A rising threat to homeownership: How heirs’ property undermines affordable housing

A 2021 NPR podcast segment painted a picture of the American Dream turned Nightmare: a Louisiana family faced the loss of their five-generation-home that had been owned by the family’s great, great, great grandfather, Jacob Loud, who was formerly enslaved.  

That segment from four years ago is still relevant today. And the Loud family’s story casts a new light on a longstanding issue that for decades has threatened homeownership and generational wealth, especially for Black Americans: heirs’ property. 

When Jacob Loud didn’t leave a will upon his death, the estate was passed on to each of Loud’s five children and successive generations under Louisiana’s default inheritance rules. But Loud’s heirs never legitimized their inheritance under law, however, which left Jacob Loud’s name on the title to the property. The heirs’ ownership interest was not legally documented and they were consequently uninformed about their ownership interests and the responsibilities of ownership. When one family member went to sell one-twenty-fifth share of ownership, local laws triggered the sale of the entire property, displacing them from an asset that had been in the family for generations.

The Loud heirs’ story can be seen in families across the nation. For decades, homeownership has been considered the cornerstone of the American Dream, but for far too many families, particularly those in low- and moderate-income (LMI) and minority communities, it has seemingly endless threats. Heirs’ property creates confusion and potentially leads to rightful homeowners losing their properties and subsequent generational wealth to developers and investors. 

Its impact on Black homeowners is particularly profound. According to a 2023 report by our partners at the Urban Institute’s Housing Matters Initiative, approximately one-third of all Black-owned land in the south is heirs’ property, with institutional buyers able to exploit this loophole and force sales during property disputes. A recent study by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) reveals the longstanding impacts: in 1910, Black families owned millions of acres of land. Today, those same families have lost over 90% of that land as a result of a combination of exploitative practices and systemic barriers, including the lack of access to legal representation, documentation, and support. This ongoing erosion of Black-owned land ownership contributes significantly to the racial wealth gap.  

This is an urgent issue, and there are both legislative and programmatic measures that can be taken to mitigate the negative impact of heirs’ property for families facing the issue today.

Significant legislative reforms can make heirs’ property easier to navigate. New York State for example, after becoming one of the now-26 states to enact the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act, last year passed two new legislative reforms on heirs’ property, including one that created a new estate planning tool and one that empowered inheritors to more easily stop investors from commencing a partition action, ultimately helping vulnerable families avoid displacement.

Successful programmatic initiatives that provide regional community support can also mitigate the harmful impacts of heirs’ property. NCST this year piloted their Heirs’ Property Partnership (HPP), a national program designed to bridge the gap between the legal sector which has traditionally advocated for heirs’ property awareness and local community development organizations which need greater capacity to create impactful and locally resonant solutions.

A year-long transformative initiative, NCST’s HPP program provides community development professionals education, funding, and strategic guidance on developing meaningful local interventions to address  heirs’ property issues. The initiative supports participants through sessions with presentations from subject matter experts, readings and exercises, and opportunities to grow their networks of like-minded professionals.

This year’s pilot program launched in three cities greatly impacted by heirs’ property: Baltimore, Atlanta, and Birmingham. The participants are working to launch catalytic projects in their respective communities with funding from the program. The success of this regional engagement was so comprehensive that in 2026, the HPP will be expanding to eight cities.

Building capacity within community development organizations and equipping leaders with the knowledge and tools they need is critical for ensuring that individual regions are able to create lasting change that prevents further land loss for families in their housing markets.

Although the long history of land loss for Black communities cannot be erased overnight, through uniquely-tailored legal assistance, policy advocacy, and direct community outreach, we can begin to turn the tide. Now is the time to restore land equity and help preserve the stability, prosperity, and potential of the families and communities who are most at risk.

Christopher J. Tyson is the  President of the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST).
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.