NFHA Featured in Newly Released Documentary, “Our America: Lowballed”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

December 6, 2022 

Contact: Izzy Woodruff | 202-898-1661 | iwoodruff@nationalfairhousing.org  

Documentary tackles issue of bias in home appraisals

Washington, D.C. — The National Fair Housing Alliance® (“NFHA™”) commends reporter Julian Glover and ABC News for their groundbreaking documentary, “Our America: Lowballed.” With detailed analysis and comprehensive reporting, this film lifts up the voices of Black and Latino families who have been harmed by our current appraisal system.

NFHA’s extensive work on appraisal reform is featured throughout the documentary, and NFHA’s President and CEO, Lisa Rice, provides several insights, including observations about the practice of “whitewashing,” in which a family of color erases all evidence of their racial or ethnic background and asks a white friend to greet the appraiser:

You know that Black families have been doing this for generations. What did these homeowners know to do on their own? They didn’t have anybody telling them. They knew: “My Black face is generating this lower value. Let me get some White faces in here and I’ll get a higher value.” And what happened? They were absolutely right.

Earlier this year, NFHA was commissioned by the Appraisal Subcommittee to undertake a groundbreaking study about Appraisal Standards and Appraiser Qualification Criteria, including appraisal bias. In the study, NFHA documented systemic challenges that drive appraisal bias and provided recommendations to overhaul the appraisal process and governance to address discrimination and inequities. Many of those recommendations were included in the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (“PAVE”)’s Action Plan. Earlier this year, NFHA and leading civil rights and consumer advocates issued a letter to Congress and the Biden Administration strongly urging them to enact meaningful appraisal reform in six key areas: governance, barriers to entry to the appraisal profession, fair housing training for appraisers, appraisal standards, accountability and enforcement, and home valuation data and research.

The letter was issued jointly by the following organizations:

• National Fair Housing Alliance
• Americans for Financial Reform
• Asian American Real Estate Association of America (AREAA)
• Center for Community Progress
• Center for Responsible Lending
• Consumer Action
• Disability Rights Advocates
• Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
• The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)
• National Action Network
• National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB)
• National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inc.
• National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD)
• National Coalition for the Homeless
• National Community Reinvestment Coalition
• National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients
• National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
• National Housing Law Project
• National Housing Resource Center
• National Urban League
• National Women’s Law Center
• Prosperity Now
• Reinvestment Fund
• True Colors United
• UnidosUS
• Woodstock Institute

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The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. As the trade association for over 170 fair housing and justice-centered organizations and individuals throughout the U.S. and its territories, NFHA works to dismantle longstanding barriers to equity and build diverse, inclusive, well-resourced communities.