Why Did Marcia Fudge "Resign" from HUD? by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

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*This article has embedded linked research and articles which support the statements. You may not be able to see the links based on your browser settings so hover. Everything in this article is backed up with independent research based on government data.

Today March 11, 2024 Marcia Fudge announced her resignation as the head of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department via email. Her resignation will be effective March 22, 2024. Below is Marcia Fudge's press release about her departure as the Secretary of Housing in President Joe Biden's White House cabinet. The press release also includes a list of her alleged achievements. https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_24_048

The New York Times posted an article about Marcia Fudge's departure. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/us/politics/marcia-fudge-hud-resigns.html The article stated that President Joe Biden told his Department heads last fall that he wanted them to either leave quickly or stay on until after the election. Marcia Fudge promised she would stay then all of a sudden she "resigned" with "mixed emotions." Just March 7, 2024 the White House stated they had a cabinet in place that will stay for the election then four days later she resigned. Many question giving only 11 days notice to leave a cabinet position. One other cabinet member Eric Lander stepped down due to reports of bullying staff. Maybe that was also Fudge's issue. Fudge stated "I do believe strongly that I have done just about everything I could do at HUD for this administration as we go into this crazy silly season of an election." "Silly election season" makes one thinks she believes her departure is politically motivated. Maybe her ouster has to do with the Dept being audited and/or the campaign and election. In the NY Times article she stated she wants to spend more time with her 92 year old mother. If that were true, she would have left a while ago. I saw her at the State of the Union address happily shaking everyone's hands. No one knows the real reason but some have possible explanations for the quick unexpected departure.

As a real estate broker, appraiser I have been following Marcia Fudge very closely ever since she was nominated to be the head of HUD. She had no background in real estate, housing, economics yet she was confirmed to be the head of the Housing Department. Many believe she was appointed because of Joe Biden's diversity promises. He promised to appoint black women to positions of power. I'm all for diversity. We all know Biden's predecessor's cabinet was as white as a sheet and almost all male. We desperately need more people of color and women in the upper echelons of government. They just should be qualified, honest and able to get along with people for the greater good of the nation. As a Representative Fudge was never on a housing committee or involved in any housing organization. Fudge herself even mentions the concept of tokenism by stating to Politico November 2020 “We’re going to have to stop looking at only certain agencies as those that people like me fit in. You know, it’s always ‘we want to put a Black person in labor or HUD.’” Sounds like she didn't even want to be at HUD.

My personal issue with Marcia Fudge is the outright lies she told the American people. Fudge's lies hurt everyone in the US because millions were diverted to "fix" a problem that doesn't exist. That money should have been used to fix the real problem which is income inequality which doesn't even fall under her department. She also defamed and attacked real estate appraisers in the process. 

Fudge promoted the false narrative of the "old white racist male" appraiser low-balling blacks and Latinos without any proof whatsoever. I believe it's because she is racist. She promoted the false and totally misleading paper from Andre Perry's book "Know Your Price." Fudge insisted on stating the lie as fact that live appraisers "low ball" the appraisal values of blacks and Latinos and caused them to lose $156,000,000,000 in home equity. American Enterprise Institute AEI proved that Andre Perry's paper was totally false. 

The real issue is income inequality among whites, blacks, Latinos. People who make more money buy more expensive homes. They also buy more expensive cars. Whites make more money than blacks, Latinos so they buy and own more expensive homes in more expensive areas. The correlation between value of white and black homes is income and not race. Appraisers have nothing to do with income inequality. We appraisers didn't even make the appraisals used in Perry's paper. Perry used totally inaccurate robot Zillow values! Appraisers generally don't even know the race of the homeowners or borrowers.

Perry's paper was based on Zillow robot Automated Valuation Methods and not appraisals made by live appraisers. Fudge didn't care and lied stating "old white male" appraisers were responsible for the differences in value. The narrative fit her racist agenda. Those statements were proven to be totally false by independent research by American Enterprise Institute. There is no racism in real estate appraisal values. Fudge then used this fake paper and false facts to write the Biden ordered PAVE Task Force report. AEI has refuted the report in their reply to the government. Fudge wasted millions in resources to write a fake report about a fake problem then stated she alone could fix it then she didn't. Nothing has changed! Fudge didn't fix anything and definitely not the real issues which don't even fall under her department. The real issue is income inequality which falls under the department of labor. Fudge just wanted the extra funding and attention to her department. The entire PAVE report was based on Fudge's lies and wasn't even needed.

Fudge also promoted her fake story about the home across the highway from her home being worth twice as much as her home "only" because a white person owned it. In fact this lie may have finally been part of her undoing. Late January 2024 Joe Biden told this crazy fake story which is based on Marcia Fudge's outright lie. "Today, a home owned by a Black family on one side of a highway, built by the same  builder on the other side of the highway and a white guy living in it, the white guy's home is valued more than the Black guy's!," he said. "I know you know it. And guess what, that's how you build generational wealth."

I debunked Marcia Fudge's big lie here in this blog by valuing her home and the ones across the highway. You can't find the article via Google search because someone (Marcia?) complained and it was removed from search results. The home across the highway from Marcia Fudge's home is newer luxury quality built in a new private community built way off the highway on private streets. Fudge's home is much older, lower quality, fairer condition built on the main highway. The homes are totally different in very different locations so of course they would have different values. This shows that either Fudge doesn't understand the basics of property valuation and is incompetent to be the head of HUD or she's just a racist liar promoting her own agenda. I doubt she even knows the color of the people who own the homes across the highway from her. Race, color isn't listed on ownership deeds. The tenant isn't always the owner. On top of this Fudge is complaining about their inaccurate Zillow values. She's not talking about their actual market or appraisal values. There are no appraisals of Fudge's home and the homes across the street to compare. No appraisers were involved.

Many real estate experts, agents, appraisers have sent in many letters to HUD about Marcia Fudge's many lies. I've sent in a few. Nothing happened except Fudge repeated the lies. Maybe this story making Biden look like a total blithering idiot was the final straw. Many media sites picked up on the crazy nonsensical story. Fudge has stated this same fake story all over the media. Here I debunk her false CNN presentation. I'm pretty sure these false stories by Fudge would have been used against Biden during the campaign. Clearly Biden believed her bullshit until he repeated her fake home story and everyone called him a crazy idiot. I doubt he'll repeat that story.

