Washington, D.C.—Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05) introduced a two-bill legislative package seeking to assist heirs’ property owners as they seek assistance with disaster relief, clearing title, and estate planning.  Heirs’ property is family land inherited without a will or legal documentation of ownership. 

The first bill in the package, which Congresswoman Fletcher, Congresswoman Williams, and Congressman Cleaver introduced, is the Heirs Empowerment and Inheritance Rights (HEIR) Act to allow heirs’ property owners to use alternate forms of documentation to prove property ownership to receive disaster aid.

The second bill in the package, the Heirs’ Estate Inheritance Resolution and Succession (HEIRS) Act, introduced by Congresswoman Williams, Congresswoman Fletcher, Congressman Cleaver, and Congressman Byron Donalds (FL-19), incentivizes states to adopt the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act and provides grant funds for legal assistance for heirs’ property owners to clear title.

“These bills are meaningful steps toward increasing resources and access to justice for heirs’ property owners,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “We have seen the devastating consequences heirs’ property owners have faced following natural disasters and forced sales of property over many years.  I am glad to work with Congresswoman Williams and Congressman Cleaver to help address the injustices that result from involuntary land loss and unequal access—past and present—that this legislation seeks to address.”

Congresswoman Nikema Williams, a member of the Financial Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance said: “Black families face numerous barriers that are intentionally designed to make transferring heirs’ property difficult.  I’ve lived this as my family’s land in rural Alabama was informally passed down for generations, including to me.  After our property taxes increased, we had to plan how to protect our land and eventually we made it work.  For far too many Black families, their story doesn’t end that way.  The HEIRS Act will equip families with the resources necessary to ensure the family home stays in the family, helping to create generational wealth and close the racial wealth gap.”

“Property ownership is one of the best tools we have to close the racial wealth gap, build generational wealth, and provide economic justice to underserved communities. But far too often, heirs’ property owners are excluded from accessing equity, financing, or government programs due to land or real estate that was historically inherited without clear title or documentation,” said Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.  “As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, I’m proud to join Reps. Williams and Fletcher to introduce this legislative package that will help ensure heirs' property owners and their descendants have the legal authority to manage property in a way that benefits their families and communities." 

“We have seen the devastating impact on families who can’t get assistance to repair and rebuild their homes after a disaster because they don’t have traditional proof of ownership,” said Madison Sloan, Director of Disaster Recovery and Fair Housing at Texas Appleseed.  “These bills will provide critical help to families across the country so they can stay in their homes, build financial security, and be less vulnerable to the next disaster.”

Heirs’ property is most predominant among Black landholders, dating back to Reconstruction and continuing through Jim Crow, when many Black Americans lacked access to the legal system and could not draft legally binding wills.  It is also an issue for Hispanic families in the southwest, Indigenous families on reservations, and families in Appalachia.  

Heirs’ property owners are particularly vulnerable to speculators and developers who can use laws and loopholes to acquire their property.  For example, speculators and developers can offer to buy out the interest of one heir for a small price and then force a full sale as a fractional owner.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recognized heirs’ property as the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss, having contributed to land loss ranging from 4.7 million to 16 million acres over the last hundred years.  Heirs’ property is estimated to make up more than a third of Southern Black-owned land — 3.5 million acres, worth more than $28 billion.

If enacted, the HEIR Act would permit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist heirs’ property owners by allowing alternate forms of ownership documentation to be shown when applying for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Mitigation assistance.  The bill directs HUD to accept alternate forms of ownership documentation for homeowners applying for CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT funds, including letters from local schools, federal or state benefit providers, and social service organizations. It also directs HUD to develop a standardized affidavit of ownership form that can be used as ownership documentation that will be available in English, Spanish, and other locally predominant languages of the Presidentially declared disaster area.  (The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) already allows alternate forms of ownership documentation for those applying for disaster relief.)

The HEIR Act has received endorsements from the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), National Fair Housing Alliance, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Texas Appleseed Disaster Recovery and Fair Housing Project, National Association of Counties, National Housing Law Project, National Housing Resource Center, and National Community Development Association.

If enacted, the HEIRS Act would create two grant programs to fund educational outreach and legal assistance for heirs’ property owners for states who have adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act and to fund housing counseling and legal assistance for heirs’ property owners at qualifying nonprofits and HUD-approved housing counseling agencies.

The HEIRS Act has received endorsements from the American Land Title Association, National Association of Real Estate Brokers, National Consumer Law Center, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, National Fair Housing Alliance, and National Housing Resource Center.

To read the full text of the HEIR Act, click here.

To read the full text of the HEIRS Act, click here.