U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Georgia) and Don Davis (D-North Carolina), members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture, recently introduced The Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession (HEIRS) of Property Act.
The 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 Bishop. “When there is no clear title of land ownership, 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 they can keep family land in agriculture from generation to generation.”
Davis said, “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 agriculture use.”
The HEIRS Property Act would amend existing law to direct the U.S. Agriculture Secretary 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.
