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Color of Law II – Equitable Residential Appraisals; National Fair Housing Alliance

Date: Friday, May 17, 2024

Time: 9:00 am - 10:00 am May 17, 2024 (America/Los_Angeles)

Location: Zoom

Price (per member):

Free to attend. Donation appreciated. Registration required to receive the Zoom link.

Attendees: This event is open to All LAI members globally and non-members.

Color of Law II: Equitable Residential Appraisal

A Presentation by the National Fair Housing Alliance

This webinar will present the point of view of a national advocacy organization, the National Fair Housing Alliance, on the challenge of appraisal bias & measures to address it. It is the 5th in LAI Global Initiatives’ series on achieving equitable appraisals. Others presented recent research documenting bias, the perspective of the appraisal industry, and reform efforts now underway.

It builds on four prior events in the Color of Law II webinar series, and three original Color of Law webinars, prompted by the 2017 book by Richard Rothstein: https://wwnorton.com/books/the-color-of-law. For links and a brief description of prior presentations please click here.

National Fair Housing Alliance is dedicated solely to ending discrimination in housing. Its Tech Equity Initiative works to eliminate bias in algorithmic systems used in housing and financial services, including Automated Valuation Models (AVMs). It advocates for policy that expands equal access to homeownership opportunities.

They prepared an analysis in January 2022 in advance of development of a January 2024 reform of the Uniform Standards for Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), focused on the structural components of the modern-day appraisal industry that NFHA says restricts meaningful industry oversight and manifests systemic bias in appraisal valuation.

In March 2024, NHFA hosted a public briefing on recommendations to manage the risk of appraisal bias. https://nationalfairhousing.org/issue/issue-appraisal-bias/

Maureen Yap will be joined by colleague Shivaughn Ferguson, who has been leading NFHA’s appraisal bias investigations. LAI Philly chapter secretary and President of the Philadelphia Metro Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, Carlo Batts, will provide a response to the NFHA presentation.

Maureen Yap

VP of Public Policy & Senior Counsel for Fair Lending

National Fair Housing Alliance

Maureen Yap is Vice President of Public Policy and Senior Counsel for Fair Lending, with a focus on fair lending, financial technology, mortgage policy, and housing finance reform. Maureen has worked in fair housing and fair lending since 1995. Prior roles include working on a range of civil rights and consumer protection issues at the Federal Reserve Board, including leading the Board’s Fair Lending Enforcement Section and founding the Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) Section. Maureen was also an Associate at the law firms of Relman Colfax PLLC and Buckley LLP.

Shivaughn Ferguson

Senior Associate Director of Enforcement

National Fair Housing Alliance

Shivaughn Ferguson, Senior Associate Director of Enforcement, has worked in fair housing enforcement since 2012. During this time, Ms. Ferguson has coordinated investigations and led investigative teams to uncover housing discrimination in various housing markets, including lending and residential appraisals. She has led the in-house disparate impact analysis for investigations within the rental, sales, and insurance markets. Systemic investigations that Ms. Ferguson has coordinated have resulted in complaints filed in federal court, HUD, and state FHAPs. Ms. Ferguson has briefed senate staffers, the DOJ, the CFPB, state OAG offices, and state consumer protection agencies on her work. She provides technical assistance and training to fair housing professionals, educates the public about their Fair Housing rights, and builds strategic partnerships. Using her experience in systemic investigations, Ms. Ferguson co-led an investigation that resulted in a report detailing discrimination at Virginia auto dealerships and is currently leading NFHA’s appraisal investigation efforts.

Carlo Batts, MAI

Principal

Rittenhouse Appraisals

Carlo L. Batts, MAI, Principal of Rittenhouse Appraisals, proudly leads the firm with a hands-on approach to service. Carlo holds a degree in urban planning and real estate planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, and has over twenty years of real estate experience. He is president of the Philadelphia Metro Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and secretary of LAI Philly chapter. He serves on the the Special Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for The Appraisal Foundation, and also sits on the Philadelphia Home Appraisal Bias Task Force.

Moderator

Rick Cook, MCP, MCIP, MLAI

Co-chair, LAI Global Initiatives Committee

Jorden Cook Associates

Rick Cook consults as a land use planner and development consultant to private and public sector clients in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada.

Since 2010, he has helped to lead planning aspects of land use and subdivision resulting in a C$3 billion increase in assessed values (residential, industrial and commercial) for Tsawwassen First Nation, and he currently advises on development strategy for a 1,000 unit multi-family project along a future rail transit corridor. Rick has also served as President of the LAI Vancouver chapter.