Fudge also got way too cozy with lenders, AMCs during her tenure at HUD. They pitched her the idea of getting rid of appraisers/appraisals to save consumers money and time. They lied and supported her lie that appraisers are biased so they could make more money while allegedly reducing bias. They asked to use appraisal waivers, AVMs, drive-by appraisals and hybrid appraisals done by non appraisers. HUD agreed and consumers didn't save any money. Instead lenders, AMCs keep the valuation fee in house for reviewing an AVM. Not only that but waivers, AVMs, drive-by appraisals and hybrids have real built in bias by their very nature. No one really knows the true market value of all those homes. Maybe there was insufficient equity or the homes never met loan requirements. Many of these loans are sold and resold as investment vehicles. Many could go bad and they actually have. 

Another issue I have with Fudge is her giving government money to her friends. Fudge gave grants to her friends at private fair housing organizations. These organizations promoted Fudge's false narrative of the racist white appraiser. They stated their research, legal actions against innocent appraisers are the "solution" to US's housing issues. Government money was wasted and lives were destroyed in the process while no racial bias was found. They supported and widely shared the fake paper by Andre Perry. Maybe she was finally caught giving contracts to close, close friends. Her cronyism at HUD was definitely off the charts. 

Another issue though minor is Fudge violating the Hatch Act. In March 2021, during a White House press conference, Fudge made comments on the upcoming Senate election in her home state of Ohio suggesting that Democrats could win it. As a result, she was accused of violating the Hatch Act of 1939. After an investigation, the Office of Special Counsel determined she had violated the Hatch Act. Fudge received a warning. Not a big deal really but still.

Another point "in 2015, Fudge wrote a letter asking for leniency in the sentencing of Cleveland politician Lance Mason on felony assault and domestic violence charges. Fudge described Mason as "kind", and wrote that "Lance [...] has assured me that something like this will never happen again." Mason subsequently attacked and killed his ex-wife, in 2018, stabbing her 59 times. After the murder, Fudge released a statement saying she condemned the crimes committed by Mason."

On top of all of this Fudge is extremely abrasive and abusive. She truly enjoys attacking, degrading appraisers and others in public meetings. She has a huge race, wealth chip on her shoulder which she doesn't hide but proudly flaunts. She wanted to be the head of Agriculture Dept so that may be part of it. Almost every meeting she starts in the same way walking to the podium and stating "Good afternoon." If everyone in the room does not loudly say "Good afternoon, Madam Fudge!" she will put her finger in her ear, shake her head at the audience negatively like she didn't hear their response and say it again to force people to respond as if the audience were in the army or prison. She clearly has major personal insecurities to feel the need to treat people in this manner. One example here https://www.instagram.com/p/C4Y8FhuOiu_/ 

If you search this blog, you will see the other articles I've written about her insulting, harassing, demeaning behavior in government meetings. I highly doubt she wanted to leave this position on her own as she clearly enjoys and relishes being abusive. I believe she was pushed out which is why she has "mixed emotions." Maybe the campaign audited her department and realized she was wasting funds and not accomplishing the goals of HUD. This will be used against Biden in the campaign and election by the GOP. 

I personally feel Marcia Fudge was probably asked to resign because she's a liability in the upcoming election. The lie she told to Joe Biden about her home value which he repeated was the wake-up call for Biden's campaign. The lies she told in the PAVE report and government money she wasted on worthless "solutions" were probably other factors. Her cronyism and giving money to friends also hurt her. Lastly her horribly abrasive, abusive personality and media appearances harm Biden and his campaign. 

Fudge's press release about her departure reads like a golden handshake. She mainly touts a few odd suspect accomplishments resume style. I think she saw the end coming because of an investigation into her actions because she released something similar in February which I thought was odd. It wasn't end of year reporting. I'll be writing another article about her housing "accomplishments" during her term but a few notes. Don't get me wrong. She was 1,000x better than Ben Carson. I just think Trump probably told him to run the Dept into the ground. Even I could have done better than Carson.

"HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all." Our housing crisis is much worse since she was head of HUD. Per HUD homelessness is way up and housing affordability is way down. Things haven't improved. Here's just one fake accomplishment from her list "Ensuring that people who have paid their debt to society can get a fair shot at a second chance and have a home;"  Fudge proposed changing a rule to allow convicted criminals convicted of fraud or perjury to do work for HUD in relation to fair housing investigations. Why would someone hire someone convicted of lying and committing fraud to do legal investigations which could possibly end up in a court of law? Their testimony could be easily tossed because they are convicted liars. Comments were due 01/11/24. I don't know if it became law. 

Fudge's replacement will be Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman. Joe Biden will not nominate a new head until after the election. They'd never be confirmed in time before the election. Todman is just like Fudge so nothing will change until they find a new head. I can only hope they find someone who is qualified who won't lie and can actually improve housing for our country. We don't have enough housing which is one cause of the homeless and affordability issues. It's also an issue for our economy especially because of recent rate hikes. We also have an income inequality issue.

@secfudge @hudgov @mary_cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

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Tucker Carlson speaks the truth about real estate appraisals now?! Last show. by Mary Cummins

Tucker Carlson: The Biden admin is punishing Americans with high credit scores. Fox News host Tucker Carlson reacts to a new Biden administration rule that will punish Americans with good credit on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.' tucker carlson, tucker carlson tonight, joe biden, kamala harris, marcia fudge, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, bias, racist, white supremacist, fico, credit, fox news @tuckercarlson

UPDATE: And a couple of days later he's gone from FOX News. This was his last story, show. Of all stories to be his last! He was let go Monday morning. https://www.tmz.com/2023/04/24/tucker-carlson-leaving-fox-news/

ORIGINAL: Some Facebook appraisal groups are sharing this video of Tucker Carlson talking about Democrats trying to get the vote. In the video he talks about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Marcia Fudge lying and stating that all appraisers are white supremacists who are racists against black people and devalue their homes. Tucker Carlson states they provided no evidence that this is true. While I prayed to God for a savior in the media to spread the truth about the issue Tucker Carlson sure as hell would not have been my first choice. Was there no one else available, dear Lord?!

