*A Black Bay Area couple has settled a discrimination lawsuit with the appraisal company that valued their home at just $945,000 when it was actually worth $1.5 million.
We previously reported… Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin said they spent about $400,000 to renovate the 1960s-built home that they purchased in 2016. After the major modifications, they had the house appraised and were stunned by the valuation.
“I read the appraisal, I looked at the number I was like, ‘This is unbelievable’,” Tenisha Austin previously told ABC7. The Austins believe their race played a factor in the appraisal.
The appraiser – an older White woman named Janette Miller of Miller & Perotti appraisers.– used coded language including “Marin City is a distinct area” in her estimate, according to the report. She valued the couple’s home at $989,000, which was only $100,000 more than the previous estimate the couple received before their massive renovations.
READ MORE: Black Couple Files Discrimination Lawsuit After Lowballed ($500K) by White Appraiser
“It was a slap in the face,” Austin said.
The couple refused to settle, and after making noise about it to their lender, the Austins were granted a second appraisal. This time, however, they turned to a white friend to assist with the process.
“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,’” Austin said. “She made our home look like it belonged to her.”
The white privilege experiment worked as the second appraiser valued the home at $1,482,000.
As The Daily Mail reports, the Austins took legal action against Miller and her business. In addition to the undisclosed compensation that she has to pay up, Miller must agree to watch a documentary about Austin’s case titled “Our America: Lowballed.”
Miller will also receive training on housing discrimination prevention.
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