Klobuchar, Warnock, Cleaver, Colleagues Urge Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council to Address Racial Disparities in Housing Appraisal Industry

Press Release

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) led 33 of their colleagues in a letter urging the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) to work with the housing appraisal industry to address disparities in home valuations for communities of color.

Recent reports have shown significant disparities in the assessments of home valuations for white families and families of color -- in fact, a 2018 Brookings Institute report found that homes in majority-black neighborhoods are valued at roughly half the price as homes in neighborhoods with no black residents. Furthermore, the Appraisal Institute recently acknowledged the need to address unconscious racial bias in home valuations.

In the letter, the legislators highlight data on racial disparities in home appraisals, the connection between home values and intergenerational wealth, and the significant gap in black and white homeownership rates, concluding: "Given the critical connection between homeownership and wealth, as well as the longstanding structural barriers to homeownership for families of color, it is crucial that appraisers accurately and impartially assess the values of Americans' homes. Therefore, we encourage FFIEC to work with appraisers to reduce the racial appraisal gap and to address the long-term undervaluation of neighborhoods of color."

Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Merkley (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Donald Beyer (D-VA), Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Cindy Axne (D-IA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Grace Meng (D-NY), Bill Foster (D-IL), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Peter Welch (D-VT), André Carson (D-IN), Jesús G. "Chuy" Garcia (D-IL), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), and Alma Adams (D-NC) joined Klobuchar, Warnock, and Cleaver in signing the letter.

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