By: Alyssa Wilson

In Indianapolis, a Black homeowner concealed her race in a third home appraisal after suspecting it played a part in the results. According to Yahoo! News, Carlette Duffy removed photos of herself and her family, and had a white friend pose as her brother for the appraiser visit.  

In addition to removing photos from her home, Duffy did not declare her race or gender on the appraisal application. She limited her contact with the appraiser via email.  

All three appraisals were performed by different companies in 2020. The first two returned with values of $125,0000 and $110,000. After the third appraisal, when she hid her race, the value came back as $259,000.  

The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana and the Department of Housing and Urban Development filed housing discrimination complaints on Duffy’s behalf. The groups allege discrimination against Duffy based on her race and color in violation of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.  

The first complaint names Craig Hodges of Citywide Home Loans and Jeffrey Pierce of Pierce Appraisal Inc. The complaint alleges Duffy’s home, in a historically Black neighborhood, faced racially motivated discrimination. The second complaint names Andre Mammino and Doug Frimmet of Freedom Mortgage, as well as Timothy Boston of Appraisal Network.  

Duffy purchased the home in 2017 for $100,000. She disputed the results of the first two appraisals with market analysis data, but nothing changed.  

“In order for the value of her home to be accurate, she had to remove herself completely from the home,” Amy Nelson, Executive Director for the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, said. “She was first ecstatic that she did in fact get the value that she thought her home deserved. But then almost immediately after, she was heartbroken with the fact of what she had to do in order to get that value.”  

A report titled The devaluation of assets in Black neighborhoods examined how Black homes are valued less than homes owned by white people. The report found that in the average American metropolitan area, homes in communities that are 50% Black are valued at roughly half the price as homes in neighborhoods with no Black residents.  

RELATED: Homes owned in Black neighborhoods undervalued 

Shanta Patton, Vice President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, said incidents like these “absolutely happens every time.”