Jacksonville, seen here in the mid-1950s, has a higher-than-average rate of heirs' property. | State Archives of Florida/Johnson
Published on May 16, 2025 at 2:29 pm
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Northeast Florida’s prevalence of properties without a clear title was enough of a concern to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta that it devoted $650,000 in the region to combat what’s known as “heirs property.”
Heirs properties are lands that are inherited by multiple family members. These parcels often lack a will or estate plan for ownership of the property.
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The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta started its Heirs Property Family Wealth Protection Fund in 2023. It allocated $5.9 million to 21 organizations. In Florida, eight organizations received a combined $2.39 million from the fund.
LISC Jacksonville, a nonprofit dedicated to neighborhood revitalization, earned a $450,000 grant to expand its work to identify homeowners in Northwest Jacksonville and the Eastside.
Meanwhile, Three Rivers Legal Services earned a $200,000 grant to help residents in 12 counties — including Baker, Union and Bradford counties — that were affected by Hurricanes Idalia, Debby and Helene.
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LISC Jacksonville Executive Director Irvin “PeDro” Cohen says the nonprofit learned how devastating the lack of a clear title can be in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
“Heirs property challenges aren’t just legal challenges. They are roadblocks to family legacy, housing security and financial opportunity,” Cohen said in a statement. “This funding allows us to scale our efforts in clearing title barriers and empowering families to rightfully protect what’s rightfully theirs.”
Because the grants are awarded through one of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta’s members, LISC Jacksonville partnered with Ameris Bank for its heirs property work.
The Atlanta-based institution has sought to be more present in Jacksonville’s historically Black neighborhoods since former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland accused Ameris of redlining in October 2023. The bank and the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to a $9 million settlement in November 2023.
Ameris has developed a relationship with LISC Jacksonville to inform Jaxsons about how it would disperse the settlement dollars as well as invest in an Eastside homeownership initiative.
Ameris’ Director of Community Lending Clyde Anderson says clear and stable homeownership is essential to economic mobility and the creation of generational wealth.
Three Rivers began its heirs property work in 2019, says Donna Macrae, executive director of the legal services nonprofit with offices in Jacksonville, Gainesville, Lake City and Fernandina Beach.
Macrae says the organization plans to provide clear titles for 40 properties and ensure another 100 properties receive the preventative services to avoid becoming an heirs property upon the death of the homeowner.
“So often folks who are living in their homes don’t even realize that they don’t own the homes,” MacRae says. “It’s still in the name of their parents or grandparents. Even if there is a will, a lot of times they think because there was a will and it says they are getting the home (it’s theirs). But, they have to go through a probate process to have it legally established in their name.”
MacRae stresses there are other funding sources to cover Three Rivers’ efforts in Duval County. She says most of their heirs property work is in Duval County.
Three Rivers says it plans to focus on low- and medium-income property owners. These free services would be for people who earn no more than 120% of the area median income for the county where they live.
Last year, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta found that nearly four out of 10 homeowners do not have a will, trust or estate plan. The problem was more acute among residents with low and moderate incomes. Their research found 57% of respondents who earned less than $50,000 annually did not have an estate plan.
Tomeka Strickland is the senior vice president and director of community investment services within the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. She says Florida is known for having high home sales prices, which makes it important for creating solutions to keep people in properties and homes.
“We look for organizations that have significant experience in clearing tangled titles and resolution services,” Strickland says. “All of the services for the underlying beneficiaries will be 100% free. That was one of the criteria for the applications that came in — organizations had to commit to providing services 100% free.”
LISC and Three Rivers Legal Services will announce programming that is funded by the grant at a later date.
Their efforts cannot come too soon.
A 2023 report from the Federal National Mortgage Association, which is commonly known as Fannie Mae, noted the prevalence of heirs property increases with systemic disinvestment as well as lack of access to financial institutions and the legal system.
“Regions with predominantly Black residents, Native American households, and households with lower economic standing experience barriers when seeking estate planning,” the Fannie Mae report stated. “Estate planning can be costly and requires the use of legal professionals. After generations of systemic harm through the legal system, some households of color are wary of engaging with the legal system.”
The same report found Florida, and Duval County in particular, have a high number of heirs properties.
Strickland says, “It would very much be a tragedy for those homes to be lost in a tax sale because they could not pay the property taxes or if they lose the home because the city may take it, if it’s not kept up to date.”
