For thousands of North Texas families, inheriting a home can come with an unexpected challenge: proving who legally owns it.<\/p>\n
A 2024 Asset Funders Network study <\/a>identified 7,479 single-family homes in Dallas County as heirs\u2019 properties, with a collective value of about $1.7 billion. The study estimates that 76% of those Dallas County properties are owner-occupied.<\/p>\n Heirs\u2019 property can develop when a homeowner dies and multiple family members inherit the home. If property passes down without an estate-planning tool such as a probated will or transfer-on-death deed, heirs can be left without a legal paper trail establishing their ownership interests, creating what is known as a clouded title.<\/p>\n Those ownership complications can have real financial consequences. The report says heirs can face difficulties securing financing for home repairs or tapping into the home’s value. It also found heirs\u2019 properties are more vulnerable to property-tax delinquency and foreclosure.<\/p>\n Stephanie Champion, chief of community development and policy at Builders of Hope CDC,<\/a> said the stakes go beyond paperwork.<\/p>\n \u201cFor so many families, I mean, homeownership, your home is like the biggest asset you will ever purchase or own. And to think that that wealth and that generational wealth and everything that that family built could be lost because of a formality is really heartbreaking,” Champion said.<\/p>\n Builders of Hope CDC and Wesley-Rankin Community Center work together to support homeowners through the Homestead Preservation Center at Wesley-Rankin<\/a>.<\/p>\n The center helps West Dallas residents with issues involving homesteads, property taxes and heirship. Services include education, property-value appeals, assistance with homestead exemptions and connections to legal support.<\/p>\n Resident Rodolfo Castillo is among the homeowners getting assistance navigating ownership paperwork.<\/p>\n Castillo told NBC 5 that he and his siblings inherited their mother’s home. He described difficulty handling property issues involving multiple family members and said rising property taxes have been particularly difficult while living on a fixed income.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause now that they build all these houses, my taxes were like $1,500 and it jumped to about 5,000. And then fixed income, that’s killing me. So that’s where I’m at right now. And they helped me fill out a lot of paperwork that I don’t know at Homestead and all that,” he said.<\/p>\n Families looking for help can learn more about heirs\u2019 property and estate planning at a free community event Saturday, Oct. 24, at Paul Quinn College in Dallas.<\/p>\n