Vice President Kamala Harris detailed a new plan the White House says will help close the racial wealth gap and eliminate racial bias in home appraisals during an event on Wednesday.
Joined by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge and black homeowners who shared stories of having homes undervalued during appraisals, Harris laid out initiatives the Biden administration is taking to address the issue.
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“Owning a home means a shot at a better future. Owning a home is also a symbol of the benefit of hard work, the benefit of having ambition and aspiration for oneself and one’s family,” Harris said. “We don’t want to have a system that denies people an ability to have that goal simply because there’s bias in the system. We can correct that.”
Along with government officials, two homeowners shared stories of having to “whitewash” their homes — replacing family photos with those of white families and having a white friend pose as the homeowner — in order to get higher appraisals. One said her California home appraised for just under $1 million initially, and then nearly $1.5 million after whitewashing.
A fact sheet released by the White House says government agencies will work to increase oversight of the appraisal industry, provide more information to homeowners on how to challenge low valuations, prevent bias in algorithm-based valuations, and create more diversity in the appraisal industry, which the fact sheet says is 97% white. Harris also announced the release of a guide on the HUD website for those who think they are the victim of a biased appraisal.
The median white family in America holds eight times the wealth of the typical black family and five times as much as the typical Latino family, according to the White House, much of which is due to higher homeownership rates and higher property values.
“Today, we’re here to increase in equity in all senses of the word,” said White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice. “It can refer to financial equity, home equity.”
A conservative group said the new policies send the wrong message and run the risk of artificially raising home prices.
“They’ve concocted a program and scheme that will for political purposes inflate the values of homes, making it harder for purchasers and renters to afford housing,” said Tom Fritton, president of Judicial Watch. “It further shows how the [critical race theory] agenda is the animating narrative of the entire Biden administration.”
The plan is based on politics rather than true market forces, Fritton argued.
“Appraisals are based on what other houses go for and the condition of the current house,” he said. “If a house is undervalued, the market will correct that.”
During Fudge’s remarks, she said the homeownership gap between black and white households is worse today than it was in 1968.
Harris has a long background of working on housing issues, helping pass a state-level homeowner’s bill of rights during her time as California attorney general.
The plan laid out by the White House requires home appraisers to complete anti-bias, fair housing, and fair lending training.
“Redlining long, long denied black homeowners a share in the American dream. That inequity continues today in the home appraisal system,” Harris said. “Far too often, for far too many people, [appraisals] are not fair and objective. Research has repeatedly shown that black homeowners are more likely to have their homes undervalued than other homeowners.”
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The announcement is part of President Joe Biden’s Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, or PAVE, task force, which was created last summer.
