Tenisha Tate-Austin and her husband became suspicious when the Northern California home they spent years renovating was valued by an appraiser far lower than they expected.
So when they asked for a second opinion last year, a White friend pretended to own their home and they removed all artwork and photos that could show that it actually belonged to a Black family.
The new appraisal for their home in Marin County was more than $1.4 million and nearly half a million dollars higher than the previous estimate, they said.
“What that appraisal did is what we were actually asking the appraisers to do, to not consider race, to not consider neighborhoods and or the lines that have been drawn and perpetuated by redlining,” Tate-Austin told CNN.
Last week, the couple filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, arguing that racial discrimination played a role in the low valuation of their home.
CNN
Tenisha Tate-Austin and her husband became suspicious when the Northern California home they spent years renovating was valued by an appraiser far lower than they expected.
In their lawsuit, the Austins say, the first appraiser, Janette Miller, who is a White woman, violated the Fair Housing Act when she took into account the family’s race and the racial demographics of the house’s location for her appraisal.
“We shouldn’t have to go through this, we shouldn’t have to have our White friend standing in,” Paul Austin said.
CNN has reached out to Miller and her company, Miller & Perotti Real Estate Appraisals, which has also been named as defendant in the suit, multiple times for comment.
The Austins are seeking financial damages and asked the court to “permanently” ensure that the defendants won’t engage in discriminatory housing practices directly or through others, the lawsuit says.
Homes in largely Black areas valued less
The Austins had spent three years renovating their home. Since 2016, they added a deck, a gas fireplace, renovated the bathrooms, and even increased the total square feet of the home, the couple said.
“We put a lot of time and effort into the house, and that didn’t happen overnight,” Tate-Austin said.
When Miller appraised their home last year, the Austins say she compared their home to those in areas with a significant Black population, according to the lawsuit.
The population in Marin County, where they live, is more than 85% White, according to the US Census Bureau.
Research has shown that homes in largely Black neighborhoods are valued less than homes in mainly White areas, even when housing type and income of the areas are the same. In the average US neighborhoods where the share of the population is 50% Black, homes are valued at roughly half the price of homes in neighborhoods with no Black residents, according to recent research from the Brookings Institute.
Homes in majority Black neighborhoods in the US have been undervalued by an average of $46,000 over nearly a decade, according to an analysis by Redfin. The firm looked at more than 73 million single-family homes listed and sold between January 2013 and February 2021 and found a major gap between houses sold in Black and White neighborhoods.
Other homeowners are hiding their race
Like the Austins, there have been others families of color who recently have concealed their race or identity when getting their home appraised.
In Indianapolis, a Black woman previously told CNN she did not reveal her race or gender on an application when arranging for an appraisal. She kept communication to email and told the appraiser that she would be out of town and her brother would be at her home during the appraisal. Then a White friend posed as her brother and met the appraiser instead of her.
The appraised value more than doubled — it had been her third appraisal — and it led her to file a Fair Housing complaint against the lenders and appraisers she had worked with alleging racial discrimination.
The Austins said they took a chance at “white washing” their home because they knew of the discrepancy in home appraisals and they how they are not the first family who have received a lower home estimate.
The couple and their attorneys continue litigating their case but said they wanted to speak up to encourage other families of color to fight if they think their property is worth more.
“Hopefully, at the highest level we can start seeing systemic change and people being held accountable for devaluing Black and Brown lives, because that’s essentially what they did to us,” Paul Austin said.
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Photo Credit: Kara Grubis / Shutterstock
Most Americans like where they live, rating both their homes and neighborhoods favorably. According to the latest data on housing from the Census Bureau, the average U.S. householder rates their home an 8.37 and their neighborhood an 8.32 on a 10 point scale. Home opinions can be impacted by housing quality, having adequate space, amenities, and cost. Neighborhood opinions vary depending on the quality of nearby schools, crime, and social connectedness, among other factors.
Residents’ average opinion of both their homes and neighborhoods have improved over the last decade. In 2011, residents’ average opinion of their home was 8.27 (on a scale from 1 to 10), with 30.5% of residents rating their home a 10 out of 10. By 2019, the average home rating had increased to 8.37, with 34.5% of residents giving their home the top mark. Neighborhood opinions have also improved, from an average rating of 8.06 in 2011 to 8.32 in 2019.
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The rise in home and neighborhood opinions coincide with an overall increase in life satisfaction over the same time period. According to a Gallup poll on happiness and satisfaction with personal life, 78% of people reported being satisfied with their personal lives in 2011; by 2019, this figure had increased to 86%. Over the same time period, the share of people dissatisfied with their lives declined significantly, from 21% in 2011 to 13% in 2019. These increases in life satisfaction were accompanied by increased confidence in the U.S. economy and their own personal finances.
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These statistics present an encouraging and perhaps undertold story about the nation’s housing stock. Despite the very real issues facing American households—such as the affordability crisis and the large share of cost-burdened households—only an extremely small proportion lack access to adequate living space. According to the Census Bureau, just over 1% of housing units are defined as severely inadequate—a condition characterized by a lack of basic necessities, such as plumbing, heating, electricity, and basic upkeep. When compared to other developed countries, there’s perhaps no better place to reside. According to the OECD Better Life Index, despite ranking low- to middle of the pack in areas like education and overall life satisfaction, the U.S. actually ranks first for housing, which considers both quality and affordability.
To find the metropolitan areas where residents are the most satisfied with their homes, researchers at Inspection Support Network analyzed the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey. The researchers ranked locations according to residents’ average response (on a 1–10 scale) of the overall opinion of their present home. Researchers also calculated the residents’ average opinion of their present neighborhood, median home purchase price, median square feet, and median household income.
The Census Bureau data only includes statistics from select states and metropolitan areas. Of these locations, here are the metros where residents are the most satisfied with their homes.
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Photo Credit: D Guest Smith / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.78
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.54
- Median home purchase price: $160,000
- Median square feet: 1,600
- Median household income: $66,000
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Photo Credit: Jon Bilous / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.79
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.58
- Median home purchase price: $226,000
- Median square feet: 1,504
- Median household income: $65,600
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Photo Credit: Pete Niesen / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.80
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.67
- Median home purchase price: $456,000
- Median square feet: 1,223
- Median household income: $106,000
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Photo Credit: Andrei Medvedev / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.82
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.68
- Median home purchase price: $313,000
- Median square feet: 1,600
- Median household income: $100,000
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Photo Credit: Brian Goodman / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.84
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.62
- Median home purchase price: $270,000
- Median square feet: 1,200
- Median household income: $70,000
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Photo Credit: Luciano Mortula – LGM / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.85
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.66
- Median home purchase price: $175,000
- Median square feet: 1,800
- Median household income: $69,000
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Photo Credit: Gregory E. Clifford / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.89
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.59
- Median home purchase price: $195,000
- Median square feet: 1,600
- Median household income: $64,000
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Photo Credit: zimmytws / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.90
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.77
- Median home purchase price: $200,000
- Median square feet: 1,700
- Median household income: $75,000
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Photo Credit: CO Leong / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.92
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.88
- Median home purchase price: $285,000
- Median square feet: 1,499
- Median household income: $87,000
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Photo Credit: Galina Savina / Shutterstock
- Average opinion of present home (1–10 scale): 8.96
- Average opinion of present neighborhood (1–10 scale): 8.79
- Median home purchase price: $170,000
- Median square feet: 1,350
- Median household income: $54,400
