Yesterday, Congressmen Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) and Don Davis (NC-01), both members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, introduced H.R. 8198, the Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession (HEIRS) of Property Act. This bill would help families by providing legal services that help them resolve heirs’ property issues, which could take months or years, so that they can start using their land for agriculture production. 

“In order to make sure America continues to produce the highest quality, most affordable food and fiber, we have to support the family farmers who are the backbone of our agriculture industry,” said Congressman Sanford Bishop. “When there is no clear title of landownership, it makes farmland vulnerable to predatory land speculators, which has cost families – and our country – millions of acres of lost farmland over the last century. It affects all agricultural producers but has hit Black farmers particularly hard. This bill will make sure that there are community resources available to families to help them navigate heirs’ property legal issues so that they can keep family land in agriculture from generation to generation.” 

“Black farmers and their families have long been a crucial part of the rich agricultural traditions of eastern North Carolina and America. Sadly, too many have lost their land or access to their family history due to heirs’ property issues,” said Congressman Don Davis. “The HEIRS Property Act makes it easier for local non-profit organizations, who provide the necessary legal expertise, to connect and work with heirs in their fight to bring the land back to agricultural use.”

Heirs’ property can be mitigated through appropriate business entities and succession planning. As part of the 2018 Farm Bill, which Congressman Bishop helped craft and support, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was authorized to establish a re-lending program for heirs’ property to provide access to capital that may assist in resolving title issues. However, many heirs still cannot access legal services or take on additional debt to clear their titles due to systemic barriers like limited resources or being socially disadvantaged. 

The HEIRS Property Act would amend existing law to direct the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to work with nonprofit organizations to provide pro-bono legal or accounting services in resolving ownership and succession of farmland for underserved limited-resource or socially disadvantaged heirs. The bill would also reauthorize the Heirs Property Intermediary Relending Program.

The HEIRS Property Act is supported by twenty organizations:

• Agricultural Law Institute for Underrepresented and Underserved Communities at Southern University Law Center

• American Forest Foundation

• The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation

• The Center for NYC Neighborhoods

• Georgia Heirs Property Law Center, Inc.

• Limited Resource Landowner Education and Assistance Network (LRLEAN)

• Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN Knowledge)

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation

• Louisiana Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

• Middle Georgia Access to Justice Council, Inc.

• Mississippi Center for Justice

• National Black Food and Justice Alliance

• National Consumer Law Center

• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

• National Young Farmers Coalition

• North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project

• Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA)

• The Rural Coalition

• Union of Concerned Scientists

• Winston County Self Help Cooperative 

Several of these organizations have issued statements of support for the bill which can be viewed on Congressman Bishop’s website:

https://bishop.house.gov/HEIRS-Property-Act-of-2024