Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Real Estate Appraisal, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins.

Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California with 38+ years of experience. Cummins provides real estate appraisals for banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), lawyers, Courts, factors and private parties for lending, lawsuits, probate, estate planning, divorce and all types of litigation. Cummins provides 1004, 1073, 1025 and other form reports, narrative reports and historical appraisals besides real estate research and appraisal advice.

Thursday, June 30, 2022

The False and Misleading "Greedy Landlord" Narrative by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

I've sold and appraised homes and apartment buildings of all sizes in Los Angeles, California for over 35 years. My grandmother owned apartment buildings many years ago. I've been a renter in the past. I know the issue from both sides. I've seen the leases, expense sheets and profit and loss statements.

Let me first state that there are indeed some greedy law breaking landlords in this world. That does not mean all rental property owners are "greedy slumlords." I'm writing this article in hopes that people will understand the industry and rental property owners so they stop promoting the false narrative that ALL landlords are "greedy slumlords."

Rental housing is a business like any other business. You work to get paid and so do rental property owners. They worked hard and saved their money to buy real estate to rent to secure their financial future. They could rent cars, tuxedos but instead they rent homes.

A rental property owner needs a certain return on their investment in order to pay for the upkeep of the property and themselves. They are entitled to market rent and an income just like you are entitled to fair market wages or payment for your goods and services. The reason rents are so comparatively high today is the lack of affordable housing. The current lack of affordable housing is caused by two main problems neither of which have anything to do with the rental property owner.

One, there are not enough homes or apartments available. Supply and demand is out of balance causing home prices and corresponding rents to rise. There are not enough homes, apartments being built to keep up with demand because of building red tape, zoning limitations, high cost of land and construction costs. This causes buyers, renters to drive up the prices. Rents directly correlate to home prices. Land prices have risen so much that building new apartments only makes sense if they're expensive luxury units. We need affordable housing but there aren't any new ones being built because builders would lose money. Would you go to work if your pay check was less than zero, if you had to pay to work for someone else? Of course not. Neither would developers. There's no affordable housing because building supply, construction has not kept up with demand for 50 years. That is the cause of your higher rent not the landlord.

Two, most wages haven't kept up with inflation or the cost of real estate. Today's tenants are paying over 35% of their wages in rent. They shouldn't pay over 30%. In Los Angeles it's easily over 50-60% of their wages. You can't rent a one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with a full time Los Angeles, California minimum wage job of $15/hr. Wages have been basically stagnant while the cost of living has doubled or more. We need to increase wages to match the increased cost of living. Landlords don't control your wages. They wish people made more money so paying rent would be easier.

First some basics on rental housing. A person who owns a home or apartment building which they rent must cover their expenses. The biggest one is generally the mortgage. They don't pay cash for apartment buildings just like people don't buy homes for all cash. They also have to pay property taxes, insurance, utilities for common areas or units depending on age of building (water, power, trash, oil), gardening, repairs and maintenance, management fees, salaries and benefits, business tax, income tax, permits, rent control fees, state fees, county fees, city fees, vacancy loss, rental loss, bad debt, legal fees, eviction costs and more. They also need to keep a fund for renovating units and replacement for major building components, i.e. roof, plumbing system, electrical system, furnace, air conditioning, appliances, seismic retrofit and more. They need to cover the expense of their own work hours on the property. Most rental property owners are small mom and pops with only one or two small buildings where they also live. If tenants don't pay rent, they can't pay the mortgage and could be foreclosed upon. They'd lose the building and probably also their place to live.

If someone just bought the building, the rental income does not cover all of these expenses and the mortgage. They are losing money for the first 5-10 years especially in Los Angeles, California. If the building is in older rent control, they're losing money even longer because they can't raise the rent to market until the tenant vacates. People rarely leave a rent control apartment because of the low rent. They generally stay for life even if they could afford market rent. 95% of people who live in rent control apartments don't need rent assistance in Los Angeles. They just take advantage of it because they can. I've seen rent control renters buy real estate with their savings in rent. They have luxury cars and take great vacations while some landlords are scraping by. Other renters don't bother trying to earn more money because they aren't forced to. The property owners' expenses go up but the rents don't go up accordingly. I know many property owners who refuse to own rent control units for this reason and I don't blame them.

