[Music] foreign [Music] Lee senior counsel and director of legal Affairs in this video we'll discuss how real estate professionals can help ensure that their clients receive an impartial and objective appraisal whether purchasing selling or refinancing a home an appraisal is a critical element for these significant transactions lenders home buyers and sellers expect and rely on the appraisal to provide an independent fair and objective estimate of the market value of a home and a successful deal hinges on them it's for this reason that appraisers are legally and ethically required to perform an appraisal with impartiality objectivity and Independence and to comply with all laws and regulations including fair housing laws however you may be familiar with recent reports of black homeowners initially receiving questionably low appraisals and then obtaining a higher one after removing personal effects from their homes in fact the federal housing financing Authority recently reviewed millions of cases and found evidence of potential race-related bias in thousands of appraisals in response an interagency task force was formed by President Biden called property appraisal and valuation Equity or pave to develop recommendations to eliminate racial and ethnic bias in the appraisal process in March 2022 pave released an action plan aimed at rooting out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations details about the plan can be found on pave's website or on nar.realtor Realtors are committed to upholding fair housing laws in all real estate activities including appraisals the Nar code of ethics prohibits a realtor from denying equal Professional Services or discriminating against any person based on race color religion sex disability familial status national origin sexual orientation or gender identity to help your client obtain an impartial and objective appraisal here are some tips and recommendations when your client is selecting a lender advise them to ask about the lender's policies for preventing and addressing bias and appraisals their criteria for selecting appraisers and whether they require fair housing and implicit bias training second provide the appraiser with relevant and objective data about the property including comparable home sales and to be available to answer their questions be clear that your intent is only to provide helpful information as to avoid any misinterpretation of improper influence third if factual information about the property is incorrect or relevant comp data wasn't considered in the appraisal inform your client they can request a reconsideration of value or ROV from the lender next if the ROV isn't effective your client can ask their lender to conduct an appraisal review which is a formal evaluation of the quality of the Appraiser's work or to obtain a second appraisal lastly if you or your client suspects improper bias a complaint can be filed with the appraisal complaint National hotline HUD cfpb and the local housing or civil rights authorities thank you for watching this episode of window to the law [Music]