As mentioned in part 1 of this series, Federal Fair Housing Laws states in clear terms that when it comes to real estate, an individual cannot discriminate based on protected factors. These protected classes include race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, or disability.
As of this writing, the current edition of USPAP is even more detailed when it pertains to the profession of appraising and it states “An appraiser must not use or rely on unsupported conclusions relating to characteristics such as race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, familial status, age, receipt of public assistance income, handicap, or an unsupported conclusion that homogeneity of such characteristics is necessary to maximize value.”
USPAP is a document that is continually being revised. This task is accomplished by members of the Appraisal Standards Board which is an independent board of The Appraisal Foundation. They have been arduously addressing the matter of bias and as part of the current revisions being proposed, are conducting a comprehensive look into the Ethics Rule. As part of their process, they even consulted with antidiscrimination experts in July 2022.
Currently, the proposed changes to USPAP is in its 4th exposure and while I am not going to disclose the contents of these proposed revisions, it seems very apparent that the goal of the current board is to make it abundantly clear within USPAP that unethical and illegal discrimination is explicitly prohibited. If you are interested in reading the draft, you can find it on The Appraisal Foundation website of click on this link: https://appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com/share/view/s80c9bc7163694f5a809cb401316d53cf
Even though USPAP has for a long time always required appraisers to be unbiased, I am proud to be included in a profession that has chosen to continue taking this matter seriously and clearly spell out where we stand. The public needs to be assured that our profession has not, does not and will not tolerate unethical and illegal discrimination.