If someone is renting out a house or small units such as 2-4, the income to expense ratio is even lower. The only time the rental income will cover expenses and produce a profit is after the owner has owned the building for many years, all the rents increase to market and the mortgage amount decreases to zero. Even if the building is free and clear, that equity belongs to the property owner. They could refinance the property if they have a large expense and add a new mortgage. They may need money for building renovation, personal medical bills or personal emergencies.

One important thing which most renters don't realize is that rent directly positively correlates to the value of the property. As property values rise so do rents. We've recently (Los Angeles, California June 2022) had a huge appreciation in real estate values in the last two years. Real estate values went up 15% per year and more in lower valued revitalizing areas. Some went up 30% per year. That would mean market rent also went up by that same amount. As property values rise so do property taxes, insurance and other expenses which are tied to the value. Interest rates just increased. If the mortgage has a variable rate, their mortgage costs just shot up as well. Lumber prices went up making renovations and repairs more expensive. All the other costs and fees continue to rise every year. If you're in a rent control building and maximum rent increase is 3% a year, the rental property owner's expenses are increasing at a greater rate.

I remember 1978 rent control in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. The elderly mom and pop rental property owners who kept rents lower before rent control were forced to sell their properties when they later couldn't break even. Some were mortgage free and still couldn't break even. Some owners lived in their buildings. They lost their homes. These are the people you called "greedy landlords."

More sophisticated entities bought those properties and increased the rent as soon as legally possible to the maximum allowable amount every year. They evicted tenants any legal chance they got. They passed through capital improvements to the tenants. They converted some buildings to condos. They moved their children into the units. Rent control forced property owners to do this to try to break even so they wouldn't lose their buildings in foreclosure. It was legal and the right thing to do. Again, would you work for less than minimum wage? Of course not.

Some say that housing should be a right. Okay. I just don't believe the government should force private citizens to give away their assets and services for free. If the government wants to buy housing for market rate and let people live in it for free or low cost and lose money, fine. Otherwise it's a violation of the Constitution to take property owners' assets except by eminent domain. In eminent domain they are paid market value for the property. Property owners would be sort of okay with that even though they bought property to hold long term. They'd go into another business such as commercial property or maybe they'd sell cars.

The problem with this idea is that the government tried this and failed. They couldn't properly maintain the properties because they weren't bringing in enough income and government expenses were high. The government became a slumlord. Remember the "projects?" It also costs the government at least 15% more in administrative costs to run a business than a private entity. The government has to add a minimum of 15% onto each project for this reason. 15% goes right out the window wasted on bureaucracy. The government lost a ton of money trying to provide cheap housing to poor people. This is why they no longer do this. Instead they try to incentivize rental property investors with tax breaks, low interest loans, grants, free or cheap land, density bumps, zoning variances and exemptions from some Building and Safety, environmental and other regulations. This has helped.

If you're a tenant, some suggestions. Work hard, don't take vacations, never buy anything you don't need, save your money, live as cheaply as possible and buy real estate. You can live in it or rent all or part of it out. You've solved your "greedy landlord" problem. YOU are now the "greedy landlord." If you want to rent your units out for $1 a month to people with very little money, go right ahead. It's your property. You just have to pay for the loss. Obviously the main benefit is that real estate appreciates over time, you control your home and you will make money over the long term.

If you don't want to do that or can't because you're living in poverty, here's more advice. If your landlord is breaking the law by not properly repairing things or is charging over the legal rent allowed, take action. Research the law for your city, county and state. If your landlord is not doing these illegal things, please, be nice to them for your own good. There may come a time when you are between jobs, sick...and need a month or so of grace period on your rent. My grandmother always gave breaks to her nice tenants. Some went months without paying rent during trying times. If you act like a jerk because you've falsely believed the greedy landlord narrative, don't expect a break. Would you do favors for someone who treats you like shit? Of course not.

