Saving Homes Before They’re Lost

Teams will join a weekly virtual learning series where participants will have the opportunity to:

• Learn directly from experts, practitioners and peers working on heirs’ property prevention and resolution programs across the country. 
• Obtain evidence-based guidance for designing and implementing a strategy to address heirs’ property issues in your community.
• Benefit from built-in opportunities to build relationships within your jurisdiction’s team and with peers from other jurisdictions.
• Develop a comprehensive plan to address heirs’ property in your community, with a focus on topics like using data to assess local conditions, developing an effective approach to resident outreach, creating a sustainable funding model, among others.

By the end of the Sprint, participants will be able to: 

• Assess the local need for heirs’ property intervention by analyzing data, identifying impacted communities and understanding the experiences of residents affected by heirs’ property challenges.
• Build and mobilize a cross-sector coalition by aligning partners around shared goals and defining clear roles for organizations working across housing, community development, legal services and related fields.
• Design an effective heirs’ property assistance program by identifying priority legal services, addressing common non-legal barriers and creating pathways to connect residents with comprehensive support.
• Develop trusted community outreach and engagement strategies by partnering with credible messengers and crafting culturally responsive approaches to reach residents who may benefit from services.
• Create a sustainable funding and implementation strategy by designing a pilot program, identifying funding opportunities and developing a long-term plan to support growth and expansion.
• Establish systems for program management and continuous improvement by creating structures for partner coordination, tracking performance, incorporating client feedback and managing toward measurable results.

This Solutions Sprint opportunity is designed for local and state cross-sector teams interested in launching or expanding a heirs’ property prevention and resolution program. Teams should include at least three active participants and may identify additional partners who will support the work outside of weekly sessions.

Rather than requiring every possible agency or partner to attend every session, applicant teams should demonstrate that the following core functions are covered.

Participating members of the team should include, but are not limited to, leaders and staff from: 

• Required (a government representative is required):
  • Public Sector Partner: A local or state government leader with the authority to convene partners, align public systems and support implementation. Examples may include: 
    • Mayor’s Office
    • City Manager’s Office
    • County Executive’s Office
    • Housing or community development leadership
    • Senior agency leadership, AND/OR
  •  Housing or Neighborhood Implementation Lead: A public agency or quasi-public partner responsible for housing stability, community development, neighborhood services, resilience, land use, aging or economic mobility, AND/OR
    • Trusted Community Partner: Examples include: a community-based organization, neighborhood intermediary, faith-based partner, resident-serving nonprofit, LISC local office, housing counseling agency or similar partner with credible relationships in the target community.

•  Strongly Recommended: 
  • Legal or Referral Pathway Partner: Examples include: A legal services provider, pro bono partner, court navigation partner, estate planning partner, housing law partner or clearly identified referral pathway partner capable of helping residents address heirs property, estate planning, tangled title, probate, tax-sale risk or related ownership barriers. 
  • Public Records / Property Data Partner: Examples include: A property appraiser, assessor, tax collector, treasurer, recorder, clerk, land bank, GIS office, planning department, university data partner or other entity with access to parcel, ownership, tax, probate, demographic or neighborhood-level data. 
  • Resident Voice or Neighborhood Leadership: Examples include: A resident leader, neighborhood association, senior-serving partner, faith leader or trusted messenger who can test whether proposed messages, outreach methods and service pathways are understandable and credible.
  • Funding or Sustainability Partner: Examples include: A philanthropic partner, CDFI, public finance lead, grants office, United Way, intermediary or agency budget lead that can help the team identify resources for implementation beyond the Sprint.
  • Economic Mobility or Financial Empowerment Partner: Examples include: A financial empowerment center, consumer protection office, FOC partner, small business or corridor development organization, home repair provider, benefits access partner or asset-building program.

• Recommended:
  • Public health or social services agency
  • Disaster recovery or resilience office
  • Home weatherization provider
  • Academic or policy research partner
  • Community foundation or local funder
  • Probate court, mediation or alternative dispute resolution partner
  • Land bank or code enforcement partner
  • Local bar association or estate planning network

Not sure if you qualify? Reach out to our team and we can answer any questions you have.

To ensure a meaningful and impactful Sprint experience, teams ultimately selected to participate are expected to demonstrate the following in their application:

• Interest and Commitment: Participating team should demonstrate existing interest or work on heirs’ property or related issues, including estate planning, tax-sale prevention, disaster recovery, home repair access or ownership continuity. This can include existing progress or goals such as: 
  • Cross-sector alignment toward implementing programming to prevent and/or resolve heirs’ property issues.
  • A defined geography or population identified for their intervention.
  • Willingness to incorporate basic process and impact measurement into implementation efforts and share lessons learned from participating in the cohort.
• Active Participation: A majority of the team (3 – 6 members) are able to fully engage in the Sprint. This includes attending all sessions, engaging in group discussions and completing assignments.
• Long-Term Investment: Committed to achieving the goals of the Sprint, both during and after its completion.
• Maximize Opportunity, Minimize Injustice: Committed to using heirs’ property programs as a strategy to grow generational wealth to keep homes in the family. 
• Person-Centered Approach: Elevating trust and programmatic efficacy by centering directly impacted families in the design, implementation and evaluation of heirs’ property solutions.

Weekly sessions will be designed and led by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). LISC is a national community development financial institution that works with residents and partners to build more inclusive and resilient communities.

LISC’s heirs’ property work combines property data, trusted community outreach, legal assistance, estate planning, property tax relief and connections to other homeowner supports. Developed and field-tested in Jacksonville, this approach is now informing heirs’ property prevention and resolution efforts in communities across the country.

During the Sprint, LISC and partners will translate this experience into practical tools, peer learning and implementation guidance so participating teams can move from identifying local needs to helping keep homes in the family.