MBA Home For All Pledge Partner: Class Valuation
(One in a series of profiles of MBA member companies that have signed the MBA Home For All Pledge, an initiative to promote inclusion in housing.)
“Class Valuation is passionate about bringing a spotlight to bias in the appraisal industry. More so, we are committed to helping mitigate bias through our 3D scan technology, which provides a source of truth for property data along with full transparency. We’re excited to continue to promote innovative solutions, and work with industry stakeholders, to find pathways that address this critical issue, as well as bring diversity into the appraisal profession.”
–John Fraas, CEO of Class Valuation, Troy, Mich.
MBA NEWSLINK: Why did Class Valuation sign the MBA Home for All Pledge?
JOHN FRAAS: “At Class Valuation, our goal is to mitigate all forms of conscious and subconscious bias (be it racial, socio-economic, political, religious, etc.) from the appraisal and valuation process. Injecting bias into an opinion of value can falsely drive values both up and down (negative bias can deflate home values, whereas a positive bias can inflate home values). We’re committed to working with industry stakeholders to improve outdated processes and make sure fairness in valuation is accessible to all properties and consumers.”
NEWSLINK: What is Class Valuation doing to implement key provisions of the Home for All Pledge?
FRAAS: “Class Valuation is focused on responsible modernization of real estate valuations by utilizing technology and our Digital Appraisal. The core idea of the Digital Appraisal is to remove personal preferences from the home value and rely on a standardized, scientific, repeatable process to derive a data-driven value. Our 3-D scans leverage advanced computer vision technology to create ‘digital twins’ of subject properties. The ‘digital twin’ is a complete virtual rendition of the home which allows the licensed appraiser to virtually inspect the entire property right from their desk as if they were on-site. This adds a new layer of appraiser independence as they can now review all relevant data and property characteristics without physically visiting the home or making contact with consumers.
“Using advanced technology, Class is collecting 100% of the data in a fully transparent way, as opposed to allowing the appraiser to choose what data is included in the report and shared downstream. This reduces the possibility of the appraiser to misrepresent the property (either purposefully or inadvertently) or forming any bias through interactions with consumers. Class Valuation is also a sponsor of the Appraiser Diversity Initiative (ADI), which fosters diversity in the appraisal profession.”
***
About the MBA Home For All Pledge
MBA recognizes and values the opportunities for working together as an industry to promote inclusion in housing. We believe that these opportunities can, and need to be, significantly expanded.
The Home for All Pledge represents our industry’s long-term commitment on a sustained and holistic approach to address racial inequities in housing. By signing, you are agreeing to be a champion for change in addressing the barriers to sustainable housing for persons and communities of color.
Through advocacy, partnerships, and connections within the industry, you pledge to support MBA’s efforts to ensure fair, equitable and responsible lending and affordable rental housing for minorities.
Pillars of the pledge include:
–Promote and support public policies and industry practices that advance minority homeownership and affordable rental housing;
–Support market-based solutions through MBA’s place-based CONVERGENCE programs;
–Champion Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in our workplaces and our industry; and
–Support inclusion in single-family and/or multifamily housing with similar actions that are not listed under the above three commitments
For more information about the MBA Home For All Pledge, visit https://www.mba.org/who-we-are/the-home-for-all-pledge.
