The hope is to make Philadelphia a national model for tackling the issue.
“It’s not just about fixing Philadelphia’s problem. It is about fixing Philadelphia’s problem and trying to create a movement around it that would benefit the states and the entirety of the country,” said Ira Goldstein, who chairs the task force in addition to his duties as president of the policy solutions group at the Reinvestment Fund.
While the specific causes of home appraisal bias are not well-known, there are some widely-accepted contributors, including the demographics of the appraisers.
In Philadelphia, 95% of appraisers are white. The vast majority are men. And most of them live in the suburbs, according to the report.
In response, the task force has made a variety of recommendations. At the local level, the group wants to see the city provide funding and support to neighborhood groups to generate promotional brochures and hold in-person information sessions so appraisers can learn about neighborhood assets and amenities.
At the state level, the task force is recommending that lawmakers in Harrisburg pass legislation that imposes specific fair housing training requirements on appraisers, similar to what’s seen in New York, California, and Ohio. There’s also a call for the state to review its rules and regulations for becoming an appraiser. For example, Pennsylvania requires 1,500 hours of training under a licensed appraiser, a total that presents a “significant roadblock” to diversifying the industry, according to the report.
“It was the sentiment of the people on the task force that those extra hours didn’t necessarily translate into better appraisers and was another hurdle for people to overcome to get into the profession,” said Goldstein.