Tenisha
Tate-Austin 和她的丈夫开始怀疑他们花了数年时间翻新的北加州房屋，估价师对他们的估价远低于他们的预期。
所以当他们去年征求第二意见时，一个白人朋友假装拥有他们的房子，他们删除了所有可能表明它实际上属于黑人家庭的艺术品和照片。
他们说，他们在马林县的房屋的新估价超过 140 万美元，比之前的估计高出近 50 万美元。
泰特-奥斯汀告诉美国有线电视新闻网：“评估所做的是我们实际上要求评估员做的事情，不考虑种族，不考虑社区和/或由红线划定和延续的界限。”
上周，这对夫妇向旧金山联邦法院提起诉讼，辩称种族歧视是造成他们房屋估值偏低的原因之一。
在他们的诉讼中，奥斯汀夫妇说，第一位评估师珍妮特米勒是一名白人女性，她在评估时考虑了家庭的种族和房屋所在地的种族人口统计数据，这违反了《公平住房法》。
“我们不应该经历这个，我们不应该让我们的白人朋友站在那里，”保罗奥斯汀说。
CNN 已多次联系米勒和她的公司 Miller & Perotti Real Estate Appraisals，该公司在诉讼中也被列为被告，征求意见。
诉讼称，奥斯汀夫妇正在寻求经济损失，并要求法院“永久”确保被告不会直接或通过其他人参与歧视性住房做法。
大部分黑人地区的房屋价值较低
奥斯汀一家花了三年时间装修他们的家。这对夫妇说，自 2016 年以来，他们增加了一个甲板、一个燃气壁炉，翻新了浴室，甚至增加了房屋的总平方英尺。
“我们在房子上投入了大量时间和精力，这不是一夜之间发生的，”泰特-奥斯汀说。
根据诉讼，当米勒去年评估他们的房屋时，奥斯汀夫妇说她将他们的房屋与黑人人口众多地区的房屋进行了比较。
根据美国人口普查局的数据，他们居住的马林县的人口超过 85% 是白人。
研究表明，以黑人为主的社区的房屋价值低于以白人为主的地区的房屋，即使这些地区的住房类型和收入相同。根据布鲁金斯学会最近的研究，在美国黑人人口比例为 50% 的平均社区中，房屋价值约为没有黑人居民的社区房屋价格的一半。
根据 Redfin 的一项分析，近十年来，美国大多数黑人社区的房屋被平均低估了 46,000 美元。该公司调查了 2013 年 1 月至 2021 年 2 月期间上市和销售的超过 7300 万套单户住宅，发现黑人和白人社区出售的房屋之间存在巨大差距。
其他房主隐藏他们的种族
像奥斯汀一家一样，最近还有其他有色人种家庭在评估房屋时隐瞒了他们的种族或身份。
在印第安纳波利斯，一名黑人女性此前告诉 CNN，她在安排评估时没有在申请中透露自己的种族或性别。她通过电子邮件保持沟通，并告诉估价师，估价期间她会出城，而她的兄弟会在家。然后一个白人朋友冒充她的兄弟，而不是她遇到了估价师。
评估值增加了一倍多——这是她的第三次评估——这导致她对与她一起工作的贷方和评估师提出了公平住房投诉，指控种族歧视。
奥斯汀一家说，他们抓住机会“洗白”了他们的房子，因为他们知道房屋评估的差异，而且他们不是第一个收到较低房屋评估的家庭。
这对夫妇和他们的律师继续对他们的案件提起诉讼，但表示如果他们认为自己的财产更值钱，他们想站出来鼓励其他有色人种家庭进行斗争。
“希望在最高层面，我们可以开始看到系统性变化，人们要为贬低黑人和棕色人的生命负责，因为这基本上就是他们对我们所做的，”保罗奥斯汀说。
A Black couple had a White friend show their home and its appraisal rose by nearly half a million dollars
Tenisha Tate-Austin and her husband became suspicious when the Northern California home they spent years renovating was valued by an appraiser far lower than they expected.
So when they asked for a second opinion last year, a White friend pretended to own their home and they removed all artwork and photos that could show that it actually belonged to a Black family.
The new appraisal for their home in Marin County was more than $1.4 million and nearly half a million dollars higher than the previous estimate, they said.
"What that appraisal did is what we were actually asking the appraisers to do, to not consider race, to not consider neighborhoods and or the lines that have been drawn and perpetuated by redlining," Tate-Austin told CNN.
Last week, the couple filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, arguing that racial discrimination played a role in the low valuation of their home.
In their lawsuit, the Austins say, the first appraiser, Janette Miller, who is a White woman, violated the Fair Housing Act when she took into account the family's race and the racial demographics of the house's location for her appraisal.
"We shouldn't have to go through this, we shouldn't have to have our White friend standing in," Paul Austin said.
CNN has reached out to Miller and her company, Miller & Perotti Real Estate Appraisals, which has also been named as defendant in the suit, multiple times for comment.
The Austins are seeking financial damages and asked the court to "permanently" ensure that the defendants won't engage in discriminatory housing practices directly or through others, the lawsuit says.
Homes in largely Black areas valued less
The Austins had spent three years renovating their home. Since 2016, they added a deck, a gas fireplace, renovated the bathrooms, and even increased the total square feet of the home, the couple said.
"We put a lot of time and effort into the house, and that didn't happen overnight," Tate-Austin said.
When Miller appraised their home last year, the Austins say she compared their home to those in areas with a significant Black population, according to the lawsuit.
The population in Marin County, where they live, is more than 85% White, according to the US Census Bureau.
Research has shown that homes in largely Black neighborhoods are valued less than homes in mainly White areas, even when housing type and income of the areas are the same. In the average US neighborhoods where the share of the population is 50% Black, homes are valued at roughly half the price of homes in neighborhoods with no Black residents, according to recent research from the Brookings Institute.
Homes in majority Black neighborhoods in the US have been undervalued by an average of $46,000 over nearly a decade, according to an analysis by Redfin. The firm looked at more than 73 million single-family homes listed and sold between January 2013 and February 2021 and found a major gap between houses sold in Black and White neighborhoods.
Other homeowners are hiding their race
Like the Austins, there have been others families of color who recently have concealed their race or identity when getting their home appraised.
In Indianapolis, a Black woman previously told CNN she did not reveal her race or gender on an application when arranging for an appraisal. She kept communication to email and told the appraiser that she would be out of town and her brother would be at her home during the appraisal. Then a White friend posed as her brother and met the appraiser instead of her.
The appraised value more than doubled -- it had been her third appraisal -- and it led her to file a Fair Housing complaint against the lenders and appraisers she had worked with alleging racial discrimination.
The Austins said they took a chance at "white washing" their home because they knew of the discrepancy in home appraisals and they how they are not the first family who have received a lower home estimate.
The couple and their attorneys continue litigating their case but said they wanted to speak up to encourage other families of color to fight if they think their property is worth more.
"Hopefully, at the highest level we can start seeing systemic change and people being held accountable for devaluing Black and Brown lives, because that's essentially what they did to us," Paul Austin said.
