Helen Latimore owned a home in a predominately black neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois.' She applied to Citibank Federal Savings Bank ("Citibank") for a $51,000 loan using her home as collateral.2 Citibank required that two conditions be met to receive a loan: creditworthiness, and that the collateral value be at least 75% of the amount of the loan. Latimore received an appraisal on the house a year earlier for $82,000, that would qualify her for a $61,500 loan. Citibank did not know of the first appraisal when it initially denied the loan.4 Citibank's appraiser, Ed Kembauer, however, valued the home at $45,000.5 Kernbauer's appraisal made the requested $51,000 loan 113% of the collateral.
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