Jay Wright Quoted in National Mortgage News on Impact of FHA Dropping Appraisal Rule

Bradley attorney Jay Wright was quoted in National Mortgage News on the impacts for lenders after President Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the reconsideration of value process that had been implemented by the Biden administration in response to findings of appraisal bias.

Lenders cannot outright dismiss the fair housing aspect of the appraisal process even as this rule goes away. “That is because the Fair Housing Act still applies here,” said Wright.

“Lenders still need to be on the lookout for potential appraiser bias,” he explained. “They still maintain the ability to request their own reconsiderations of value if the lender thinks that there's something off.”

The rescission “doesn't change the fact that lenders cannot discriminate in lending,” Wright added.

He noted that this was a signature interagency focus of the Biden administration.

But among the first things that new HUD Secretary Scott Turner did was to withdraw the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. It is fair to say, Wright continued, that this issue is not a priority for the Trump administration, so he wouldn't be surprised if the other agencies acted similarly.

The full article, “What FHA’s dropping of appraisal rule means for lenders,” was published by National Mortgage News on March 21, 2025. (login required)