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7 Dec, 10 tweets, 3 min read
Paul and Tenisha Tate Austin were shocked beyond belief when their home valued at $989,000.

Over the course of five years, the couple made $400,000 worth of major renovations.

metro.co.uk/2021/12/06/bla…
They added a new floor, creating another 1,000 square feet of space, a new deck, fireplace and other improvements.

Yet the value of their home increased by just 10%.

‘It was a slap in the face,’ Austin told KGO-TV in February.
Three weeks later, the couple decided to get another opinion.

For the second appraisal by a different lender, they enlisted the help of their white friend, Jan.

The Austins ‘whitewashed’ their home, removing their family photos and any African-themed art.
We had a conversation with one of our white friends, and she said. “No problem. I’ll be Tenisha. I’ll bring over some pictures of my family”. She made our home look like it belonged to her,’ Tenisha said
‘There are implications to our ability to create generational wealth or passing things on if our houses appraise for 50% less than its value.'

The lawsuit filed by the Austins accuses the first appraiser, Janette Miller, of giving them a lowball valuation because they are black.
The couple of the nonprofit Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California are now suing Miller and her company, Miller & Perotti Real Estate Appraisals.

They are seeking financial damages and asking the court to order the defendants to ensure they won’t discriminate.
Paul 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’.
Attorneys with Fair Housing Advocates, who are representing themselves and the Austin family, did not immediately respond to @MetroUK for requests to comment.
Jessica Lautz, of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said discrimination is in ‘nearly every aspect of that home buying process’, adding, ‘We need to be addressing it as an industry’.
Just 34% of black Californians own a home, according to research from NAR, which claims that black applicants are three times more likely to be rejected for mortgage loans than their white counterparts.

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More from @MetroUK

7 Dec
Arthur can finally be laid to rest after his father agreed to release his body.

The six-year-old boy has been left at the mortuary where his post-mortem was carried out 16 months ago amid a legal dispute over who had the right to bury him.

trib.al/HIgrKAS
On Friday his dad Thomas Hughes was jailed for 21 years after being found guilty of manslaughter.

He was regularly starved, beaten, fed salt, and made to stand in the hallway for up to 14 hours a day while his step mother's biological children were doted upon.
His stepmum Emma Tustin was handed a life sentence with a minimum of 29 years after being convicted of murder.

Defenceless Arthur suffered ‘unsurvivable’ brain injuries after smashing Arthur’s head against the hallway wall in June at their home in Solihull, West Midlands.
Read 11 tweets
7 Dec
A senior Labour MP has doubled down on calls for police to investigate allegations that a rule-breaking ‘Christmas party’ was held in Downing Street.

metro.co.uk/2021/12/07/lab…
As the row over the alleged gathering rumbled on, Emily Thornberry said ‘of course there should be’ a Met investigation into claims staff in the Prime Minister’s office broke Covid rules last year.
Several sources have claimed there were at least two events that took place in Number 10 in the run-up to Christmas 2020, one of which featured ‘party games, food and drinks’ and went on until past midnight.
Read 12 tweets
7 Dec
It’s the age old question – who does what around the house?

Despite the fact that it is 2021, most women will attest to the fact that archaic gender stereotypes tend to kick in when it comes to housework, and they get left with the lions share.

metro.co.uk/2021/12/07/wom…
A new survey has revealed the extent to which women are taking on unequal amounts of domestic responsibilities.

Women were doing 21 hours more unpaid work than men a week and experiencing higher levels of psychological distress in the year before the pandemic.
The survey was compiled by @UniMelb and analyses data from interviews with 17,500 people in 9,500 households.

It was found that in 2019, women were doing a lot more unpaid work than men, with the gap being most pronounced in heterosexual couples with young children.
Read 8 tweets
6 Dec
The Sarco suicide capsule, to be used in assisted suicide, has passed legal review in Switzerland and may legally be operated in the country.

Switzerland has allowed assisted suicide with unselfish motives since 1942.

metro.co.uk/2021/12/06/3d-…
Assisted suicide is different from active euthanasia which is still illegal in Switzerland.

However, supplying the means for committing suicide is legal, as long as the action which directly causes death is performed by the one wishing to die.
The ‘Sarco’ machine has been developed by Exit International, a non-profit organisation advocating for the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide.

‘It’s a 3-D printed capsule, activated from the inside by the person intending to die.'
Read 9 tweets
6 Dec
Lisa Diaz faces a fine of up to £2,500 and family court action after pulling her daughter, 9, out of school during the first wave.

metro.co.uk/2021/12/06/mum…
The mum of two is adamant that she will only send her daughter back to primary school when she is double vaccinated despite the threat of legal action for poor attendance.
Lisa Diaz pulled nine-year-old Helena out of classes in March 2020 because she strongly believes government precautions for protecting children from Covid are inadequate.
Read 14 tweets
5 Dec
Omar says that it wasn’t prison itself that had broken him, but the double lockdown.

When the UK decided to put restrictions in place last year, many lives were saved, but the survivors now have to deal with the effects of 23 hours a day in a cell 🧵

metro.co.uk/2021/12/05/in-…
When Omar was released from HMP Wandsworth in July, his family were excited to have him home.

They had missed him during the four months served; but the man who walked through the door – holding just a plastic bag containing a few clothes, trainers and letters – was a stranger. Image
‘When you come out, it’s hard to function,’ recalls Omar. ‘It’s like your eyes have been closed and then you come out into blinding light. It’s daunting. You’re suddenly just there, in the world.' Image
Read 25 tweets

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