On August 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) announced a partnership aimed at tackling appraisal bias and discrimination in the housing market. The said collaboration, which is set to launch in the coming months, will increase education, outreach, and efforts to combat racial appraisal bias in home property valuation.
According to the HUD, the partnership will be officially launched in October 2023 and will include online training for counselors, roundtable discussions on bias and discrimination, educational material distribution, and appraisal-related training. In particular, training sessions will include discussion of strategies to combat appraisal bias; best practices for housing counselors to help clients impacted; and available resources that can support housing counselors and their clients.
The HUD's Office of Housing Counseling and National Fair Housing Training Academy will also work with NAREB on holding regional roundtables in different parts of the country to gain greater understanding of appraisal bias in specific geographic areas; build public-private partnerships and collaboration in efforts to combat appraisal bias; and share best practices for housing counselors to help impacted clients.
Read the HUD’s announcement here.