If you're a landlord, some suggestions. Obviously if you're a slumlord breaking the law, you won't read this article or the one below. All rental property owners should follow the law or you will be sued and tenant won't have to pay you rent. You will lose money and deserve that. If you're a good legal rental property owner, here's a nice article about how to avoid being stereotyped with the false narrative of the "greedy slumlord."

https://www.baymgmtgroup.com/blog/how-to-avoid-negative-landlord-stereotypes/

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.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Staying Relevant in the Appraisal Industry, by Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser in Los Angeles, California

Staying Relevant in the Appraisal Industry, webinar, class valuation, appraisal buzz, mckissock learning, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, appraisal, los angeles, california, mel black, matt simmons, jared preisler, lamar ellis, datamaster, mai, sra,

June 28, 2022 webinar "Staying Relevant in the Appraisal Industry." It was about continuing to get work during this slow market caused by the increase in interest rates. They suggest contacting real estate agents, developers, lawyers, accountants and others to get work doing appraisals for pre-listings, probate, litigation, property tax appeals and more. This is something all appraisers should be doing anyway. You want to balance out your work so you're not reliant on one market. They also suggested getting a drone license and drone to do drone work or add drone work to existing appraisal work.

https://appraisalbuzz.com/staying-relevant-in-the-appraisal-industry/

http://www.mhsappraisal.com

http://www.datamasterusa.com

http://www.appraisalbuzz.com

http://www.mckissock.com

Mary Cummins

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Wealth gap, income gap, home value gap, race, gender, marital status and Roe v Wade by Mary Cummins

Research has unequivocally shown there is an income and wealth gap between whites and blacks, Latinos. This is why homes owned by white people are worth more than homes owned by blacks, Latinos. People buy the homes they can afford and whites can afford to buy more expensive homes. Appraisers aren't appraising them differently.

We also know there is a wealth, income gap among men and women, married verses single and especially single mothers with children under 18. Research has also shown that poor, black, Latino women were more likely to get abortions than white women. https://abc7.com/abortion-cdc-data-women/11815941/

The reversal of Roe v Wade forcing poor women especially of color to have babies is just going to make the wealth, income gap that much worse. It's also going to cost the states money in welfare, Section 8 housing, Medicare, EBT.... I don't think the GOP really thought about the repercussions of banning abortions. White Supremacists who tow the GOP line including anti-abortion will only have themselves to blame when POC actually do replace them via a higher birth rate. That's already happening but banning abortions will make it happen faster.

Here's a great article to share with lots of pictures for those who don't care to read.

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23182150/abortion-rights-economic-justice

Mary Cummins

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Alleged Appraisal Overvaluation in Sales Comparison Approach review by Mary Cummins Appraiser

This paper came out in 2017 but is making the rounds again today. The authors believe they found evidence of appraisal overvaluation in the sales comparison approach in appraisals in 2015 and 2016. I read the article and replied below. Directly below is their summary.

"Abstract Home appraisal came under scrutiny for contributing to the home-price bubble and enabling the origination of risky mortgages that led to the post-2006 foreclosure crisis. Subsequent regulations tried to minimize or eliminate conflicts of interest and improve valuations. Nonetheless, our study of appraisals completed in 2015 and 2016 find that appraisal bias still occurred. Our analysis delves into the underlying appraisal development to identify causes of appraisal bias. Contributing factors are that comps are generally higher valued than the subject property, and appraisers are more likely to comparatively adjust upward lower priced comps but less likely to adjust downward higher priced comps. KEYWORDS housing price determination, residential appraisal"

"Using a large sample of appraisals ordered to underwrite purchase-money loan applications in 2015 and 2016, we find that about 69% of comps were represented by transactions valued at more than the subject property. After controlling for the availability of market transactions and a variety of loan and property characteristics, we continue to find a greater likelihood of selecting more expensive comps."

https://millersamuel.com/files/2022/06/AppraiserOvervaluation.pdf

My reply: The first issue to consider is 2015 and 2016 markets were increasing in value. It makes sense there would be more higher than lower priced comps available. In a decreasing market you would probably see the opposite.

