By Paul Rayburn July 18, 2025
We will return to our regularly un-scheduled posting program after this. This news was significant to a subject I feel is extremely important to my profession and to many of my peers and something I have been following.
Yesterday (July 17, 2025), a federal judge granted Summary Judgment, dismissing the high‑profile discrimination lawsuit against the appraiser in Connolly (Estate of Mott) v. Lanham.
My interest in this began in mid-2020 with another widely publicized “whitewashing” story involving Abena and Alex Horton. What the headlines skipped over is that Horton was, at the time, Assistant General Counsel and Vice‑President at Black Knight, a leading provider of AVMs that stand to gain when traditional appraisals are discredited. Her allegations never advanced to trial, but the narrative helped fuel sweeping claims of systemic bias in real estate appraisals.
Mary Cummins has a blog here which can help provide further context on the Horton case and others. One of the key issues omitted from the news coverage is that the Horton home had several hundred square feet of unpermitted finished area, which the first appraiser may not have been able to include. A lender, who may not have held such strict requirements, apparently facilitated the second appraisal. Because the case never went to trial and those facts remain concealed, the full story is uncertain. However, multiple references indicate that this was a high probability, causing a significant portion of the stated value disparity. We also don’t know the circumstances of the second appraiser’s engagement or what, if any, influences may have existed.
You can read more on my blog topics on these cases here. and here.
In the Lanham case, the appraiser took a stand and vowed not to settle without proper discovery. The importance of finding the truth in these cases should not be understated. True reconciliation for the root problems cannot be achieved when blame is misdirected. For these reasons myself and many of Lanham’s peers were keen to see this followed through.
Racial Equity and the Appraiser
Understandably, underprivileged communities want equity. Unfortunately, it is not the job of an appraiser, hired to determine market value, to alter the data. That is the job of federal and municipal policymakers. Appraisers may be able to help identify these inequities and could be part of a conduit for solutions, but that does not fall within the typical scope of work.
Redlining was the single most influential factor in creating the divide in home and neighborhood equity. It was not created by appraisers, yet many now seek to place the blame on them. Redlining was largely driven by lenders and insurers. Where appraisers were involved, it was often because they were required to follow guidelines imposed by those entities. While the historical record may be viewed as a complex fabric, woven and then partially unraveled over time, one thing is clear: when appraisers are allowed to determine fair market value, free from constraints imposed by such external pressures, the majority fulfill that role responsibly.
As for the velocity of markets, satisfying demand, and reducing friction, appraisers work with the tools and time they have available. If an appraiser can speed up the process while maintaining reasonable standards, they will or should. Unfortunately, certain policies enacted over the past decade and a half have stripped appraisers of opportunities to engage on more meaningful levels, and have also stripped them of capital and equity that should have gone into advancements in training, education, and technology to further enhance their efficiency.
Certain actors have conjured these frictions into a narrative that places the blame on appraisers. It appears they have become the easy target. These narratives attacked a handful of innocent appraisers and dragged them through the mud, one by one, with little support. The appraisal industry and individual appraisers need support to overcome the overwhelming bias working against them.
A Larger Story
This is a much larger story than one involving a single appraiser versus a single homeowner, yet “the system” appears to have decided it must attack the appraisal profession in any way it can, even if that involves unscrupulous tactics and deliberate obfuscation of the role of individual appraisers.
Being an appraiser, I understand the importance of our profession. The evidence is strong that the vast majority of appraisers also understand the importance of our role, to act as impartial, objective, and unbiased professionals in the valuation of property.
I am proud to have helped raise over $2,000, alongside my own donations, for Shane Lanham’s case. Unfortunately, even though Shane successfully defended himself (or rather, his initial report appears to have fully complied with applicable standards, with no fault identified), the costs and damages to his livelihood were not remedied.
Without the approximately $65,000 raised through the GoFundme for Shane Lanham, Shane may not have been able to defend himself. The total expenses far exceed that, but the extra appears to have made a difference.
He initially committed to donating any remaining funds, and while it is unclear whether any will be left, I would fully support those funds going to Shane himself for standing firm rather than settling. I am glad I was able to make a small difference.
I will continue to follow this case, and I hope to support a second round of fundraising that goes directly to Shane.
For clarity, my GoFundMe activity on this account also includes a small donation I made in 2021 to the Stephen Forrester Memorial Fund, created to support his family. The net attribution to the Lanham fundraiser was just over $2,300 from my own donations and those made by my network via shared links.
I feel compelled to support others in order to lift the entire profession. At that time in my career, after nearly six years, I had no net profits after education and training, and after trying to train new staff to meet the growing demand for high-volume, low-fee work. I had nothing to leave my own family if something were to happen to me. So that story struck a chord with me.
We must continue to support each other, expose those who seek to diminish our profession, and at the same time raise the bar to ensure we remain the impartial, objective, and unbiased leaders in the valuation industry.
Over the past several years, I have come across numerous examples of individuals and entities jumping at opportunities to attack the appraisal profession. I will not go into any more names or specifics here, but if you have followed my journey, you are probably aware of some of those examples, and likely have a few of your own.
Please share your concerns, share your stories, and share Shane’s story!