SHOW: "Tucker Carlson: The Biden admin is punishing Americans with high credit scores. Fox News host Tucker Carlson reacts to a new Biden administration rule that will punish Americans with good credit on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.' " April 21, 2023 https://www.foxnews.com/video/6325545406112 Real issue starts at 2:15 min into it. Text https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-biden-admins-new-rule-punish-people-high-credit-scores

Carlson says Marcia Fudge says home appraisers are white racists who lowball black homeowners. Even HUD's own data shows this is false. AEI did independent research on HUD's data and proved there is no racism in home appraisal values, see link below. He shows a clip of the CNN August 2022 interview which I wrote about. Fudge says black people have lost great wealth through the appraisal process. No, they have not. Again, AEI research ( https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/comments-on-the-pave-report/ ) proved this to the PAVE task force by debunking Andre Perry's non-peer reviewed, non-published paper ( https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/AEI-Housing-Center-Response-to-Perry-and-Rothwell-2021-final.pdf?x91208 ) . The difference in value between white and black, brown owned homes is caused by the income gap. Whites make more money so they have more money and buy more expensive homes in more expensive areas. That's it! It's the income gap, stupid!

Marcia Fudge again offers the false anecdote about her home being worth less than her neighbor's only because she is black and the neighbor is allegedly white. This has been debunked here previously ( https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/2022/03/pave-task-force-action-plan-from-white.html scroll to "I live in an all" ). Fudge's home is much older, of average quality and sits on the main highway. The homes across the street are new, of very good quality and in a private development off the main highway. That's why the newer homes are worth more. We don't know the color of the owners of the new homes. If Fudge doesn't understand this, she should not be the head of HUD. She also shouldn't be believing Zillow Zestimates of value. We all know they are not accurate.

Carlson said Kamala Harris in March 2022 was talking about the Home Appraisal Workforce (she meant PAVE task force ). She said appraisers are mainly white and biased. She said appraisers now must take training on fair housing and bias because of her and PAVE. False. We've been taking this training since at least 1989. You have to take it to get your license. There are new training hours which will take effect this year. It's more of the same exact training that we've taken since the 1990's. They are just divvying up the number of credits differently. It's the same total hours with the same topics.

Carlson then talked about the false accusations that all appraisers are white supremacists, "There is zero evidence of that. It's a slur upon home appraisers. Why do they deserve this abuse?" "They're using fake allegations of racism as the pretext of a political plan. They're doing it for votes." I totally agree. Can't believe I just agreed with Tucker Carlson! I feel gross but what he said is true. Why is Carlson speaking the truth now? Is he trying to change his MO after the huge defamation lawsuit loss because of his lies? I knew one day probably near election time GOP would pick up on Biden's false narrative about appraisers. I just didn't think it'd be Tucker. Anyway here is the research which proves that appraisals are not racially biased. https://www.aei.org/how-common-is-appraiser-racial-bias/ Real estate appraisals are a math formula. We don't even know the color of the owners of all the homes we appraise and use as comparable sales.

Biden just introduced a rule about credit scores and fees effective May 1, 2023. People with FICO of 740 or above will pay $40 more a month. People with low credit scores will get a discount of 1.75%. I personally believe this is unconstitutional. The purpose of credit scores is to reward people for working hard, saving money and paying bills on time. They are lower risk borrowers so their loans costs less. The better your score, the less you pay for credit because the risk of default is lower. Carlson said black people have average credit scores under 680. He says he doesn't know why. I do. It's because of the income gap. Whites make more than blacks and browns. It's because of socioeconomic factors and not color. Whites are also more likely to be married. It's cheaper to live as a married couple than two separate households. Whites less likely to have multiple children under the age of 18 than blacks, browns. Again, AEI proved this with independent data based on government data, see above. Fix the income gap and other factors if you want things to be more equal. Don't go blaming appraisers just because it's easier and good for votes.

This new program won't even help poor people. It will help them get stuck in an over priced home in a depreciating market. They will be paying higher interest rates on their mortgage which they can't easily afford. They are more likely to not be able to afford their mortgage while the economy contracts and some lose their jobs. As their home value depreciates they will end up under water. Thanks, Biden, Harris, Fudge! The Gov did the same before the great recession. Why don't they learn their lessons? Because politics and getting votes. They don't really care about helping poor people but getting their vote. It really is a sad situation.

FTR I'm a Democrat who voted for Biden. I agree with most of his positions except the false narrative of the "racist appraiser" and mass "appraiser bias" in appraisal values. This started during the last campaign cycle. Both Harris and Biden as candidates for President promised to "finally" help lower income black and brown people. If they really want to help, fix the income gap!

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

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Biden Claims to Have "Fixed" the Alleged Racial Bias in Home Valuations but Didn't, by Mary Cummins

UPDATE: 03/24/23 Marcia Fudge just said the same thing in a video almost word for word. Notice how different her tone of voice is in this video compared to other videos. Here she is speaking slow, politely, calmly and even has an interesting accent which is very different than her normal speaking voice. She's not as sharp, condescending, abrasive, abusive or calling all appraisers and whites racists like she usually does. She is flat out lying when she says data proves that "appraisal bias is real." There is no data or research which proves that. There is research based on the government's data which proves it does not exist in the reports and valuations.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hud/videos/native/urn:li:ugcPost:7044684730058895360/

ORIGINAL: Today the White House claimed they "fixed" the alleged "racial and ethnic bias in home valuations." They claim the Biden-Harris PAVE task force has "fixed" the "wealth gap" among whites and blacks, browns related to home value.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/23/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-tackles-racial-and-ethnic-bias-in-home-valuations/ This is beyond misleading and couldn't be further from the truth.

Let me preface this by stating I'm a Latino Democrat woman who voted for Biden. I support Biden in most of his policies. I do not support his policies related to real estate appraisers and the appraisal industry. Biden, Harris merely created a non-existent problem to get black, brown votes. They stated they alone can fix the problem if elected. They formed the PAVE task force to fix the made up problem. Then they claimed they fixed the problem. Ta da! Pat on back. No easier problem to solve than a nonexistent one.

Nothing has really changed. The main reason is because the problem never existed. The "fixes" also already existed. Black, brown owned homes are worth less than white owned homes because of the income gap. It's a fact that blacks, browns make less money than whites. If you make less money, you have less money in general and less generational wealth. If you have less money, you buy a less expensive home than someone who makes more money. That less expensive home is in a less expensive area. Here is research provided to the PAVE task force which proves this https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/aei-housing-center-response-to-perry-and-rothwell-2021/ . Appraisers are not appraising the homes differently based on race! People who make less money also buy and own less expensive cars. Are car values also the fault of "biased" real estate appraisers?

The release states "In just 12 months, the PAVE Task Force has made critical progress towards fully implementing the Action Plan, including by empowering consumers with new tools and greater awareness of appraisal bias; leveraging data to identify trends and crack down on offenders of appraisal bias; and supporting a well-trained and dynamic appraiser profession." Let's take a look at these three areas of "success."

1. "Empowering consumers to take action against appraisal bias."

