Home Appraised With a Black Owner: $472,000. With a White Owner: $750,000.

[Nevilledog]

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Jacqueline Antonovich
@jackiantonovich
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Historian Nathan Connelly's house went from an appraisal of 472K to 750K, once they removed all evidence of their race from the house & asked a white colleague to answer the door. Now he's suing (good!).
What was that discourse yesterday about presentism?
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.
nytimes.com
A Professor Who Studies Housing Discrimination Says It Happened to Him
Nathan Connolly and his wife, Shani Mott, say an appraisal company undervalued their home based on their race. The couple has filed a lawsuit in Maryland.
3:48 AM · Aug 18, 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/realestate/housing-discrimination-maryland.html

No paywall
https://archive.ph/WvYYG

Last summer, Nathan Connolly and his wife, Shani Mott, welcomed an appraiser into their house in Baltimore, hoping to take advantage of historically low interest rates and refinance their mortgage.

They believed that their house — improved with a new $5,000 tankless water heater and $35,000 in other renovations — was worth much more than the $450,000 that they paid for it in 2017. Home prices have been on the rise nationwide since the pandemic; in Baltimore, they have gone up 42 percent in the past five years, according to Zillow.com.

But 20/20 Valuations, a Maryland appraisal company, put the home’s value at $472,000, and in turn, loanDepot, a mortgage lender, denied the couple a refinance loan.

Dr. Connolly said he knew why: He, his wife and three children, aged 15, 12 and 9, are Black. A professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Connolly is an expert on redlining and the legacy of white supremacy in American cities, and much of his research focuses on the role of race in the housing market.

*snip*

[uponit7771]

1. Appraisers are unfettered in this country, they're part of the housing inflation IMHO

[mopinko]

2. property values in my hood are crazy low.

i'm sure it has nothing to do w how many brown ppl live here. that couldnt be it.
appraisals dont work that way.









do i need this?

[dclarston13]

3. We live in a very diverse area and it effects our values. NT

[DFW]

4. Well, in THAT case......

I'd try to get the appraiser to convince the county property tax people to accept the low number, so he can pay his property taxes based on the lowball number he received from 20/20 Valuations. If the low number is deemed to be far too low, present the low appraisal to the county authorities and see if the firm 20/20 Valuations should even be allowed to be doing business in Maryland.

[maxrandb]

6. If he were a "rich" white guy with a shaved Golden Retrievers ass for a head

He could use the low valuation for his taxes, and the high one for a loan.

Isn't that how it works in 'Murika?

[DFW]

7. I have no earthly clue how it works there

I had already been spending most of my time in EU/NATO land by the time I bought a house.

[Arazi]

8. He's talking about Trump's scam - exactly what Weisselberg was just convicted of

[DFW]

11. OK, that is easier to follow

I'll have to get more informed on that, thanks!

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

5. K&R

[sinkingfeeling]

9. House of single woman appraised at $782,000. Month later,

owned by couple, appraised at $1.1 million

[jonstl08]

10. Similar

Awhile back I posted something like this on FB and the amount of people who said this could not happen was unbelievable. Even with all the evidence they were blind to the racist aspects.