JP Morgan Calls for Revamping Appraisal Industry

To root out racially discriminatory housing valuation practices, JP Morgan Chase is using its considerable influence to promote legislation and policy changes that take on racial partiality in today’s home assessments. With the devaluation of Black and Latinx homes under more intense scrutiny, the efforts to root out and change systemic barriers are the ultimate goal of current actions.

The housing industry’s discrimination problem is both a result and a contributor to America’s racial wealth gap. As buying a home requires savings, and home ownership is the best way to build savings and wealth, many Americans of color find themselves unable to move into owning their own home. And with homes in predominately black neighborhoods being valued 23 percent less than those with few black residents, the gap continues to widen.

Watch a telling video and read the account where a female Black homeowner reveals how her home valuation was cut in half simply because of her race.