Appraiser who undervalued a Black and Latino couple’s Oakland home must pay them $75K

​A Black and Latino couple in Oakland will receive $75,000 to compensate them for a property appraisal that undervalued their home by more than $250,000, which prevented them from getting a new loan and eventually led them to move out, state civil rights officials said Monday. The settlement of a complaint by the California Civil Rights Department also requires the appraisal company, Clear Capital, to train employees on identifying and preventing possible racial and ethnic bias in assessing property value.

“Whether it’s lowball appraisals or a history of redlining, communities of color across the country continue to confront the multigenerational harms of housing discrimination,” the department’s director, Kevin Kish, said in a statement announcing the settlement. “Appraisers, lenders and brokers all have a responsibility to prevent discrimination in real estate transactions.”
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In a statement Tuesday, Helge Hukari, general counsel for Clear Capital, said the company “appreciates being able to work alongside the California Civil Rights Department to resolve this matter. We will continue to maintain the systems and processes outlined in the settlement agreement.” Clear Capital based in Reno, describes itself as one of the nation’s top five appraisal managers. In a related settlement, the Civil Rights Department said the individual appraiser, who was not identified by name, had agreed to pay $75,000 to the couple and $15,000 to the department, undergo anti-discrimination training and watch an ABC documentary, “Our America: Lowballed,” on the effects of appraisal bias on communities of color.

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