PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — The Prince George’s County Council is expected to pass a bill in November aimed at addressing ongoing allegations of home appraisal bias in the county.
"If you buy here and think you may be discriminated against, that's a deterrent,” explained Prince George’s County Councilman At-Large Mel Franklin.
The Real Estate Appraisal Bias Ban of 2023 would clarify a ban on home appraisal bias, direct the County Office of Human Rights to provide education and enforcement of the law and, according to Councilman Franklin, impose a $10,000 fine on real estate appraisers who discriminate against homeowners involved in the appraisal process.
“What we're saying to the real estate appraisal community is become more conscious of the possibility that hidden racial bias is entering into your real estate appraisal because that $10,000 dollar fine is real.
For two years, WUSA9 profiled allegations of home appraisal bias in Prince George's County and throughout Maryland.
Jacqulyn Priestly and her husband said their Bowie home was undervalued by about $500,000.
“How is it that the wood and the walls and the nails that were used, how are they worth less than what they cost us?” wondered Priestly when she spoke with WUSA9 in 2021.
Her neighbor and now Maryland Delegate Kym Taylor said her house appraised $300,000 below the purchase price during the height of the COVID real estate market.
“It could have been a real deal killer,” she told WUSA 9 in 2022.
Both of these homes are in Prince George's County, where African Americans make up a majority of the population.
Data from the Brookings Institute shows that owner-occupied homes in Black neighborhoods are undervalued by about $48,000 dollars on average. Since our initial reporting, the Biden Administration enacted nationwide policy changes aimed at enhancing transparency and addressing bias in the home appraisal process. Similar changes were made in the state legislature in Maryland.
Now, the Prince George's County Council is getting involved.
"We are looking to ensure that people looking to buy can have confidence that when it's their time to sell their home, that they will get a fair market price,” said Franklin.