HEIR Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1607 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1607

  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.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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.
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