Through our work coordinating the Woodhill-Buckeye Choice Neighborhoods Initiative redevelopment project, we’ve met many residents who want to participate in home repair programs, but discover they do not have a clear title to their home. Tangled titles are cases in which the ownership of a property is unclear, disputed or not properly documented, often because the person who legally owned the home has died without a will or without transferring the deed to an heir.
When property ownership is unclear, the property’s residents—children, grandchildren, extended family members—face significant challenges. It can be difficult or impossible to obtain home repairs, take out a loan or sell the property. In some cases, just one person’s decision to sell can force others to lose their inheritance. Recognizing this as a barrier to community stabilization and intergenerational wealth building, NP3 built a collaboration with the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Together, we are piloting a program with Pop Up Wills Clinics and deeper legal assistance clearing tangled titles. We are also exploring policy solutions to minimize the number of tangled titles in the future.