A Black couple is suing a real estate firm, accusing a white appraiser's estimate of lowering the intrinsic value of their home by nearly $500,000. The couple also filed a housing discrimination lawsuit in California, the Independent reports.

Paul Austin, 45, and Tenisha Tate-Austin, 42, were angered and dismayed when the appraiser valued their Marin City home in the San Francisco Bay area at $989,000, a price significantly lower than previous appraisals. During the last five years, the couple invested $400,000 worth of considerable renovations to their property, which included a new floor, expanding a room by an additional 1,000 square feet, a new deck, a fireplace and other cosmetic improvements, Metro reports.

Despite the significant upgrades made to the house, their home value only increased by 10%. Andre Perry, a senior fellow with nonprofit public policy organization Brookings Institution, said housing discrimination against Black homeowners is a systemic issue impacting the whole country, according to NBC News.

The Brookings Institution conducted a study in 2018 and concluded that homes in a predominantly Black neighborhood were appraised 23% less than properties in a majority-white neighborhood.

"It was a slap in the face," Austin said to KGO-TV in February.

The couple decided to get a second opinion from a different lender. They requested the help of a white friend by the name of Jan, who agreed to pretend to be the homeowner of their home.

Austin and Tate-Austin took down family photos and artwork that would indicate that they were Black, according to the lawsuit. Jan even pitched in by providing pictures of her family and distributed them around the house.

The two face a long line of real estate discrimination against Black homeowners, according to The Washington Post.

An Indiana woman had a white friend pose as the homeowner of her house and the value of the new appraisal more than doubled, according to Indy Star. A Jacksonville, Florida, couple "whitewashed" their home and saw their home appraisal increase 40%, First Coast News reports. An Ohio family saw a second appraisal value their home at almost $100,000 more than the first estimate after they took down all their family pictures, according to USA Today.

The lawsuit filed by the Austin, Tate-Austin and the nonprofit Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California accuse the first appraiser, Janette Miller, and her San Rafael-based company Miller & Perotti Real Estate Appraisals, of discriminatory practices by undervaluing their home due to their race.

The couple wants to be awarded financial damages and is pleading with the court to demand the defendants end discrimination when appraising houses.

Austin told the state reparations task force in October he believes the property was devalued "because we are in a Black neighborhood, and the home belonged to a Black family."

Jessica Lautz of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), told Metro there was discrimination in "nearly every aspect of that home buying process."

"We need to be addressing it as an industry," Lautz added.

Based on research from NAR, 34% of Black Californians are homeowners, Metro reports. NAR also stated that Black applicants are three times more likely to be denied mortgage loans than white applicants.

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