When a Black homeowner concealed her race, her home's appraisal value doubled

When Carlette Duffy had her Indianapolis home appraised as part of a refinance application last year, it kept getting valued much lower than she expected.

Suspicious that her race may have played a role she ordered another appraisal, but this time concealed that she is Black by removing family photos and other items indicating her race from her home and asking a White friend to pose as her brother when meeting with the appraiser. The appraised value more than doubled during the third appraisal, leading Duffy to file a Fair Housing complaint against the lenders and appraisers she had worked with alleging racial discrimination.