A Black couple in Northern California says race definitely carries a price tag after getting their home appraised while it was "whitewashed."
Paul Austin and his wife Tenisha Tate-Austin said their Bay Area home had initially been appraised at $995,000, a figure lower than they anticipated after years of renovations and improvements.
The couple decided to get a second opinion, only this time they did a little experiment. A White friend pretended to be the homeowner. The couple also "whitewashed" the home by hiding their family photos and African-themed artwork.
When the home was appraised the second time, it was valued at more than $1.4 million -- nearly a half-million dollars more than the initial appraisal.
The couple filed a lawsuit this week, claiming the initial appraiser Janette Miller violated the Fair Housing Act when she considered the family's race while valuing their home.
"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," Austin told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The lawsuit alleges that Miller undervalued the home by comparing it to those in areas with a predominantly Black population. The county where the home is located is 85% White.
"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.
Miller has not responded to the lawsuit. The couple is seeking financial damages and a court order preventing the company from engaging in discriminatory housing practices.
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