February 3, 2023 — Letter

The National Fair Housing Alliance (“NFHA”) and the undersigned civil rights and consumer advocacy organizations write in response to the Appraisal Standards Board’s request for comment on the proposed changes to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (“USPAP”) (as shown in the Appendix), which would add nondiscrimination language to USPAP’s Ethics Rule.

Appraisals are critically important to American communities. The appraisal has the power to determine the value of a borrower’s most important financial asset, which can hold the key to determining whether that family can purchase a permanent home rather than rent, access credit on reasonable terms, and build wealth for generations to come. We applaud the Appraisal Standards Board for proposing language that clearly prohibits discrimination in appraisals. Our organizations believe that the responses below will help the Appraisal Standards Board further strengthen the proposed USPAP revision.