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ABC News(HOMELAND, Md.) -- A Black couple whose home valuation increased nearly $300,000 after their Homeland, Maryland, property was re-appraised with a white colleague serving as the homeowner is suing two firms alleging racial discrimination. Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, who are both professors at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, allege that Shane Lanham of

A Black couple from Maryland is suing loanDepot and its appraisal firm, 20/20 Valuations, for “dramatically undervaluing their home in an appraisal" because of their race and their home’s location "adjacent to a Black census block.”  According to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, loanDepot is culpable for discrimination by knowingly relying on the appraisal to deny the Black couple’s refinance loan, and for retaliating when the plaintiffs explained why the appraisal was discriminatory.

A contested home valuation was based on the professional's "racist beliefs" and eschewed industry standards with comparisons of properties away from the majority-white neighborhood, according to the lawsuit.

A Maryland couple has sued a local real estate appraiser and an online mortgage loan provider, alleging that the housing appraisal they received was unfairly low due to their race.

“We had to have a conversation with our kids about why we’re pulling down all their drawings. It’s very humiliating to strip yourself of your own home.”