Appraisal Discrimination Appeal Filed After Race-Based $100,000 Undervaluation
Six-Figure Loss Sparks Appeal on Behalf of Interracial Couple in Franklin, Mass.
Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) has appealed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) dismissal of an appraisal discrimination complaint filed on behalf of an interracial couple in Franklin, Massachusetts, alleging that racial bias during a refinancing appraisal process undervalued their home by $100,000.
Mr. Kweku Nyinaku and Dr. Lauren Murphy’s complaint describes their family’s demeaning interaction with their home appraiser. The appraiser, who was initially friendly, conversational, and at ease with Dr. Murphy, who is white, changed his demeanor once he was greeted by Mr. Nyinaku, who is Black. The appraiser would not look Mr. Nyinaku in the eye, cut the conversation short, and completed the appraisal in a rushed and cursory manner.
The couple knew from the interaction that the appraiser was uncomfortable with Mr. Nyinaku’s race. But the depth of the discrimination and the magnitude of the harm became clear only when they received the appraisal report, which valued their home at $100,000 less than it had been valued in another appraisal conducted less than a year earlier. Alarmed by the stark discrepancy, the family filed a housing discrimination complaint with HUD seeking accountability and redress.
Appraisal discrimination is especially sinister and noxious because it threatens to strip families of equity, one of the most enduring pathways to wealth-building in America. For many families, home equity is how wealth is built and passed on over time. Discrimination in the home appraisal process exacerbates persistent racial disparities in housing and homeownership. As LCR has consistently advocated, combating bias and discrimination in home appraisals is a critical step toward closing the homeownership and racial wealth gaps.
HUD’s dismissal disregarded and failed to properly account for evidence of racial discrimination. The appraiser has admitted to unprofessional conduct before the professional licensing board, paid a $1,000 fine, and completed 45 hours of training to resolve findings that he had not adequately appraised Mr. Nyinaku and Dr. Murphy’s home. Yet HUD summarily dismissed this evidence while applying the wrong legal standard. LCR now calls on HUD to reconsider its findings.
“The way the appraiser treated my family that day has had a lasting impact on us,” said Kweku Nyinaku. “We are standing up to prevent other families like ours from facing this type of injustice and to help families who have been through similar experiences feel less alone.”
“HUD’s obligation to meaningfully investigate housing discrimination is at the heart of its mandate to enforce the Fair Housing Act,” said Jillian Lenson, Senior Attorney at LCR. “Mr. Nyinaku and Dr. Murphy deserve to have their complaint fairly assessed and to get justice for the way their family was treated.”
“As housing costs balloon in markets across the country, we can’t allow a racial caste system that shuts families out of homeownership and then, once they achieve it, devalues their homes, robbing them of the wealth-building benefits homeownership provides,” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, Executive Director of LCR.
LCR’s appeal is the latest in its efforts to prevent HUD from rolling back critical Fair Housing Act enforcement and protections. Over the last year, LCR has also opposed HUD’s elimination of its disparate impact regulation, rebuked HUD’s baseless fair housing investigation of Boston, and submitted requests demanding transparency in HUD’s fair housing investigation process.
The HUD appeal is available here.