NEW YORK, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- An African American couple has recently filed a lawsuit in Maryland for home appraisal discrimination, The New York Times has reported.
The couple, Nathan Connolly and his wife Shani Mott, sued Maryland appraisal company 20/20 Valuations earlier this week for undervaluing their house based on their race, said the report published Thursday.
They also sued mortgage lender loanDepot as it denied them a refinance loan based on 20/20 Valuations's appraisal, said the report.
Months after the first appraisal, during which 20/20 Valuations put the couple's home value at 472,000 U.S. dollars, they "applied for another refinance loan, removed family photos and had a white male colleague ... stand in for them," it said.
"The second appraiser valued the house at 750,000 dollars," it added.
"The home appraisal industry, which relies partly on subjective opinions to translate home values into dollars and cents, has faced a firestorm of criticism over the past two years," the report noted. ■
