San Francisco – A real estate appraiser would not have expected these resourceful homeowners …
Homeowner Paul Austin believed his family’s future was secure in early 2020. Because in Marin City, an affluent suburb of San Francisco (US state California), they own a beautiful little house on the hill with a wonderful view over the bay of the metropolis.
The family had hired an appraiser to appraise the value of their property, should they ever want to sell like that „San Francisco Chronicle“ reported.
Janette Miller, an appraiser for the real estate company “Miller and Perotti Real Estate Appraisers”, came to the appraisal and congratulated the Austins for the great location and the view of their house. But when Miller told the couple their price, how much their house was worth, the Austin family fell apart from the clouds!
It should be worth $ 995,000, almost half a million dollars less than an estimate ten months earlier. Paul Austin and his wife Tenisha Tate-Austin reported it to a state reparation committee that deals with racial discrimination.
The African American couple got a second opinion shortly after the shock. But this time they let a friend make the appointment, a white man. He sat at the kitchen table and pretended to be the homeowner.
To keep up appearances and make their home “appear white”, the Austins hid art and family photos. The appraiser attested: The house was worth 1,482,500 US dollars.
The family is now suing appraiser Janette Miller because of the $ 487,500 discrepancy.
Photo: Miller & Perotti-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/immobilien-gutachterin-janette-miller-bewertete-das-haus-der-afroamerikanische-familie-9bedb1d9178e49478440465533a5c234-78525620/Bild/9.bild. jpg “/>
Real estate appraiser Janette Miller assessed the home of the African American familyPhoto: Miller & Perotti
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“We have done our homework,” Paul Austin said before a state reparation body on this “racial wealth gap.” Austin believes “the lady wanted to depreciate our property because we are in a black neighborhood and the house belonged to a black family.”
Miller and her company left a request unanswered.
Researchers at the Brookings Institution, an independent research and education organization, found that condominiums in black-majority areas of the United States were worth an average of $ 48,000 per home.
Now calls are being made that real estate valuations should be centralized by the state.
Photo: Jan-Henrik Dobers-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/die-immobilien-preise-in-und-rund-um-san-francisco-us-bundesstaat-kalifornia-schiessen-in-die- height-edfe0687611e4dd5a09c8a5df8b363bd-78525626 / image / 9.image.jpg “/>
Real estate prices in and around San Francisco (US state California) are skyrocketing, and high inflation is exacerbating the situationPhoto: Jan-Henrik Dobers
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The Austin family bought the home for $ 550,000 in late 2016, according to the filed lawsuit.
“There are definitely things about this lawsuit that are uniquely powerful,” said the couple’s attorney, Julia Howard-Gibbon.
The plaintiffs are now calling for a jury trial and damages. They also want to get a court order prohibiting real estate appraisers from such discriminatory behavior.
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