They claim borrowers can now file a Reconsideration of Value if they don't like the value. Borrowers have always been able to file a ROV! I've seen ROVs for at least 30 years. HUD stated they're giving $54,000,000 to private non-profits to help them educate the public about ROVs and related items. A huge waste of funds that should have been used to solve the income gap problem and actually help people. This also shows the agenda of the private nonprofits receiving the funds. They will support this flawed idea to get millions of dollars.

2. "Increasing transparency and leveraging federal data to inform policy and improve enforcement against appraisal bias."

They've released similar data for at least 20 years. This is how people have been able to do research on appraisals and home sales, values. This research on this "new" data proved there was no racial bias by appraisers. It also proved that the values are based on location. Remember the three biggest indicators of value are location, location, location. This data proved that the main correlation between home value and borrower is income and not race.

3. "Cultivating an appraiser profession that is well-trained and looks like the communities it serves. The Administration is taking steps to remove unnecessary educational and experience requirements that make it difficult for underrepresented groups to access the profession and to strengthen anti-bias, fair housing, and fair lending training of existing appraisers."

They proposed adding education on bias as part of license requirements and it's not even final yet. This was already a requirement and had been a requirement since at least 1989. Appraisers were talking about using different types of experience i.e. PAREA, to get a license long before Biden was elected or any talk of racial bias. The apprentice experience program is difficult for people of every color and race. They still have not finalized a change in the requirements for experience. While they talked about making appraisers more diverse there has not been an actual change in the diversity of appraisers. Luring black, brown people to become a new appraiser in a market with no business that requires three years minimum experience to get work is actually a cruel thing to do to lower income people.

Most upsetting in this puff release is they mention the Austin lawsuit in Marin, California, "Austins' home was appraised at roughly $500,000 more than its initial appraised value after having a white friend stand in for them. Earlier this month, the Tate-Austins settled a housing discrimination lawsuit." They forget to mention that the Defendant not only didn't admit wrong doing but there was no wrong doing on the part of the first appraiser. They assumed the second appraisal was correct when it wasn't. The first appraiser only settled because of legal fees and harassment which the Federal government encouraged and aided. Having a white friend stand in for them had no effect on value. They requested another appraiser and appraisal from the same AMC. That appraiser knew the borrower's target value and wanted to please the borrower for fear of a lawsuit and AMC, lender to keep getting work.

This entire issue of alleged bias in appraising is beyond frustrating, maddening and sad. It makes me wonder how many other fake problems were created in politics just to get votes. How many other "we fixed the problem!" statements were just fake puff statements like this one. The worst part is the administration hasn't helped the people who are suffering from the income gap among white and black, brown. It's clearly easier to call appraisers "racists" and blame them for the wealth gap than fix the real problem of income disparity.

*I'm using "black," "brown" because that is what the release states to be clear.

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

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Rebuttal to Marcia Fudge's Misleading 2022 CNN Interview by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Marica Fudge, HUD, Laura Coates, CNN, interview,Mary Cummins real estate appraiser, bias, discrimination, racism,white, black, Latino, home value, 

Marcia Fudge of the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) was on CNN August 22, 2022 with Laura Coates discussing alleged appraisal bias. "Housing and Urban Development Sec. Marcia Fudge says her department is examining the process in which home appraisers collect data, which she says is systemically biased against people of color." "HUD Secretary On Battle Against Racism In Real Estate."

Here is a link to the show:   https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2022/08/22/hud-sec-fudge-racism-in-home-appraisal-process-coates-intv-ctn-vpx.cnn

Here is a link to the transcript: https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/se/date/2022-08-22/segment/01

Marcia Fudge continues to promote the false narrative of the alleged "racist appraiser" "devaluing black owned homes." Marcia Fudge has the facts and independent research yet actively intentionally promotes the false narrative to promote her own agenda. Fudge's agenda is to get media attention for herself and more money for her department. Fudge and politicians have created this problem so they can state they alone can fix it. In fact based on what Fudge said in the interview the problem has already been fixed just by doing the same thing they've done for years.

The real issue is the income gap. White owned homes are valued more than black, Latino owned homes because of the income gap. Whites make more money than blacks, Latinos. The more money you make, the more money you have. The more money you have, the more expensive home you can buy and own. The more expensive home you have, the more generational wealth is created.  If you want to fix the home value gap, fix the income gap. Fudge won't admit to that because then the problem is not in the jurisdiction of her department HUD and she won't get more money.

Below are some very misleading quotes by Marcia Fudge.

"Because what we know is that it used to be that these things happen only in redlined

communities. But now it is pervasive, it is happening everywhere. And we determined that part of the problem was how appraisers are trained, who was in the appraisal industry, and how they are governed. And so, what we did, in March, was to present a report that showed how deeply, this whole bias situation, is across this country. It is systemic, and it is intentional to some degree."

Marcia Fudge doesn't understand redlining. Here's an article I wrote about it. Those risk maps were made by her own government agency HUD FHA and no longer exist. Government made risk maps were a way to determine loan risk. They included many factors. We still use all of these factors except we don't use race or country of origin. If you took race and country of origin out of the old maps, they were 100% as effective in determining risk. Obviously race and nation of origin have nothing to do with loan risk. Correlation is not causation. Not all maps even included those factors. 

"That's part of the problem, Laura, it's the data. So, they collect data, and the data is not what it should be. They then use the data, in a way that it should not be used. And so, they come up with these biased appraisals. But as well, when you look at an industry, that is more than 95 percent White, you find that people of color, are treated differently, because there is an inherent bias with a lot of them. And because they collect the data, the data is not good data."

Appraisers don't collect data. The data is home sale prices. It's just data. HUD collects this data. Zillow has and uses the same data. MLS, Title collect data. Appraisers use the public data according to the law and well established, accepted economic theory. HUD is one of the government agencies which told appraisers what data to use and how to use it. Appraisers are doing what HUD told us to do.

95% of all appraisers aren't white. I've gone over the misleading statistics in previous articles. Almost the same amount of appraisers are white as real estate agents. If most agents are white, does that mean they are also all racists? Most people in the US are white. Does that mean every white person is racist? Of course not. 

"If those homes are appraised the way that they should be Laura, then we look at being able to pass down, significantly, more resources, and more wealth, to generations that follow." "And if we are

constantly being discriminated against - and that is really what this is. We can call it bias, if you want. But it is systemic racism, and it is built within most federal agencies, and those agencies that we oversee." 

