Rep. Ayanna Pressley Introduces New Bill to Fight Racial Bias in Home Appraisals

After years of watching Black and Brown homeowners rearrange their lives—and sometimes their entire homes—just to receive a fair appraisal, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is stepping in with a legislative fix.

One day before National Housing Day, Pressley unveiled the Appraisal Modernization Act, a bill designed to confront racial bias in home valuations and push the industry toward fair, consistent standards. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is leading the companion bill in the Senate.

“It is a damning injustice that Black and brown folks have to whitewash their homes to get a fair shake during the appraisals process,” Pressley said, explaining why she drafted the legislation. “Our families are being shortchanged in a housing market that is built to disregard our worth, our lives, and our livelihoods. Our bill would confront this head-on.”

Pressley emphasized that skewed home valuations don’t just affect a sale—they directly impact a family’s ability to build generational wealth.

“Discrimination in home appraisals has exacerbated America’s glaring racial wealth gap for far too long,” she said. “Our bill would combat systemic bias in home valuations and help ensure our home appraisal processes are accurate and equitable for all.”

Concerns about appraisal bias aren’t new. Lawmakers—including former Vice President Kamala Harris—have repeatedly spotlighted the issue. The Biden-Harris administration even launched a federal task force and action plan focused on rooting out racial disparities in the appraisal process.

Pressley’s bill pushes that work further.

The Appraisal Modernization Act would require lenders to adopt standardized, transparent practices when homeowners request a reconsideration of value or a second appraisal. It also calls for guidelines that minimize lender burden while mandating a study to support the creation of a national appraisal database.

“Home valuations are a critical part of the mortgage lending process and help ensure families can build generational wealth through homeownership,” Warnock said. “This legislation will help Georgia families and all Americans realize the full value of their homes, and it empowers them with more data and tools to fight bias that would lower their homes’ values.”

The legislation has already earned support from major civil rights and housing organizations, including Lawyers for Civil Rights, The Boston Foundation, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Consumer Law Center, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.