The undersigned civil rights and consumer advocacy organizations write to explain why we are at this time declining the invitation to join The Appraisal Foundation’s (TAF’s) Council to Advance Residential Equity (“Council”).
Recent research and news stories highlight how appraisal bias impacts consumers and communities of color and exacerbates the racial wealth gap, which means that the need to reform the appraisal process and appraiser oversight is urgent and immediate. While we commend TAF for taking certain initial steps toward reform, we remain concerned about several aspects of TAF’s structures and policies.