This is the result of the income gap and not appraisers. Here is AEI's response to the PAVE Task Force. Fudge knows this. She has the facts, data and research. If she truly believes this, she should be fired because she's incompetent. Fudge is just lying to the public. 

"So, we're tackling it. We are now advising first-time homebuyers, on their rights, if they get low appraisals. We are doing it to people, who sell properties. We are going to train all of the appraisers through fair housing and lending laws. We're going to make sure that the data is collected properly. And we're going to make sure that the right people have the data."

Fudge's solution is to do what we've already been doing for years. Fudge created a "horrible" problem then instantly fixed it by doing nothing. All these things have already been done years before she was the head of HUD. This proves she knows the problem doesn't really exist. She hasn't made any real changes and now it's "fixed."

Marcia Fudge stated that her own home is worth less than white owned homes down the street because she is black. This is of course false. I did a valuation of her much older home on a busy highway. It's worth less than the homes up the street because they are new luxury homes off of the highway. If Fudge doesn't understand this, she doesn't understand the basics of home appraisal and should resign as head of HUD. She states this falsehood for effect every time she speaks. 

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 40 years of experience.

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Mary Cummins Comment to ASC Bias Committee February 8, 2023, Real Estate Appraiser

Mary Cummins, ASC, appraisal subcommittee, appraisal bias hearing, @asc.gov, real estate appraiser,real estate appraisal, los angeles, california, hud, marcia fudge, appraisal institute, aei, american enterprise institute, bias, discrimination, junia howell, paul austin, tenisha tate austin, craig steinley, Michael Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association

02/26/2024 I never got a reply about my comment. It is not public anywhere except here. I doubt anyone read my comment letter. They definitely didn't respond to any issue. If you send in a comment, post it publicly on your own. Otherwise it just ends up in a black hole. They tell you to send comments just to make it appear they are listening to you. They are not listening to appraisers. They are only listening to what fits their agenda which is the promotion of the false narrative of the old male male racist appraiser. Research by AEI has shown there is no racism in appraisals, see below.

ORIGINAL: Below is the comment letter I sent to the Appraisal Subcommittee in regard to the January 24, 2023 Appraisal Bias Hearing. It was confirmed as received. "Appraisal Bias Hearing via appsubcomm.onmicrosoft.com 2:07 PM (1 hour ago) We are in receipt of your message. Thank you for contacting the Appraisal Subcommittee." While they probably won't read it, it's now part of the Federal record for ASC and HUD. 

Mary Cummins

February 7, 2023

Appraisal Subcommittee

Appraisal Bias Hearing Comment Letter

AppraisalBiasHearing@asc.gov

I watched the January 24, 2023 ASC Appraisal Bias hearing. Comments were requested after the hearing. This letter is my comment. 

I've been a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California for 40 years. I've been a licensed California Certified Residential Appraiser since licenses were first offered in 1993/1994. I'm a Latino woman who speaks English and Spanish. I appraise property in the diverse county  of Los Angeles and state of California.

There is no denying that racism exists in our country. We must do all we can to stop racism, sexism, ageism and all the other isms. As an appraiser I support fair, unbiased appraisal practices and valuations. I support using the scientific method and facts in order to identify the real problem in order to solve it.

I witnessed a lot of misinformation and disinformation during the hearing. Marcia Fudge the head of HUD and some of the specifically chosen speakers made racist and other statements which are not supported by facts and evidence. While there is an income, wealth and home value gap among whites, blacks and Latinos it's not caused by real estate appraisers. It's caused by the income gap. That is the real problem which must be solved. Blaming appraisers for the income gap will never solve the real underlying problem.

Government research has shown that there is an income gap between whites, blacks and Latinos ( AEI Housing Center Response to Perry and Rothwell, 2021, https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/aei-housing-center-response-to-perry-and-rothwell-2021/ ). Whites make and have more money than blacks and Latinos. Men make more than women. Married couples make more than singles. The income gap is the cause of the wealth gap including the generational wealth gap. It's the cause of the difference in value among white and black, Latino owned homes. 

Research has shown that people who make more money have more money and buy more expensive homes (see link above). People buy homes they can afford in areas they can afford. People who make more money also buy more expensive cars. The difference in value of the cars is also not caused by real estate appraisers. 

If the race and color of the homeowners were the cause of the differences in home valuations, why do identical white owned homes in the same areas of black, Latino owned homes have the same value as black, Latino owned homes? The value has nothing to do with race or skin color but location. Everyone knows the three main indicators of value are LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. A home in a small town in Ohio with few amenities is generally worth less than a home of the same size in prime Beverly Hills, California. The value is mainly in the dirt.

Fudge and some of the others spent their time attacking and blaming "old white male" real estate appraisers for the home value gap. Appraisers report market value based on the sound economic theory of matched pairs analysis. This same theory has been used since the beginning of time to value all assets. This is set by the concepts of the free market and willing and able buyers and sellers. Fudge's promotion of the false narrative of the "racist appraiser" will never solve the real problem which is the income gap.

I will now reply to the individual instances of misinformation by the speakers in order starting with Marcia Fudge. 

I. Marcia Fudge, HUD

Marcia Fudge is one of the heads of the PAVE Task Force. American Enterprise Institute (AEI) provided research, data and information to the Task Force ( AEI Comments on PAVE, March 2022 https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/comments-on-the-pave-report/ ) which proved the real cause of the home value gap is the income gap. Fudge knows this yet instead irresponsibly promotes the false narrative of the "racist appraiser" as the cause of the home value gap. Fudge promotes Andre Perry's false, misleading and debunked "paper" instead of independent verifiable research and facts. Perry's paper was based on robot valuations and not appraisers. 

While Fudge states she hates and fights racism Fudge's multiple comments against white people reflect her own racism. It appears that Fudge prefers to falsely state that the problem is (white) real estate appraisers because her department HUD oversees those issues. HUD has received extra funding for this issue even though the real cause of the problem is not within control of her department. Government funding should be provided to the Departments that can actually solve the income gap problem. This is why we must first determine and state the problem which is the income gap.

Fudge stated that property tax paying for police, fire and schools was unconstitutional. It's inconceivable that the head of a major US government department would make this statement which is a violation of her oath. When Fudge became the head of HUD she took an oath March 2021 stating "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States (snip), that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." 

Fudge inferred that she wanted property tax assessment values to rise so people would pay more property tax so they could get more police, fire protection and money for local schools. She doesn't realize that most older retired disabled people can't afford to pay more taxes and keep their homes. They'd be forced to sell with higher taxes. Appraisers don't even make property value assessments. Those are made by Tax Assessors. 

