway, or am I alone here?

 

[j brown's body]

View attachment 67407771

Homeland, MD. House location in green. A short distance to the east is Bellona Ave, where property values drop off precipitously. E Northern Parkway is a 4 lane road. Not included in the OP was 5419 Saint Albans Way, which abuts the parkway and sold for $166 a square foot.

The lawsuit asserts that the apprasier "failed to consider houses throughout Homeland, both north and south of Northern Parkway, that were more similar to Plaintiffs’ house than ones he used for his valuation". St Dunstan's Road is in the center of Homeland, a home like this is what the lawsuit says the property is worth, at $307 a square foot.

This may come as a shock to some, but even when a homeowner focuses primarily on issues of racism, capitalism, politics, cities, and migration in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, he still can't move his house from a busy road on the outskirts of a primarily white neighborhood and pretend it's at the center of said neighborhood.

Is anyone else "not seeing" $750k houses along E Northen Parkway, or am I alone here?

Ever notice where they build those busy roads?

 

[element94]

Actually, it's not easy at all for you, seeing has how I am neither a MAGA supporter nor have I made any assertion whether the OP describes an example of "systemic racism" or not. All you've done here is again jump to conclusions and, in the process, managed yet a further demonstration of the point I made in post #4.

Well done.

The story states the valuation was done with their family pictures in place and and the black owners present; the value was ~$472,000. Then they removed their family photos and had a white colleague show the house and the value rose to $750,000. That's some story, huh? Why bring up all this other stuff trying to twist it into a pretzel?

 

[Tiny]

If you don't shine a light on it...

How many times have 'Conservatives' claimed there isn't such a thing as systemic racism???

Systemic racism, which is another name for institutional racism, refers to racism embedded in laws and similar institutions. But the appraiser is not a part of that, he is just some civilian. Therefore, this isn't a case of systemic racism. Just regular racism.

The story states the valuation was done with their family pictures in place and and the black owners present; the value was ~$472,000. Then they removed their family photos and had a white colleague show the house and the value rose to $750,000. That's some story, huh? Why bring up all this other stuff trying to twist it into a pretzel?

I am not saying the black couple didn't get screwed. However the stuff they did, just to "catch" racists seems slightly creepy to me. I mean first they removed their photo and then made the effort to find a white colleague. Creepy. And I wonder if they also told that white colleague what they were trying to do.

 

[justabubba]

not only did they fail to qualify for the refi they will eat the legal costs associated with this filing:

... The couple allege that Lanham's "dramatically lower valuation reflected his beliefs that a Black family did not genuinely belong in Homeland and could not be the owners of a higher valued home."
"Lanham violated professional standards to devalue Plaintiffs' home because of these racist beliefs. Defendant loanDepot relied on Lanham's appraisal despite being informed that it was infected by discrimination and stopped answering or returning Plaintiffs calls once they challenged the appraisal on that basis," the suit states. ...

yea, i will await the plaintiffs showing the appraiser did not believe the home owners belonged in a white community, when they were resident of a white community
there are typically three approaches to an appraisal:
1. replacement cost
2. fair market comparables
3. income approach
it is quite probable the appraiser estimated a value for each approach and then correlated those numbers to offer his current fair market value estimate
part of the estimation process is to determine the time between the comparable sales and the date of the appraisal. from the article, we know that time elapsed between the initial decline and the completion of a second appraisal. but we do not know how much time ... was that days or years?
how much weight was given to the comparables and how was that affected by the lag between the two appraisals?
based on the information provided, it would appear the plaintiff's property, while in a predominately white community, borders a predominately black community, which is not found by the buying public to be as desirable. that proximity may constitute off-site depreciation, resulting in the appraiser giving more weight to the nearby comparable sales than the comparables more distant from the plaintiff's property. the plaintiffs objected to such an emphasis on comparables nearer their property, but that is how appraisers are trained to evaluate fair market value determinations
file this thread topic as one which deserves little attention because of the irrational expectations of the plaintiffs

 

[element94]

Systemic racism, which is another name for institutional racism, refers to racism embedded in laws and similar institutions. But the appraiser is not a part of that, he is just some civilian. Therefore, this isn't a case of systemic racism. Just regular racism.

I am not saying the black couple didn't get screwed. However the stuff they did, just to "catch" racists seems slightly creepy to me. I mean first they removed their photo and then made the effort to find a white colleague. Creepy. And I wonder if they also told that white colleague what they were trying to do.

Creepy? Why creepy? No idea what African Americans still face, even in affluent neighborhoods?

 

[Tiny]

Creepy? Why creepy? No idea what African Americans still face, even in affluent neighborhoo.
?

I never said they faced no racism. I am just commenting on the length they went to, to "catch" racists.

I mean I can sort of see removing their photo and then re-submit. But they went beyond that, they took the trouble to find a white person to be in this with them.

 

[NolanVoyd]

I never said they faced no racism. I am just commenting on the length they went to, to "catch" racists.

I mean I can sort of see removing their photo and then re-submit. But they went beyond that, they took the trouble to find a white person to be in this with them.

Why would you have a problem with them "catching" racists?

 

[sardonicsky]

I never said they faced no racism. I am just commenting on the length they went to, to "catch" racists.

I mean I can sort of see removing their photo and then re-submit. But they went beyond that, they took the trouble to find a white person to be in this with them.

The nerve!

 

[element94]

I never said they faced no racism. I am just commenting on the length they went to, to "catch" racists.

I mean I can sort of see removing their photo and then re-submit. But they went beyond that, they took the trouble to find a white person to be in this with them.

I think the $300,000 difference here is the story, and the fact it rose when the assumption was made that it was a "white" house. Pretty damning.

 

[notquiteright]

Systemic racism, which is another name for institutional racism, which refers to racism embedded in laws and similar institutions. But the appraiser is not a part of that, he is just some civilian. Therefore, this isn't a case of systemic racism. Just regular racism.

I am not saying the black couple didn't get screwed. However the stuff they did, just to "catch" racists seems slightly creepy to me. I mean first they removed their photo and then made the effort to find a white colleague. Creepy. And I wonder if they also told that white colleague what they were trying to do.

I can't find the definition source that limits this to laws and similar institutions. Systemic cuts through a society.

I don't see it as creepy to test if discrimination occurs in real estate. I'll bet they did tell the white folks. I doubt it took much to find a friend to do the experiment.

 

[Tiny]

I can't find the definition source that limits this to laws and similar institutions. Systemic cuts through a society.

I got it from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism

It's not super reliable but reliable enough.

I don't see it as creepy to test if discrimination occurs in real estate. I'll bet they did tell the white folks. I doubt it took much to find a friend to do the experiment.

It depends on the white person. If he's one of those ultra-left leaning, BLM-cheering, woke, "white people are responsible for all the evils in the world" people, then I can see how he could be persuaded to participate in this "experiment". But if he was a regular white person, he would very likely be made uncomfortable. The black couple were essentially asking a white person to participate in something fake to see if his people were racist to their people.

Btw, it was not an experiment. It was a trap designed to "catch" racists.

 

[CaughtInThe]

Now why am I not surprised that Rickeroo thinks a black couple should just shut up, sit down, and eat a mere three hundred thousand dollar "lowballing" that appears race-based on first and second glance?

Yeah. Me either.