February 26, 2025
Mrs. Fletcher (for herself, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Norton, Mr. Soto, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Beatty, and Mr. Veasey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
To assist applicants for community development block grant recovery assistance not having traditionally accepted forms of documentation of ownership of property to prove such ownership, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Heirs Empowerment and Inheritance Rights Act of 2025
or the HEIR Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. CDBG-Disaster Recovery and CDBG-Mitigation programs
(a) Documentation of property ownership
(1) In general
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall amend the regulations at part 570 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, to ensure that in providing assistance for the Community Development Block Grant program for Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR) and the Community Development Block Grant program for Mitigation (CDBG–MIT), in connection with a Presidentially declared disaster, in a case in which a homeowner is required to demonstrate ownership of a property heir property owners and any other owners not having traditionally accepted forms of documentation of ownership of property are provided resources and options for proving ownership for purposes of receiving assistance under such Disaster Recovery and Mitigation programs.
(2) Acceptable Documentation
Acceptable documentation for purposes paragraph (1) shall include—
(A)
a signed affidavit of ownership form developed pursuant to subsection (b); or
(B)
letters from local public or private schools, Federal or State benefit providers, and social service organizations, including community assistance programs and nonprofit organizations.
(3) Definition
For purposes of this subsection, the term heir property means residential property for which title passed by operation of law through intestacy and is held by two or more heirs as tenants in common.
(b) Affidavit of ownership
(1) Development and use
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall amend the regulations at part 570 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide for the use of a standardized affidavit of ownership form, to be developed by the Secretary, by grantees of the Community Development Block Grant program for Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR) and the Community Development Block Grant program for Mitigation (CDBG–MIT) in coordination with appropriate authorities of the applicable jurisdiction. Each grantee shall ensure that, at the time of application for housing repair and reconstruction assistance or mitigation assistance under such programs—
(A)
each applicant is informed of the existence of the affidavit of ownership and provided a copy at the time of application; and
(B)
copies of the form in English, Spanish, and any other locally predominant languages of the Presidentially-declared disaster area are accessible to the applicant.
(2) Prohibition
A grantee may not require that the signed affidavit of ownership form of an applicant be notarized.
(c) Exemption
An affidavit of ownership form shall be exempt from any public comment periods or publication notices under part 570 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations.