Black couple sues appraiser for $500k less home than white friend

A black couple is suing a real estate company, alleging a white appraiser valued their home at nearly $500,000 because of their race.

Paul, 45, and Tenisha Tate Austin, 42, were shocked beyond belief when their Marin City home in the San Francisco Bay Area was worth $989,000. Over the course of five years, the couple did major $400,000 renovations to the home, including a new floor, creating another 1,000 square feet of space, a new deck, fireplace, and other features. other improvements.

She added: “There are impacts on our ability to create wealth generation after generation or pass on things if our home is valued at 50% less than it is worth.

The Austins’ lawsuit alleges that the first appraiser, Janette Miller, undervalued them because they were black.

Paul told the state’s compensation task force in October that he believes the property has depreciated ‘because we’re in a black neighborhood, and the house belongs to a black family’ .

Attorneys for Fair Housing Advocates, who represent themselves and the Austin family, did not immediately respond to Metro’s requests for comment.

Jessica Lautz, of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said discrimination is present in ‘nearly every aspect of that home-buying process’, adding, ‘We need to. tackle it like an industry’.

According to research from NAR, only 34% of black Californians own a home, claiming that black applicants are three times more likely to be rejected for mortgage loans than whites.