About Tangled Titles
A significant number of homeowners do not have a deed in their name, which puts them at risk of losing their home to a variety of threats. Tangled title situations can occur when homes are passed on from generation to generation without a will or without the filing of a probate petition. Sometimes, even when a homeowner passes away with a will, probate delays may drag on for a year or longer, keeping a home’s title unclear.
Tangled titles often go hand in hand with a variety of problems including keeping up with payments for the mortgage, property tax, or utilities, such as when the family had relied on the deceased’s income or where payment obligations are missed immediately prior to and after the homeowner’s death. The tangled title may prevent a successor homeowner from obtaining a mortgage modification, assuming a mortgage, or even obtaining information from the mortgage servicer. Property tax bills may skyrocket if the homestead exemption is removed and heirs are not able to obtain the exemption in their name. Other times, much-needed natural disaster assistance may be stymied without proof of ownership of the home.
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Articles—free to the public
Homeowner Tactics to Overcome Problems with Tangled Titles
Twelve Tips for Homeowners After Natural Disasters
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Conference Archives—free to legal aid, NACA and recent NCLC conference attendees
Mortgage Strategy Summit: Zombie Mortgages, Successors and Tangled Title, and Loss Mitigation/Homeowners Assistance Fund (CRLC 2022)
Can Estate Planning be Used to Help Preserve Economic Assets in Low-Income Communities?
African Americans Have Lost Untold Acres of Land Over the Last Century
Sample Successor Letter to Servicer
Historic Partition Law Reform: A Game Changer for Heirs’ Property Owners
Reforming Property Law to Address Devastating Land Loss
Forced Sale Risk: Class, Race, and the “Double Discount”
Sample NOE by Successor in Interest and Request to Confirm Successor Status
Untangling Title: Saving the Home When Heir Property Issues are Involved (CRLC 2021)
Untangling Title: Saving the Home When Heir Property Issues are Involved (PowerPoint)
Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act
Predatory Real Estate Investment via Partition
This New Tactic by Real Estate Investors Is Forcing Some from Their Homes
Heirship Deed Without Covenant Against Grantor's Acts
Heirship Affidavit, Deed Appendix
Successors in Interest and Absent Co-borrowers: Saving the Family Home After Death, Divorce, or DV (Mortgage Conference 2022)
Conference Videos—free to those attending that specific conference
Untangling Title: Saving the Home When Heir Property Issues are Involved (Video) (CRLC 2021)
Successors in Interest and Absent Co-borrowers: Saving the Family Home After Death, Divorce, or DV (Video) (Mortgage Conference 2022)
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Related Forthcoming Conferences—restricted to those representing consumers
June 5–6, 2023| Philadelphia
Consumer Rights Litigation Conference and Class Action Symposium
October 26-29 | Chicago
Related Treatises—requires subscription to treatise
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Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications
(2023 Digital Second Edition online; print book 2023 Second Edition forthcoming)
2.11 Challenges for Successors in Interest
3.2.3 RESPA Applicability to Successors in Interest
3.3.4.3 Limited Request for Information by a Potential Successor in Interest
4.8 Garn-St Germain Act—Limitations on Due-On-Sale Clauses
4.8.2 Successors Have the Right to Obtain Loan Information
4.8.3 Successors Have the Right to Stay and Pay
4.8.4 Successors Have the Right to Assume the Loan
4.8.5.Successors Have the Right to Cure a Mortgage Default in Bankruptcy
12.1 Representing Clients in Natural Disaster Areas
E.2.8 Limited Request for Information from Successor in Interest
E.2.10 Notice of Error by Successor in Interest and Request to Confirm Successor Status
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Home Foreclosures (2023 Second Edition)
15.3.3.3 Reverse Mortgage Maturity, Non-Borrowing Spouses
16.3.3.2.9 Grounds for Challenging Tax Sales, Avoidance in Bankruptcy
16.4 Redemption Following Tax Sale
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Access to Utility Service
2.2.3 Denial of Service Based on Third Party’s Outstanding Debt to Utility
Key Weblinks—open to public
FEMA Individuals and Household Program
FEMA, How to Document Ownership and Occupancy for FEMA
Video on client stories and pro bono representation