The second issue is lenders, AMC, underwriters demand that the subject size, bed/bath count and main amenities are bracketed with comps currently listed, pending or sold within three months of the appraisal. Three sold, one pending and one listed comps are mandatory. If you intentionally select properties which are larger and have more bed, baths than subject, they will most likely have sold for a higher price than subject. Sometimes you can bracket size with one comp but need another to bracket bed/bath count. This means you have potentially two out of the three or 66% sold comps which will be, must be superior to subject by design. You still need a comp or comps that bracket the lower end of size, bed/bath count...

The third issue is supply and demand. How many months of housing supply were available at the time? Was it similar to 2020/2021 where there weren't enough homes available for sale so most properties sold instantly over market? There's no box in the grid to adjust for that.

The fourth issue is there were many developer flips during this time. The properties were bought low, improved with new kitchen, baths, paint, landscaping...then sold higher. Of course they could be in better condition all around than subject if the subject wasn't also a speculator flip.

The fifth issue is home attributes which affect value that are not covered by the adjusted factors in the grid or cannot be exactly measured. Those attributes could be curb appeal, staging, marketing, landscaping, superior architect, superior design/remodel, superior layout, custom lot shape, specific superior view, upgraded non line item features... We can only include adjustments which we make using matched pair statistical analysis using math. It's not always possible to extract a value for staging, marketing, landscaping, upgraded non line item features, three tone paint, superior layout, distinct view...

The writers' conclusion below,

"Our evidence of calibration bias, although helpful to understand appraisal overvaluation, cannot answer the question of how it occurs without further research into the development of calibrated values. To that end, a hedonic pricing model can be a helpful tool to assess the accuracy of a price adjustment associated with a given property attribute or amenity while also ensuring consistency and accuracy in the aggregate. Incorporating hedonic pricing techniques into appraisal development is limited. Given the amount of detailed property information and modeling technology that are available today, the appraisal practice could benefit from employing data-driven analytics to help assess appraisal accuracy in an efficient and quantifiable manner. Future research in this direction can develop a better understanding of the underlying appraisal valuation process."

I'm glad they admitted they don't know how the alleged "over valuation" occurred. Maybe there was no overvaluation. Maybe it was the result of what I stated above or maybe it was something else. Would have been nice to do the same in a decreasing market for comparison. While data-driven analysis is always good you will still need a human to appraise real estate, homes for now because humans are the ones buying, paying for and owning them. The contract price is based on the human's level of desire for the property.

There are some things a human can see, find valuable that an AVM robot or statistics cannot. For example a Mercedes is worth more than another similar car because it has a superior design and is more appealing to the eye and market. So is a Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel purse for the same reasons. Kelly Blue Book values and company sales records are the proof of this. The items are generally made out of the same amount of similar materials yet one is worth more than the other. Design, appeal, every factor in market reaction can't be easily calculated in a form appraisal.

Citation: Mayer YG, Nothaft FE. Appraisal overvaluation: Evidence of price adjustment bias in sales comparisons. Real Estate Economics. 2022;50:;862–881. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6229.12351

Mary Cummins

Monday, May 9, 2022

California Balcony Bills SB 721, SB 326 Inspections Due January 2025, by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

balcony bill, sb 721, mary cummins, real estate, appraiser, los angeles, california, repair, inspection, 2025, permit, building, safety,Wikipedia.

The California Balcony Bill SB 721 passed in 2018. All building owners of three multifamily units or more with balconies or decks must be inspected by a professional by January 1, 2025. Subsequent inspections will be every six years. Any repairs must be made by a professional with permits. The purpose of the bill is to prevent a balcony or deck collapse which can and has killed people.

SB 721, Hill. Building standards: decks and balconies: inspection.

Existing law provides authority for an enforcement agency to enter and inspect any buildings or premises whenever necessary to secure compliance with or prevent a violation of the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code and other rules and regulations that the enforcement agency has the power to enforce.

