Home Scandal and Gossip Black couple sue real estate agency in lowball home appraisal

Black couple sue real estate agency in lowball home appraisal

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Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin lowball home appraisal lawsuit
Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin Black California couple lowballed by $500K in Marine home appraisal.
Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin lowball home appraisal lawsuit
Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin Black California couple lowballed by $500K in Marine home appraisal. Pictured, Jan- white woman who posed as home owner.

Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin Black California couple lowballed by $500K in Marine home appraisal, believe race was a factor in fair housing lawsuit. 

A black California couple are suing a real estate firm after their home went up in value by 50 per cent when they had a white friend pose as its owner. 

Paul, 45, and Tenisha Tate Austin, 42, hailing from Marin City near San Francisco had their home valued at $989,000 in January, having purchased it in 2016 for $550,000. 

Following a second appraisal from a different lender the following month, they were shocked to find the home’s value increased by a further $500,000. The couple credit ‘whitewashing’ the home of all signs of its owners’ identity, and asking a Caucasian friend to pose as Tenisha for the second viewing as the reason for the jump in value.

The couple have now filed a fair housing lawsuit against appraiser Janette Miller, her firm Miller and Perotti Real Estate Appraisers, Inc. and national appraisal company AMC Links, LLC in the $487,500 discrepancy over the two valuations they received. 

AMC were tasked with handling the couple’s valuation, and were also behind the second valuation which saw a dramatic increase in price, the lawsuit alleges.

Home re apprised $500K when home was ‘white-washed’ 

‘As a result of the unlawful housing practices of defendants as alleged herein, plaintiffs Tenisha Tate-Austin and Paul Austin suffered damages, including loss of financing opportunity in connection with their dwelling, economic losses, emotional distress with attendant physical injuries, and violation of their civil rights,’ the legal complaint reads. ‘In addition, defendants’ discriminatory housing practices result in lower property values in Marin City generally, to the detriment of plaintiffs.’

The couple say the January estate agent was an older white woman – Miller – who used coded phrases like ‘Marin City is a distinct area’ when she valued the property which they believe was race-related.

The couple sensing they had received a ‘low ball bid’ complained to their lender describing the bid as ‘a slap in the face’ before the pair were finally approved for a second appraisal. 

This time, the pair decided to run an experiment to see if their suspicions were right and got a white friend to pose as the owner. 

They hid photographs and art work and replace it with their friend’s photos. 

‘We had a conversation with one of our white friends, and she said. ‘No problem. I’ll be Tenisha. I’ll bring over some pictures of my family’. She made our home look like it belonged to her.’ 

‘There are implications to our ability to create generational wealth or passing things on if our houses appraise for 50% less,’ Tenisha added.   

Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin lowball home appraisal lawsuit
Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin Black California couple lowballed by $500K in Marine home appraisal.

‘We did our homework’ 

The couple carried out $400,000 of significant renovations in the five years since buying the home including a brand new floor which added 1,000 sq feet of space, a fireplace, new appliances and an outdoor deck.

But when it came to listing the property they found it had increased in the home’s value by just 10 per cent.   

Paul believed the low figure was as a result of the color of their skin. 

‘I read the appraisal, I looked at the number I was like, ‘This is unbelievable”, wife, Tenisha said to ABC7.

The couple are alleging racial bias and are seeking a jury trial and financial damages.

‘We did our homework,’ Austin told the Reparations Task Force in a panel on the racial wealth gap in October, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle 

Black California couple lowballed by $500K in Marine home appraisal
Black California couple lowballed by $500K in Marine home appraisal.

‘Appraisers seem to think they need to stick to the composition of neighborhoods.’

We believe the white lady wanted to devalue our property because we are in a black neighborhood, and the home belonged to a black family.

‘My stomach hurt, my head hurt, just because of what we went through,’ Austin said. ‘I don’t wish that on anybody. 

‘I want to see a change. I don’t want to see my children have to deal with this,’ he added.

Marin City, where the Austins live, is a historically black community. 

‘There are definitely things about this complaint that are uniquely strong,’ said an attorney for the couple, Julia Howard-Gibbon, to the Chronicle. ‘They erased themselves from the home, essentially.’  

Added Howard-Gibbon via the NorthBay Business Journal: ‘Few of these cases happen, but this has been going on for years.’

‘Appraisers seem to think they need to stick to the composition of neighborhoods.’

The attorney believes the appraiser was solely influenced by who owned the house and the minority representation in the unincorporated area of the county.

Attorneys for the Austins note: ‘Marin City has a long history of undervaluation based on stereotypes, redlining, discriminatory appraisal standards, and actual or perceived racial demographics.’ 

Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin lowball home appraisal lawsuit
Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin lowball home appraisal lawsuit.

Low home black home ownership; systemic racism

Jessica Lautz, from the National Association of Realtors‘ vice president of demographics and behavioral insights, said the couple’s case was not unusual.

‘We know discrimination is in nearly every aspect of that home buying process,’ she said. ‘We need to be addressing it as an industry.’

Black home ownership is far less across the country with only 44 percent of black Americans owning their home in 2020 compared to 74 percent for white Americans according to real estate firm Redfin.

In the state of California, only 34 percent of black Californians own a home, according to the National Association of Realtors. According to the Census Bureau, 44 percent of Black families owned a home nationally in the first quarter of 2020, compared to nearly 74 percent of white families.

A recent demographic report issued in July 2019 by the U.S. Census, Marin County’s population is comprised of 85.3% white; 2.8% Black; 16.3% Latino; and 6.6% Asian residents.

The plaintiffs, which include the advocacy group, seek unspecified damages.

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