Sep 22, 2020 09:00:00

An example of a 40% increase in valuation when removing 'traces of blacks living' from homes

In the United States, where black discrimination remains deeply rooted, it was reported that the valuation of homes without 'furniture reminiscent of blacks' increased by as much as 40%.

Florida couple erases'blackness' from home, appraisal jumps 40% | firstcoastnews.com

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/jacksonville-couple-sees-home-appraisal-jump-40-percent-after-they-remove-all-traces-of-blackness/77-c3087e8c- 0c65-4fb9-8319-da82f5c0ea20

Black Homeowners Face Discrimination in Appraisals --The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/realestate/blacks-minorities-appraisals-discrimination.html

Abena Houghton and Alex Houghton, who live in Jacksonville, Florida, asked a real estate appraiser to rate their homes to give up their homes, and they gave the expected price from nearby home prices. It has been assessed as 330,000 dollars (about 35 million yen), which is more than 100,000 dollars (about 10 million yen). The picture below is Mr. and Mrs. Houghton. My wife, Abena, is black and my husband, Alex, is white. The house in question is in the back.

There, Houghton and his wife took pictures of black relatives from home, portraits of great African-Americans, and African-American female writers

Zora Neale Hurston and black literature who were active in the 1920s and 1940s. Removed the work of Toni Morrison , known as the driving force . In addition, Abena, a black man, went out and made sure that only Alex, a white man, was at home, and then called in a different appraiser from the previous one.

After removing all the traces of black people as described above, the appraisal price was 465,000 dollars (about 49 million yen), which is about 40% of the initial appraisal price of 330,000 dollars. The price has jumped as well. In addition, the first appraiser was always doing a 'finding' to make rude comments about furniture etc. during the assessment, but the second appraiser did not search for faults. ..

The New York Times, an American letter, describes this example as 'race and housing policy have long been intertwined in the United States.' In the United States, compared to the Caucasian Black is difficult to be subject to the approval of the mortgage, financial institutions must be enclosed by a red line the area where blacks of low-income hierarchy is living as a higher lending risk, 'to exclude from financing target

red There has been a practice called ' lining '. With this red lining, housing prices in areas where many black people live continue to fall.

This case is an extension of the red lining, and it seems that black homeowners usually have lower assessed prices even in areas where whites live. Fair Housing Act, which was enacted in 1968, when the housing appraiser makes a discriminatory appraisal is not only deprived of their license, are determined to impose imprisonment, was enacted in 1989, financial The Institutional Reform and Recovery Enforcement Law also stipulates similar measures. However, this example shows that the reality of black homeowners is far from the idea of the law.

'It's going to break my heart. It's common sense in the black community to remove a photo when selling a home, but I didn't think I had to be careful when assessing it,' said Abena. I have commented.