NewsTexas Southern University’s Earl Carl Institute Expands Free Legal Support to Protect...

Texas Southern University’s Earl Carl Institute Expands Free Legal Support to Protect Family Property for Houston’s Underserved Communities

Nationwide — In a city where gentrification and soaring property values pose unique challenges for low-income families, the Earl Carl Institute (ECI) at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law is redoubling its efforts to safeguard family-held land and homes. Through the Opal Mitchell Lee Property Preservation Project, ECI offers free legal services to help these families navigate complex inheritance and property title issues, preserving the generational wealth that often dissipates in underserved communities.

For families in these communities, heirs’ property — which refers to land or homes passed down through generations without a clear or updated title — can quickly become a legal quagmire. This often happens when a parent or grandparent dies without a will, leaving multiple heirs to share ownership. Multiple generations may inherit small shares of a specific property, creating tangled webs of ownership that make it difficult for families to retain or benefit from their inherited assets. Families can lose property to tax foreclosures, partition sales, or developers who target these vulnerable ownership structures without proper documentation. The City of San Antonio explained it this way, “If a house is left to everyone, it’s really left to no one. Many times, we pass property to family members without legal documents, and this can lead to family disagreements, tangled title, property deterioration, and vacancy.”

The possible result of this situation is that a family member who has lived on the property forever, paying taxes and upkeep but not having complete ownership interest, must share ownership decisions with distant and sometimes unresponsive relatives to maintain the property. Some benefits of clearing title include qualifying for property tax exemptions such as homestead, over 65, or disability exemptions. In the case of natural disasters or state and county home repair programs for qualifying persons, clearing title to the home may be required. In addition, without a clear title it may be extremely difficult to sell the property or use it as collateral for loans. Heirs may lose the property through a partition action or because they fail to pay property taxes. If a court becomes involved, the family may be forced to sell the entire property if it cannot be fairly divided into sections for each heir.

A Long Standing Challenge

Ms. Opal Mitchell Lee, the project’s namesake, experienced this loss firsthand. After her great-grandfather passed away, her family inherited over 100 acres of mineral-rich land in East Texas. However, as relatives died without leaving wills, the title became increasingly fractured among heirs scattered across generations. Unable to locate all heirs or pay accumulated tax liens, the family lost the land in foreclosure. The legacy of wealth they once hoped to pass down was lost.
Unfortunately, her story is too common and was often an advantageous way to acquire rich lands taken from African American families. Too often families have lost wealth producing lands through predatory investors approaching disadvantaged family members, often not paying taxes or contributing to property upkeep, who were willing to sell their portion of inherited property for little or nothing. These predatory investors often seek to gain the entire property through fraudulent transactions, adverse possession, or a forced partition sale.

Such practices began during Reconstruction, when many African Americans did not have access to the legal system and legal counsel, and it continued through the Jim Crow era. Such fraud obviously continues today. Between 1910 and 1997, African Americans lost about 90% of their farmland. This problem is a major contributor to America’s racial wealth gap; the median wealth among black families is about a tenth that of white families. A group of economists and statisticians recently calculated that, since 1910, black families have been stripped of hundreds of billions of dollars because of lost land.

The ECI Opal Mitchell Lee Property Preservation Project was established in 2007 to prevent similar losses and address what ECI calls “systemic social issues” around generational wealth and property retention in economically disadvantaged communities. “These services make a huge difference for communities of color, where most wealth is concentrated in real property,” explained Sarah Guidry, ECI’s Executive Director. “This work is especially crucial now, given the increased gentrification in some of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods that were once the strongholds of African American wealth.”

Expanding Access and Impact

ECI’s mission has gained recent support through a $75,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, secured with the help of American First National Bank of Houston. This funding will allow ECI to offer even more robust legal support, including title clearing and estate planning assistance, to families in Houston and Fort Bend County’s low to middle-income neighborhoods. ECI plans to reach out to communities of color where generations of family property are at risk of loss even while to property values are increasing.

The institute’s free services go beyond title clearing and preparing and executing estate planning documents. ECI also hosts annual estate planning community-based clinics to educate families on the importance of creating wills and establishing inheritance plans. These resources have provided crucial support for more than 100 households each year, offering relief and helping families make sense of legal processes that can otherwise seem overwhelming. For families who qualify, ECI files essential paperwork like Affidavits of Heirship and deeds that can clear the way for rightful heirs to retain or transfer property.

Preserving Houston’s Historic Neighborhoods

The loss of land and property due to heirs’ property issues disproportionately impacts African American communities, where homeownership and land assets often represent the primary form of wealth. Without legal support, these families can quickly find themselves at risk of losing their homes, sometimes to investors eyeing high-value properties in neighborhoods ripe for redevelopment.

“Gentrification is a significant threat for families in neighborhoods like the Third Ward, Fifth Ward, and Independence Heights, where property values have skyrocketed over the past decade,” said Guidry. “If these families can’t establish legal ownership through clear titles, they’re at risk of aggressive buyouts or even forced sales.”

ECI’s mission to protect heirs’ property also includes a significant educational component to empower families with knowledge about their rights and options. According to Guidry, the value of these services cannot be overstated: “When a family loses land due to legal complications, it’s more than just a loss of property. It’s a loss of heritage, security, and future opportunity.”

With support from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and Local Initiatives Support Corporation, ECI will ensure that more families can retain and benefit from inherited property. As neighborhoods change, ECI’s services will be critical for families aiming to stay rooted in the communities their ancestors built.

Families interested in learning more or accessing these free services can call the ECI offices at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law at 713-313-1139 or apply for assistance at https://earlcarlinc.org/apply-for-help


Source: BlackNews.com

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