Fudge stated that black people remove personal photos, items to increase home value. That is false. All real estate agents tell all home owners of every color to remove personal articles such as photos, collectibles from their home. It shows the home bigger and better. Buyers don't want to see any other person reflected in the home. They want to envision themselves in a blank slate of a home. It's not about race.

Fudge stated she started the appraisal appeal process for racial bias. Appraisal appeal, Reconsideration of Value (ROV) have ALWAYS been available to borrowers of all types. They can appeal based on any reason. A difference in appraised value and contract price is not about bias. It happens more in black, Latino areas based on the home values and not the race. Research by AEI based on government loan documents proved there is no effect of race on home value ( AEI, How Common is Appraiser Racial Bias https://www.aei.org/how-common-is-appraiser-racial-bias/ ). AEI presented this to the government in the meeting about the PAVE task force yet Fudge keeps denying these facts.

Fudge brought up her home value previously. She said her older home is worth less (than a white person's home up the street) BECAUSE SHE IS BLACK. I included a valuation of her home and of the NEW, LUXURY homes up, across the street from her in a past article. It's a private development of new luxury homes tucked away off the main street. I have no idea if the home owners are all white. I doubt Fudge does either. There is a reason why those homes are worth more. They're new, luxury, in a new development, with a clubhouse, off the main street highway... Not all homes of the same size in the same county are worth the same. An old run down home in South Los Angeles is worth less than a new one of the same size in Beverly Hills. If Fudge doesn't know this basic appraisal theory, she should resign because she's clearly unqualified to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

II. Dr. Junia Howell

Howell prefaced her research by basically stating without any proof that appraisers are racist and appraise homes in black, Latino areas for less than areas with more white owned homes. Howell promotes the false narrative of the racist appraiser. Howell states she did research on property values in white, black and Latino areas in Texas. Howell supports this with a chart showing the difference in home values of predominantly white vs black, Latino owned homes. We're back to the income gap. Blacks, Latinos make less money than whites. For this reason they buy less expensive homes in less expensive areas.  I can only assume they promote this falsity for their personal agenda of wanting more funding to pay them for more research.

Howell doesn't understand basic real estate cycles, i.e. Growth, Stability, Decline, Revitalization. Howell stated areas which were redlined but are now mainly white owned increased in value. Areas which were not redlined but are now mainly black, Latino have decreased in value. Howell states this proves it's based on race when it actually proves it's based on real estate cycles and income. When values go up in an area, people with more money buy and own those homes. When values go down, blacks, Latinos are more likely to buy and own the homes because they make less money. When people get pushed out of more expensive areas, they buy homes in lower priced surrounding areas. Those lower priced areas are generally more black, Latino. Some call this "gentrification" but it's just a real estate cycle called "revitalization." It's all because of the income, wealth gap.

Howell misstates "redlining" as a "map based on race of inhabitants." There were many, many factors involved in the original Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lending policies. They were based on income on inhabitants, age of buildings, condition of buildings, beds/baths, location... to determine loan risks. We still use all of those factors today EXCEPT race. It's racist and against the law to use race, religions or any other similar factor.

Howell stated that whites in the US government used these risk maps to intentionally value white owned property higher than black, POC owned property. Howell is so uneducated in this matter that she doesn't even realize that back in the 1930's most areas which were mainly inhabited by POC were actually owned by whites. The risk maps prevented white property owners from receiving lower cost Federal guaranteed loans. Howell stated "White, affluent areas were appraised as most valuable." The key here is "affluent areas." It's the income wealth gap. Correlation does not equal causation. 

There are poor white areas in the US. How does Howell explain the difference in property values between wealthy and less wealthy white owned properties? She doesn't. It's not the color of their skin but the income gap. Howell made many more false and uneducated statements before stating that more research should be done. Howell wants more money to do more uneducated flawed research to promote the false narrative of the "racist appraiser."

III. Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate-Austin

I have covered this case in great detail because I'm an appraiser in California where the Tate's home is located. While the Austins may feel the difference in two home appraisals was due to racial discrimination the facts show it was not. Based on my research and experience the first appraiser used the best local comparables in Marin City and came in at market value. The second higher appraisal used dissimilar comparables in a very different more affluent area in Mill Valley much farther away from the subject. That is why it came in over market value. Marin City was built on swamp land as a Federal low income poor quality housing project built by the lowest bidder. The Tate's home was built cheaply using telephone poles on very steep previously unbuildable land. Mill Valley is an upscale community with high quality larger homes and some of the best schools and amenities in the state. 

The Tates stated in their testimony and lawsuit that Marin City is basically populated by African Americans while Mill Valley is white. The Tates wanted the appraiser to only use high valued comps from Mill Valley and not lower valued comps from Marin City right next to their home. That would violate Federal appraising regulations besides being bank fraud.

The Tates believe their whitewashing of their home increased the second appraisal value. It didn't. What increased the value was another appraiser with lower ethics who was most likely pressured by maybe the AMC, Lender to come in higher. The second appraiser is the reason why the first appraiser was falsely sued for coming in "low." The second appraiser should be sued for bank fraud, appraisal violations and lose their license. 

IV. Michael Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association

Frantantoni basically promoted the MBA. Frantantoni suggested Automated Valuation Methods (AVMs) could reduce bias in appraisals.  AVMs don't reduce but increase bias. AVMs are robots that don't actually see or inspect the home. They base their value on recently sold allegedly similar homes based on home/lot size, bed/bath count and age. They don't know if the home actually exists, its condition, upgrades, view, lot type, specific location in a neighborhood, actual size, true bed/bath count, permitted/unpermitted additions... AVMs value average homes in poor condition over market value and improved homes with views under market value. Marcia Fudge stated she also supports AVMs. Zillow's AVM actually produced the false and misleading data used in Andre Perry's "paper." 

V. Craig Steinley, President, the Appraisal Institute, AI

The AI is a non-government non-profit organization. It costs about $15,000 to become an MAI AI designated appraiser. For this reason AI mainly represents wealthy older white male appraisers. It does not represent the average appraiser or most appraisers in the US.

AI wants to maintain its working relationship with the government. For that reason they support many though not all falsehoods stated by Fudge, HUD and other some government agencies. In their letter they promote their own actions as supporting the government.

That said AI makes some important points about AVMs and the Sales Comparison Approach.  