This bill would require an inspection of exterior elevated elements and associated waterproofing elements, as defined, including decks and balconies, for buildings with 3 or more multifamily dwelling units by a licensed architect, licensed civil or structural engineer, a building contractor holding specified licenses, or an individual certified as a building inspector or building official, as specified. The bill would require the inspections, including any necessary testing, to be completed by January 1, 2025, with certain exceptions, and would require subsequent inspections every 6 years, except as specified. The bill would require the inspection report to contain specified items and would require that a copy of the inspection report be presented to the owner of the building within 45 days of the completion of the inspection and would require copies of the reports to be maintained in the building owner’s records for 2 inspection cycles, as specified. The bill would require that if the inspection reveals conditions that pose an immediate hazard to the safety of the occupants, the inspection report be delivered to the owner of the building within 15 days and emergency repairs be undertaken, as specified, with notice given to the local enforcement agency. The nonemergency repairs made under these provisions would be required to be completed within 120 days, unless an extension is granted by the local authorities. The bill would authorize local enforcement agencies to recover enforcement costs associated with these requirements. The bill would require the local enforcement agency to send a 30-day corrective notice to the owner of the building if repairs are not completed on time and would provide for specified civil penalties and liens against the property for the owner of the building who fails to comply with these provisions. The bill would exclude a common interest development, as defined, from these provisions. The bill would require any building subject to these provisions that is proposed for conversion to condominiums to be sold to the public after January 1, 2019, to have the required inspection conducted prior to the first close of escrow of a separate interest in the project, and would require the inspection report and written confirmation by the inspector that any recommended repairs or replacements have been completed to be submitted to, among others, the Department of Real Estate and included in certain required statements and reports, as specified. The bill would authorize a local governing entity to enact stricter requirements than those imposed by these provisions.

Link to actual bill with full text.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB721

SB 326 Bill

This bill mandates that HOA's hire a competent inspector to inspect the common areas of a multi-family project at least once every nine years. This includes load bearing structures such as balconies, decks, stairs, elevated walkways including a sufficient sampling of units by January 1, 2025. If there are repairs to be made, they must be made.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB326

Some tips on inspecting, looking at your own balcony, deck..

https://amtrustfinancial.com/getmedia/3aa40bbd-bf5c-4906-b2e6-295dfe2d0095/Deck-and-Balcony-Inspection-Things-to-Look-For.pdf

Mary Cummins

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

NFHA Continues their Money Shakedown on the Real Estate Industry by Mary Cummins

This is getting out of hand. A company can't limit their service by price range because it affects POC disproportionately? Nonprofit NFHA money shakedown continues. The Courts have ruled that entities cannot be found responsible for factors they don't control. Research has shown a correlation between POC and socio-economic factors. RedFin did not select the criteria based on race, color, ethnicity ... but price range. Will higher priced product brands soon be forced to market to and sell goods at a loss? The only solution I see is getting rid of RedFn salaried real estate agents. Make them work on commission split that covers RedFn's costs and let them choose their own deals.

"Redfin’s ‘minimum price limit’ slashed real estate services in non-white neighborhoods—and now the company is paying a $4 million settlement. For prospective homebuyers, the online search portal and real estate brokerage Redfin is a go-to resource. Listings in more than 100 housing markets in the United States and Canada can be browsed easily, and a monthly average of more than 47 million users did so in 2021, according to the company’s annual report.

But in certain markets, search results had a big caveat. Redfin would show the listings, but due to what it called a “minimum price limit,” the company declined to make the full range of its services available—including real estate agents, professional photos, and promotion. That disproportionately affected homes in non-white areas.

“That policy resulted in Redfin predominantly not providing services in Black and Latino areas and predominantly offering services in white areas,” says Morgan Williams, general counsel of the National Fair Housing Alliance. For example, in the majority-minority city of Chicago, the minimum price threshold was set at $400,000, while in neighboring DuPage County, the threshold was just $275,000. In the majority-Black city of Detroit, the minimum price was $700,000, while outside city borders that limit was just $250,000. Redfin defended this policy, arguing that limiting its activities by price is the only fair way for the company to operate profitably.

