CA department alleges appraisal company discriminated against Oakland family
The California Civil Rights Department has alleged a Reno-based appraisal management company and an individual appraiser lowballed the value of a Black and Latino family’s Oakland home due to their race.
Clear Capital and the individual appraiser have agreed to settlements, the department announced in a news release Monday.
“Clear Capital appreciates being able to work alongside the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) to resolve this matter,” Helge Hukari, General Counsel at Clear Capital, said in an email. “We will continue to maintain the systems and processes outlined in the settlement agreement.”
In 2022, a Black and Latino couple along with Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California, a nonprofit, submitted a complaint to the department, the release said. In the complaint, they alleged an appraiser undervalued their Oakland home. The appraisal was about $300,000 less than what the home sold for nine months later.
“According to the complaint, the lender also initially denied the couple’s request for a new appraisal and allegedly only followed up after it was too late and their complaint had made the news,” the release states. “The low appraisal resulted in the lender denying the family a loan to refinance their home loan at the then-lower interest rate, which, according to their complaint, made them feel like they had to sell their home and move out.”
A state investigation found the cause for the “lowballed” appraisal and denial of the loan was discrimination, the release said. As part of the settlement,the individual appraiser has agreed to pay $90,000 in compensation, including $75,000 to the family. Clear Capital agreed to provide racial bias training to employees, and continue to track and investigate complaints.
Clear Capital has an office in Roseville, according to its careers website, along with Reno, Truckee and Bloomington, Minnesota. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the status of the Roseville office, and a voicemail left at that office Tuesday morning was not immediately returned.
In 2022, near the start of the interest rate hike, the company permanently laid off 108 employees from the Roseville office, but the office was still open, the Sacramento Business Journal reported at the time.
The minority homeownership rate across the country plateaued after it increased between 2016 and 2020, a recent study by Construction Coverage found, using U.S. Census Bureau data. Black Americans have the lowest rate among minorities. California was one of the states where the problem was the least severe, but the gap between minorities and non-Hispanic white people who own homes was still about 14.9%, the study found. The median value of minority-owned homes in California was $70,000 less than property owned by white people, according to 2025 statistics.
“Whether it’s lowball appraisals or a history of redlining, communities of color across the country continue to confront the multigenerational harms of housing discrimination,” Civil Rights Department Director Kevin Kish said in the release. “Appraisers, lenders, and brokers all have a responsibility to prevent discrimination in real estate transactions. I applaud the family for speaking out and the Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California for helping them make their case. Every effort to correct injustice makes a difference for those who come after. These settlements are an important step forward for protecting the fair housing rights of all Californians.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 2:23 PM.