AVMs are not reliable. "One thing to be noted is that a good portion of the research that has been conducted on valuation bias has evaluated automated valuation model data – not appraisal data, including the contrasting research from the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute. We cannot overlook the Zillow CEO’s statement in the 4th quarter of 2021 concerning the “difficulty of accurately estimating market value” as a concern for AVM reliability." 

Sales Comparison Approach is reliable. Some have called for the "elimination of the sales comparison approach in appraisal. The BRSPT suggests those recommendations be ignored, and we will go on record as being outright opposed to such efforts. The sales comparison approach is grounded in economic theory, and it is universally accepted throughout the world." Some in government have suggested getting rid of the sales comparison approach which would destroy our economy. No bank would give a loan and no investor would buy a loan that is not based on an appraisal using the sales comparison approach.

In conclusion the cause of the difference in home valuations between whites and blacks, Latinos is the direct result of the income gap. The government needs to recognize and state the real problem so it can be solved. Blaming real estate appraisers will never solve the income gap or the home value gap. Blaming appraisers for the income gap is as ridiculous as blaming appraisers for gun violence and gas prices.

Please, rely on qualified independent scientific research and facts. Promoting the false narrative and attacking appraisers instead of trying to solve the real issue hurts everyone.  Throwing money at HUD won't fix the income gap. Please, fix the income gap and all its causes so we all may experience the American Dream of owning a valuable home.

Mary Cummins

California Certified Residential Appraiser

License # AR010207

Los Angeles, California

http://www.MaryCummins.com

https://www.facebook.com/CumminsRealEstateServices

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

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Appraisal Subcommittee Hearing on Appraisal Bias January 24, 2023, notes by Mary Cummins

Appraisal Subcommittee Public Hearing on Appraisal Bias, January 24, 2023, marcia fudge, mary cummins, asc, hud, real estate appraiser, pave taskforce, cfwb, jim park, race, racial bias, discrimination, black, brown, white, value, neighborhood, appraisal, valuation

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/events/appraisal-subcommittee-hearing-on-appraisal-bias/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW8ADw9vOSc

Appraisal Subcommittee Hearing Meeting about Appraisal Bias in Residential Real Estate Market ASC notes, comments by Mary Cummins. Part of the meeting was on C-SPAN 2.

Time: 2:10:35

“Streamed live on Jan 24, 2023. Join the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) for a hearing about appraisal bias. Invited witnesses representing key stakeholder groups will share their views with the ASC during the hearing.”

Official information and files.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) held a hearing about appraisal bias.

"This first-ever ASC hearing was led by Deputy Director Martinez and ASC Executive Director Jim Park. HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, and FHFA Director Sandra Thompson also participated in the hearing. Panel witnesses included:

Dr. Junia Howell, Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago; Witness Testimony. It'd be better to read her testimony because she was extremely nervous, waving her arms around wildly, misspeaking and acting agitated. Most upsetting and more importantly she stated some totally false and ignorant things. She said the sales comparison approach was developed in the 1930s by whites in the US government to intentionally value white owned property higher than POC owned property. She doesn't even realize that most living in areas which were, are primarily POC especially back then were, are renters and not owners. There are also poor white areas in the US. How does she explain that? The sales comparison approach to value is the main method used to value all assets all over the world since the beginning of time. She said the government should basically give more money to her to do more deeply flawed "research." It appears that all speakers had to swear to the host of the meeting that they will only agree with the government's incorrect and preconceived ideas on the issue of the alleged "appraisal" and wealth gap. She's so ignorant she doesn't realize it's caused by the income gap and not appraisals. Lots of independent research out there to prove this. People buy homes they can afford. People who make less money but less expensive homes.

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_appraisal-hearing_junia-howell-testimony_2023-01-24.pdf

Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate-Austin, homeowners from Marin, California; Witness Testimony 

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_appraisal-hearing_paul-austin-and-tenisha-tate-austin-testimony_2023-01-24.pdf

Michael Fratantoni, Senior Vice President of Research and Technology and Chief Economist, the Mortgage Bankers Association; Witness Testimony 

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_appraisal-hearing_michael-fratantoni-testimony_2023-01-24_Tw7XwtE.pdf

Craig Steinley, President, the Appraisal Institute; Witness Testimony 

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_appraisal-hearing_craig-steinley-testimony_2023-01-24.pdf

More information about the Appraisal Subcommittee can be found here" 

MEETING START

Time: 6:29 Introduction by Zixta Martinez Chair of Board of ASC and CFPB. Jim Park will talk about ASC. We’ll hear from a panel of witnesses, a home owner, lender, appraiser and academic. She introduced Marcia Fudge head of HUD.

Time: 9:28 Honorable Marcia L Fudge of HUD and PAVE. I'm only going almost word for word what Fudge said because it's so important. Fudge makes her own personal bias very clear in what she said and the falsehoods she stated.

Fudge said “good morning” and got a mild response. She basically responded she didn’t like the mild response and again said “GOOD MORNING!” and everyone then responded with “GOOD MORNING!” It set the tone.

Since day one the Biden Harris administration has worked to root out bias in the appraisal system. The work is critical to advance racial equity. It’s important to me as secretary of HUD and as a black woman. I know first hand what it’s like to be told that your home is worth less than the house down the street because of the color of your skin. It’s heartbreaking to hear the stories of black and brown families who feel forced to remove family mementos and photos in hopes of receiving a fair and accurate valuation. I do not intend to do that!

Fair Housing Act of 1968 was to end housing segregation. Owning a home should provide a path to the American dream. Instead this country does not see us as equitable. June 1, 2021 100 years after Tulsa Race massacre Biden and Harris established PAVE task force a first of its kind initiative to root out racial discrimination in the home buying process so families of all backgrounds and neighborhoods can have a better chance at building generational wealth. Less than a year after PAVE was established we delivered an action plan which constitutes set of reforms to advance racial equity in the home appraisal process. We want to cultivate a well trained and diverse work force, to make sure technology doesn’t perpetuate bias. HUD made $28M available to fund testing, education, and outreach to communities on appraisal bias. Next week we will start a three part webinar on training for appraisers and housing professionals on how to identify bias and protect homes. We, (pointing to herself), know how to identify it as we see it every day. We are giving an avenue for FHA loan seekers, if they believe their appraisal was skewed by racial bias. You can make comments on our drafting table platform. Please, make comments. 