Redfin objects to the characterization of its minimum price limit as redlining. “Describing a price-based policy as redlining is sensationalistic and wrong because Redfin serves all neighborhoods in the metro areas where we operate,” a company spokesperson tells Fast Company. “We do not make service determinations based on race or the demographics of the neighborhood. Home price is the only fair and objective way to make that determination because home price determines the fees we earn.”

Read the rest at the link.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90747572/redfin-to-pay-4-million-to-settle-lawsuit-over-digital-redlining

Mary Cummins

Monday, May 2, 2022

Appraisal Foundation Appoints Jillian White to Board of Trustees in Political Move, by Mary Cummins

April 30, 2022 The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) appointed Jillian White, Shelly Tanaka and Meredith Meauwly to the Board of Trustees. They also welcomed back the Appraisal Institute as a sponsor.

TAF is authorized by Congress as the source of appraiser standards and appraiser qualifications. TAF had been taking a lot of political heat recently because their Board lacks diversity because it's mainly older white men. While I applaud TAF for starting to diversify their Board I personally feel one of these appointments was in response to political pressure. That one appointment is Jillian White.

White is an ex appraiser who was recently named the "Head of Better+" March 2022 per her LinkedIn announcement. Better+ is Better's affiliate businesses of Better Mortgage. Better has been in the news for mass firings, lawsuits and major financial problems. Better Mortgage will most likely soon be out of business as the mortgage market shrinks as a result of the rise in interest rates and overall failure by Better's CEO Vishal Garg.

Jillian White was a real estate appraiser and real estate agent. "In 2016, Ms. White joined Better, a digital mortgage provider, as the Chief Valuation Officer." "In 2018, she was named the Head of Collateral." During Jillian White's time at Better she has been promoting the false narrative of the "racist white appraiser." She has done this by quoting false and misleading data. Jillian White has cited debunked Andre Perry's paper and Freddie Mac's note repeatedly. Andre Perry's paper was not published or peer reviewed research. It has since been proven to be false and misleading by very well known researchers at American Enterprise Institute (AEI). AEI also debunked the Freddie Mac note. Tobias Peter was invited by the government to speak at the recent House Committee of Financial Services about this issue and this misleading data.

Promoting the false "racist white appraiser" narrative promotes racism and hatred of others. White an Appraisal Institute appraiser is stoking the flames of hate and racism toward appraisers, white people and the industry as a whole. The Appraisal Institute AI recently stated they would enforce a zero tolerance of racism and hate speech among their members because of hateful racist behavior by appraiser Dave LaVigne. White has promoted the false "racist white appraiser" narrative through her many presentations and articles about blacks "being forced to" "white wash" their homes. Here are a few of those articles, "Why some homeowners of color erase themselves," "Black appraisers call out racial bias," and "Better Website: Keep an eye out for personal bias."

White went so far as to state “In the case of my family, our home was forever changed after that. A lot of the pictures never made it back on the wall." Who forced them not to return the pictures after the sale or appraisal? Every real estate agent knows and tells ALL of their clients REGARDLESS OF COLOR OR RACE to remove personal photos and items from their home when they sell their home to INCREASE THE SALES PRICE. It has nothing to do with race, color, religion... I did this when I sold my own home and I'm not black. As an agent I suggested all clients do the same.

Below is a still from one of her many public presentations where she points out the family photos, heirlooms and certificates she was "forced" to remove because of "racist white appraisers." This wasn't even for an appraisal but a basic home showing and sale of relatives' homes.

Jillian White stated in the Better website, "96.5% of all real estate appraisers are white." This is not accurate though it's true most appraisers are white just like real estate agents. "Oddly" people aren't complaining about the lack of diverse real estate agents. Even the general population of the US is over 76% white. People are actually complaining about appraisal gap which is more likely in a quickly appreciating market. They're falsely claiming the cause of appraisal gap is racism because of the change in political climate caused by the murder of George Floyd.

