Black Couple’s Home Appraises for $500K More —When White Pal Poses as Owner: Settlement

[Turd Fergusen]

A black couple has settled a lawsuit with a property appraiser who undervalued their California home by almost half a million dollars.

Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate-Austin’s four-bedroom residence in swanky Sausalito, near San Francisco, was valued at $998,000 by Janette Miller, co-owner of Miller and Perotti Real Estate Appraisers. That figure was $455,000 lower than an appraisal done for a prior mortgage refinance in 2019.

Feeling that their home was worth much more money, the Austins asked one of their white pals to pose as the owner of their residence. They had the home reappraised — and it was suddenly worth $1.48 million.

The Austins decided to sue Miller and her company claiming that her appraisal was “the direct product of racial discrimination.”

The case has now been settled out of court, with Miller agreeing to pay an undisclosed sum of money to the couple. The settlement also includes an unusual twist: The appraiser was also required to watch “Our America: Lowballed,” a documentary about their “white-washed” saga.

“Having to experience everything that came with receiving the lowballed appraisal was overwhelming,” Paul Austin, 47, said in a statement. “Being able to tell our story and knowing we had legal recourse helped.”

FullArticle

Black couple’s home appraises for $500K more —when white pal poses as owner: settlement

Paul & Tenesha Austin’s home was valued at $998K. Weeks later, they had a white friend pose as their property’s owner — and it was suddenly worth $1.5M.

nypost.com

 

[BuffettGirl]

OMFG! Aren't we better than this bullshit? Appraisals should reflect on the state of the home, not the homeowners skin tone! I didn't think we were still riding the hateful, racist petty train quite this hard...

 

[knockout]

This is interesting, they obviously used a different company the second time that came up with a different price
Would be interesting to see what the house actually sells for, or if at the new price it doesn’t attract buyers
They now appraised it right at the medium price for the city of Sausalito

The median home price in Sausalito, CA is $1,495,000

edit
Seems everyone caved in to stay out of court and gave them the estimate they wanted, had nothing to do with race
They’re not selling, they were refinancing

Black couple’s home appraises for $500K more —when white pal poses as owner: settlement​

“I think everybody involved with the case was ready to move on,” Caroline Peattie, the executive director of Fair Housing, told San Jose Mercury News.
Miller’s attorneys initially hit back at racism claims, writing in a rejoinder to the suit which stated: “There is nothing inherently racist about choosing comparable properties that are located in the same city as the Subject Property, Without any direct (or indirect) evidence of actual racial discrimination, Miller’s choice of comparable properties cannot support Plaintiff’s claim of discrimination.”

However, the property appraiser eventually agreed to the out-of-court settlement.

Black couple’s home appraises for $500K more —when white pal poses as owner: settlement

Paul & Tenesha Austin’s home was valued at $998K. Weeks later, they had a white friend pose as their property’s owner — and it was suddenly worth $1.5M.

nypost.com

 

[Turd Fergusen]

I got really fucked on comps once myself. There was a house in my neighborhood where I'd say the average house price was $240k-$255k, with 2 newer streets where the price was double that. There was an old lady that wanted to move into assisted living, and an opportunity came up and she let her house go for a song at $146k as long as the transaction was cash and done within a week. Well, that was one of the three houses they picked as a comp when I was trying to refinance.

 

[thuumpr]

If they took the higher off and the settlement, good for them!