Skip to main content

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.

 

Resources

Image

open NCLC treatise

 

Articles & Reports

The following articles and reports are free to the public.

NCLC, Keeping It in the Family: Legal Strategies to Address the Challenge of Heirs Property and Prevent Home Loss (Jan. 2024)

NCLC, Property Tax Foreclosures on Heirs' Property (Aug. 2023)

NCLC, Homeowner Tactics to Overcome Problems with Tangled Titles (Apr. 2023)

NCLC, Twelve Tips for Homeowners After Natural Disasters (Sept. 2021) 

 

Videos

The following videos are free to the public.

Remote video URL

Property Tax Foreclosures on Heirs Property: An Interview with Sarah Mancini, Andrea Bopp Stark, and Kristopher Smith (NCLC & LISC Sept. 2023)

Remote video URL

Using Successor in Interest to Save the Family Home (Video) (NHRC's Leaders in Housing Counseling webinar 2021)

 

Key Weblinks

The following weblinks are free to the public.

Fannie Mae Servicing Guide

Freddie Mac Servicing Guide

FHA Servicing Guide

FEMA Individuals and Household Program

FEMA, How to Document Ownership and Occupancy for FEMA

Video on client stories and pro bono representation

Tangled Titles: Philadelphia Explores Heirs' Property Solutions to Boost Generation Wealth (Apr. 8, 2022) by David Slade, The Post and Courier

 

NCLC Conference Archives

Image

Image of FDC conference
The following NCLC conference material is 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? 

NCLC’s Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications § 2.11 (2022), Challenges for Successors in Interest

NCLC’s Mortgage Servicing and Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications § 3.10.4 (2022), Successors in Interest

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

From Reconstruction to Deconstruction: Undermining Black Ownership, Political Independence, and Community through Partition Sales of Tenancy in Common Property

Forced Sale Risk: Class, Race, and the “Double Discount”

Sample NOE by Successor in Interest and Request to Confirm Successor Status

The Intersection of Decedent’s Estates and Consumer Law – A Practical Guide to Handling A Case When A Client Dies and Advising Heirs (PowerPoint)

The Intersection of Decedent’s Estates and Consumer Law – A Practical Guide to Handling A Case When A Client Dies and Advising Heirs (Outline)

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)

Successors in Interest and Absent Co-borrowers: Saving the Family Home After Death, Divorce, or DV (PowerPoint)

 

Conference Videos

The following NCLC conference material is free to legal aid, NACA, and recent NCLC conference attendees.

Successors in Interest and Absent Co-borrowers: Saving the Family Home After Death, Divorce, or DV (Video) (Mortgage Conference 2022)

Untangling Title: Saving the Home When Heir Property Issues are Involved (Video) (CRLC 2021)

 

Annual Conferences 

Image

NCLC-NACA banner image

The Consumer Law Educational Events Series includes the nation’s preeminent in-person conferences and trainings for consumer attorneys, produced by National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA). The series provides comprehensive training regarding critical issues in consumer law, including the latest developments and trends; strategies and tactics for effectively representing your clients; and opportunities to network with and learn from the leaders in the field.  

Click here for more information.
Registration is restricted to those representing consumers.