"The country is in a time of racial reckoning, heightened by a summer of protests against systemic racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in police custody." Floyd's death "sparked the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement." "According to data from various sources, the Black Lives Matter movement is now the largest movement in US history." While racism exists and must be banished from our nation the pendulum has now swung to the extreme side. In this new light anything and everything is automatically "racist" today before even looking at the facts. Every appraisal gap is now "racism."

American Enterprise Institute AEI actually did research to see if racial bias affects real estate appraisal values. Their conclusion was NO, it's not common or systemic. 99% of the time we appraisers don't know the race, color, sex, religion of the owners of the properties we appraise and use as comparative sales.

Jillian White even stated to the media that racist white appraisers are the reason there are few black real estate appraisers. White states white appraisers refuse to have black trainees because they're racist. The actual problem is the trainee process and not "racist white appraisers." Appraisers don't want trainees of any color because they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. Hypocritical Jillian White doesn't even have trainees of any color.

White stated “This idea that we’re (real estate appraisers) just strictly reporting on the facts, that isn’t true, because if that were true you wouldn’t need appraisers." This shows that White either doesn't understand real estate appraising or she's lying to the public for her own agenda. All Appraisers know Automated Valuation Methods AVMs (robots, algorithms) can't and don't accurately appraise real estate. AVMs don't see views, specific location, upgrades, condition, elevation, lot type... All these facts must be viewed and appraised by a human real estate appraiser. We don't currently have exact view, lot type, degree of remodel ... UAD codes to input into the form. The human appraisers see and report the facts such as type and degree of view, condition, upgrades... Should White even be a real estate appraiser if she doesn't understand the basics of appraising? Should White with these racist ideas, clear discrimination and bias be a real estate appraiser? If a white appraiser were to state these same things but about black, Latino appraisers, they'd instantly be cancelled. In fact AI stated they want to take action against racist appraiser Dave LaVigne because of racist language. Perhaps they should take action against White. White has stated these racist things in her professional capacity.

Jillian White was a real estate appraiser and agent just like me. We are numbers, math and statistics people. White knows these things she stated are false yet she promotes them for Better mortgage as a form of "diversity" marketing and exposure in the media. That appears to be her real job at the company as she mainly attends meetings to promote these falsities to the public and government agencies. Now that Better is soon going out of business White continues to promote this false narrative at government meetings and presentations to promote herself for a future job after Better goes out of business.

The purpose of promoting the false "racist white appraiser" narrative was to promote Better as "diverse and non-racist." Better had promised to train, hire and use diverse appraisers but they have not done this. This was in fact Jillian White's original job at which she failed. Instead Better fired 900 people December 2021. 2022 they fired 3,000 more. Currently they're asking people to just plain quit.

Better began failing during a huge run up in refinances. Any idiot company could have been successful during this time yet Better was failing last year. March 8, 2022 Better fired 3,000 more people. The CEO of Better's main goal is to go public and cash out. That appears to be his MO based on his last finance company myrichuncle which went bankrupt.

There is a saying in large companies. When they appoint a lawyer or lower level employee as the head of the company or of a major department it's going out of business. The person was hired to ride the company into bankruptcy. High ranking employees have already been fleeing the company in 2019 and it's increased recently. Considering that Vishal Garg's last finance company went bankrupt then was sued for fraud by investors that appears to be the future of Better.

White's main recent activity has been speaking at government meetings about "racist white appraisers." She has been the face of discrimination in real estate appraisals in the media. While she has an appraiser's license this is most likely the reason she was appointed to the TAF Board. TAF has given into political pressure to appoint this specific person. By doing so TAF is basically supporting the false narrative of the "racist white appraiser" which is beyond disappointing. I personally feel TAF is doing this just to quiet pressure from Maxine Waters and others who are calling for the end of TAF. While TAF would benefit from diversity I don't believe getting rid of TAF is the best course of action.

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California

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