I’m going to say things not in my script because I live this every day. I live in a black community by choice, BY CHOICE! I want kids in my neighborhood to get same schools as properties next to me. You do that by property tax even though I think it’s unconstitutional, that we fund schools by property tax. I want same police, fire protection but you can’t do it if my house is valued at $50,000 less than the house next to me. Two doors from me there is a neighborhood that is all white. My house is bigger, my lot is bigger, my house is nicer (laughter). That (other) house is valued more than mine. This is not the America that we should be living in, in the year 2023. It is a travesty, outrageous and we must change it. I’m hopeful the ASC will do what is right for the American people.15:44.

Mary Cummins comments. Homes are not valued differently because of the color of the skin of the owner, borrower or occupants. It's a mathematical formula based on most recent similar sales in the same neighborhood. Appraisers don't know the color of skin of homeowners, borrowers, tenants, buyers, sellers. We don't see the borrower, buyer and definitely don't know who owns properties in the area we use as comparable sales. We don't look at census tracts. We don't know race or color. It's possible all the owners of the homes we used as comp sales for a property owned by a black person were white. That would mean Fudge's false narrative holds no water. 

Fudge states she wants home values and their property taxes to increase. Many poor people would be forced to sell their property and move if property taxes were increased to the level of newer more luxury expensive neighboring properties.They wouldn't even be able to sell their property for the higher non market value. That would be beyond unfair and cruel.

All real estate agents tell all home owners of every color to remove personal articles such as photos, collectibles and other items from their home.It shows the home bigger and better. Buyers don't want to see any homeowner in the home. They want to envision themselves in a blank slate of a home. It's not about race.

HUDs PAVE report was late. It was due in six months. Fudge acts like she finished it early in less than a year. Nope. Late. 

Appraisal appeal, reconsideration of values have ALWAYS been available to borrowers forever. They can appeal based on any reason. They have done this. This is not about bias. Research by AEI based on government loan documents proved there is no effect of race on home value. They used the government's own data to show this. AEI presented this to the government in the meeting about the PAVE task force. 

AVMs Automatic Valuation Methods do not consider race or color of homeowner or borrower. It's a math formula, technology computed by robots. No human is involved. The math formula is not based on race or color. It's based on location, size, age. It does not know condition, view, upgrades, amenities, true size, additions, lot type, location in neighborhood... AVMs value homes in poor condition higher than market. It values upgraded homes with views lower than market. AVMs aren't accurate. They are BIASED against everyone.

Fudge brought up her home value previously. She said her home is worth less BECAUSE SHE IS BLACK. I included it in a past article with address and attributes. I included a valuation of her home and of the NEW, LUXURY homes up, across the street from her. It's a private development of new luxury homes tucked away off the main street. I have no idea if the homeowners are all white. I doubt Fudge does either. Has she visited all of them personally? They're new so they're not in the census report. There is a reason why those homes are worth more. They're new, luxury, in a new development, with a clubhouse, off the main street... Not all homes of the same size in the same county are worth the same. An old run down home in South LA is worth less than a new one of the same size in Beverly Hills. If Fudge doesn't know this, she must resign because she's unqualified. I know she knows this and is just lying for effect. She's a politician working for politicians selling lies for votes, money and promotions.

The real reason why homes owned by whites are worth more than homes owned by black, brown people is the income gap. People who make more money have more money, more generational wealth and can buy and own more expensive homes. THIS IS THE REAL ISSUE! The government needs to fix the income gap then the wealth gap would solve itself. Men also make more than women. Blaming appraisers will never fix the real issue. The government can't fix the problem (if there even is one) until they admit the real cause of the problem. The first step Scientific Method to solving problems is to determine the actual problem.They clearly don't want to fix the real problem. That means the government doesn't really care about POC or the poor. They need to stop pretending like they do care when they clearly don't. You can yell at appraisers all the live long day and that won't solve the problem. 

I'll post notes from rest of the meeting letter. I will also be sending in a comment. I see some of the speakers are the Austins from California. I have covered their case since the beginning. In their linked statement they said they wanted the appraiser to use comps from the "white area" instead of their immediate neighborhood which they said is a "black area." Who are the racists here? 

There were five witnesses who basically read word for word their submitted statements linked above except AI Craig Steinley. He omitted a large portion of his written statement. I think he omitted it because he didn't want questions and to get under five minutes. While other speakers said we need to get rid of the "racist" government mandated sales comparison approach AI's statement said they are adamantly opposed to that. Their statement says the approach is based on valid and accurate economic principles which it is. That is how all assets in the world have been valued forever because it is based on supply and demand between buyer and seller. I'll do a short summary in a few minutes anyway. 

After that ASC members were allowed to ask ten minutes worth of questions each.

Email after the meeting

“Yesterday the Appraisal Subcommittee held its first ever Hearing on Appraisal Bias, hosted at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington D.C. 

The event opened with remarks by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. ASC’s Executive Director James Park spoke on the agency’s role in the appraisal regulatory landscape. 

Attendees, both in person and on the livestream, heard testimony from Dr. Junia Howell, University of Illinois-Chicago, homeowners Paul Austin and Tenisha-Tate Austin, Michael Fratantoni, Chief Economist, Senior Vice President, Research and Industry Technology, Mortgage Bankers Association, and Craig Steinley, President of the Appraisal Institute.

Now ASC wants to hear from you! You are encouraged to provide a comment on your perspective on or experience with appraisal bias; comments can be submitted to AppraisalBiasHearing@asc.gov until February 8, 2023.”

Four of the five witness speakers, Appraisal Subcommittee Public Hearing on Appraisal Bias, January 24, 2023, marcia fudge, mary cummins, asc, hud, real estate appraiser, pave taskforce, cfwb, jim park, race, racial bias, discrimination, black, brown, white, value, neighborhood, appraisal, valuation

Witness Dr Junia Howell, Appraisal Subcommittee Public Hearing on Appraisal Bias, January 24, 2023, marcia fudge, mary cummins, asc, hud, real estate appraiser, pave taskforce, cfwb, jim park, race, racial bias, discrimination, black, brown, white, value, neighborhood, appraisal, valuation

Tenisha Tate Austin, Paul Austin, Appraisal Subcommittee Public Hearing on Appraisal Bias, January 24, 2023, marcia fudge, mary cummins, asc, hud, real estate appraiser, pave taskforce, cfwb, jim park, race, racial bias, discrimination, black, brown, white, value, neighborhood, appraisal, valuation

ASC members, Appraisal Subcommittee Public Hearing on Appraisal Bias, January 24, 2023, marcia fudge, mary cummins, asc, hud, real estate appraiser, pave taskforce, cfwb, jim park, race, racial bias, discrimination, black, brown, white, value, neighborhood, appraisal, valuation

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

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