The Heirs Education & Investment to Resolve Succession of (HEIRS) Property Act of 2024
On, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, Congressmen Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) and Don Davis (NC-01), both members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, introduced H.R. 8198, the Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of (HEIRS) Property Act. Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08) is the Republican lead of the bill in the U.S. House.
This bill would help families by providing legal services that help them resolve heirs’ property issues, which could take months or years, so that they can start using their land for agriculture production.
Heirs’ property can be mitigated through appropriate business entities and succession planning. As part of the 2018 Farm Bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was authorized to establish a re-lending program for heirs’ property to provide access to capital that may assist in resolving title issues. However, many heirs still cannot access legal services or take on additional debt to clear their titles due to systemic barriers like limited resources or being socially disadvantaged.
The HEIRS Property Act would reauthorize the Heirs Property Intermediary Relending Program as well as amend existing law to direct the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to work with nonprofit organizations to provide pro-bono legal or accounting services in resolving ownership and succession of farmland for underserved limited-resource or socially disadvantaged heirs.
You can follow the bill on Congress.gov.
Supporting Organizations
(In alphabetical order)
- Agricultural Law Institute for Underrepresented and Underserved Communities at Southern University Law Center
- American Forest Foundation
- The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation | go to statement
- The Center for NYC Neighborhoods | go to statement
- Georgia Heirs Property Law Center, Inc. | go to statement
- Limited Resource Landowner Education and Assistance Network (LRLEAN)
- Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN Knowledge) | go to statement
- Local Initiatives Support Corporation
- Louisiana Appleseed Center for Law and Justice | go to statement
- Middle Georgia Access to Justice Council, Inc. | go to statement
- Mississippi Center for Justice | go to statement
- National Black Food and Justice Alliance | go to statement
- National Consumer Law Center
- National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
- National Young Farmers Coalition | go to statement
- North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project | go to statement
- Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA)
- The Rural Coalition | go to statement
- Union of Concerned Scientists | go to statement
- Winston County Self Help Cooperative
Statements of Support for the Bill
Georgia Heirs Property Law Center
As the Executive Director of the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center, Inc. (the “Center”), I am delighted with the Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession (HEIRS) Property Act because it provides a critical, missing piece for a comprehensive, national strategy to address farmland loss by increasing access to the legal services required to resolve and prevent heirs’ property for farmers. Heirs Property prevents farmers from managing their land and from passing their land to the next generation of farmers in a productive manner. Heirs’ property resolution and prevention requires direct legal support for farm families; the HEIRS Property Act leverages USDA resources to create access to pro bono attorneys with expertise in this complex area of the law.
Skipper G. Stipemaas
Executive Director
North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project (NCABL-LLPP)
The North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project has been working for more than forty years to provide legal resources, free of charge, to landowners across the state of North Carolina. One of the ever-present issues we encounter is the shared ownership of land by heirs and we work directly with families faced with the loss of their property due to mortgage and tax foreclosures and predatory action, including forced sales by outside parties. We also work to stabilize ownership so that families can engage in long term stewardship of resources and build economic well-being.
From the last Census of Agriculture, we see alarming statistics related to farmland loss and consolidation of ownership of farms, as we lose our smallest and mid-sized family farms. Challenges related to heir property ownership simply cannot be resolved without recognition of, and support for, legal strategies. Work by a dedicated network of trusted, community-based, nonprofits that have: 1) a specialized understanding of the nature and character of heir property; and 2) sufficient time and commitment to work with and for family owners, is essential.
Land Loss Prevention and the Rural Coalition strongly support the HEIRS Property Act, which by prioritizing funding for established nonprofits providing these vital legal and financial tools, will enable families to undertake a deliberate process with autonomy, rather than a reactionary response to pressure that occurs from forced sales or loss through foreclosure.
Savonala Horne
Executive Director, NCABL-LLPP
Board Member, The Rural Coalition
The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation
The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation is proud to be an original endorser of the Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act and I personally appreciate the incorporation of recommendations made by the Equity Commission regarding heirs' property. This legislation has the potential to change lives and landscapes across generations.
Jennie L. Stephens, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
&
Member of the USDA Equity Commission
Middle Georgia Access to Justice Council, Inc.
Middle Georgia Justice supports the HEIRS Property Act as a meaningful step towards addressing the staggering losses suffered by those who are affected by entangled family titles but who do not have the resources for legal representation to fight for and preserve their heirs' property rights.
Amy Griffith Dever
Executive Director
Mississippi Center for Justice
This legislation would be transformative and allow non-profit organizations with a trusted record of assisting limited resource, underserved, and socially disadvantaged farmers obtain clear title to their land and prevent land loss.
Vangela M. Wade
President & CEO
We are excited about the potential for this legislation to help limited resource, underserved, and socially disadvantaged farmers keep, protect and utilize their land thereby building generational wealth.
Andrea’ R. Barnes
Property Director
Louisiana Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
After years and often decades of being locked out of economic building blocks of generational wealth, families can determine the path that is in their best interests without first accumulating insurmountable debt.
Adrienne Wheeler
Executive Director
National Black Food and Justice Alliance
The National Black Food and Justice Alliance supports the HEIRS Property Act as a critical tool for land justice and to ensure resources to protect land stewarded through generations of Black family landowners.
Cicely Garret
Co-Executive Director
National Young Farmers Coalition
Equitable access to affordable, quality farmland is a foundational need of the growers and land stewards across the country, yet it is also the top challenge this new generation faces, and this challenge is even greater for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) farmers. Navigating heirs’ property issues can lead to difficulties in transferring land to this new generation, adding another layer to the already complex challenge of achieving secure land tenure. Young Farmers applauds Congressmen Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., and Donald G. Davis for introducing the Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of (HEIRS) Property Act.
David Howard
Policy Development Director
Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN Knowledge)
LiKEN Knowledge has partnered with the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation to create a free title clearing assistance for heirs’ property owners in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. We are doing our best to provide assistance to our community members, but we need the federal government to be a partner in this effort. Passing the HEIRS Property Act would empower non-profits like LiKEN Knowledge and the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation to expand our services. The bill is a vital first step towards closing the gap between federal programs and the underserved landowners that they were created to assist.
Kevin Slovinsky
Director of Land & Revenues
The Center for NYC Neighborhoods
Supporting the HEIRS Property Act is a critical step toward rectifying long-standing issues of property succession that disproportionately impact African American, Latino, indigenous, and low-income families. The Center for NYC Neighborhoods recognizes the profound impact that clear land titles have on the stability and prosperity of families and communities. This legislation not only aids in resolving legal complexities but also ensures the legacy and benefits of land ownership can be rightfully preserved and passed on to future family members. The Center fully supports this initiative as it aligns with our mission to protect and promote equitable homeownership.
Christie Peale
CEO & Executive Director
Legal and quasi-legal trickery, like heirs’ property, greatly contributed to Black farm owners losing nearly 90% of their farmland over the last century, and to the 98% decrease in the number of Black farmers. Today, just one in 72 farmers is Black. We need provisions in the next food and farm bill that will help keep all farmers on their land and assist with ownership and title issues that put them at risk of losing their land. The HEIRS Property Act will help farming families resolve ownership issues that are preventing them from investing in their farms or accessing USDA programs and services and protect their families’ legacies from predatory sales.
DeShawn L. Blanding
Senior Washington Representative in the Food and Environment Program