[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4899 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4899

    To establish a grant program for States that adopt the Uniform 
        Partition of Heirs Property Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 2024

  Ms. Butler introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish a grant program for States that adopt the Uniform 
        Partition of Heirs Property Act, 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 Estate Inheritance Resolution 
and Succession Act of 2024'' or the ``HEIRS Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES THAT ADOPT THE UNIFORM PARTITION 
              OF HEIRS PROPERTY ACT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) a State or unit of general local government, as 
                those terms are defined in section 102 of the Housing 
                and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302);
                    (B) a territory; or
                    (C) a Tribal government.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
    (b) Grant Program.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a grant program 
that provides amounts to eligible entities that have enacted or adopted 
the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act as approved and recommended 
for enactment in all the States by the National Conference of 
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2010 or a similar law that the 
Secretary determines is a substantial equivalent.
    (c) Use of Amounts.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible entity that receives a grant 
        under this section shall use the grant amounts to assist 
        residents of the eligible entity with bona fide expenses 
        relating to establishing and documenting property ownership 
        rights or settling a decedent's estate, including--
                    (A) fees and costs related to--
                            (i) obtaining title reports and title 
                        abstracts, copies of public records, and land 
                        surveys;
                            (ii) estate planning; or
                            (iii) heirs search or tracing services;
                    (B) recording and filing fees;
                    (C) notary fees; and
                    (D) legal fees and expenses.
            (2) Layering of assistance.--An eligible entity that 
        receives a grant under this section may use the grant amounts 
        to assist residents of the eligible entity who are receiving 
        assistance from other sources, including Federal, State, local, 
        private, public, and nonprofit sources.
    (d) Regulations and Criteria for Selection.--Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate 
regulations to carry out this section that include criteria for the 
selection of grant recipients.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary $30,000,000 for each of year fiscal years 
2025 through 2035 to carry out this section.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE RELATING TO HEIRS' PROPERTY 
              RESOLUTION.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) a HUD-approved housing counseling agency;
                    (B) a legal services clinic operated by an 
                institution of higher education, as defined in section 
                101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
                1001); or
                    (C) a qualifying nonprofit.
            (2) Heirs' property.--The term ``heirs' property'' means 
        residential property--
                    (A) for which title passed by operation of law 
                through intestacy; and
                    (B) that is held by 2 or more heirs as tenants in 
                common.
            (3) HUD-approved housing counseling agency.--The term 
        ``HUD-approved housing counseling agency'' means a housing 
        counseling agency found eligible to receive assistance by the 
        Secretary under section 106(a)(2) of the Housing and Urban 
        Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(a)(2)).
            (4) Low- or moderate-income person.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the term ``low- or moderate-income person'' means 
                a homeowner whose household income does not exceed 120 
                percent of the median income for the area, as 
                determined by the Secretary, within which--
                            (i) the heirs' property which respect to 
                        which the homeowner is seeking assistance is 
                        located; or
                            (ii) the place of residence of the 
                        homeowner is located.
                    (B) Exception.--With respect to an area described 
                in subparagraph (A) that is a high-cost area, as 
                determined by the Secretary, the term ``low- or 
                moderate-income person'' means a homeowner whose 
                household income does not exceed 140 percent of the 
                median income for the area, as determined by the 
                Secretary.
            (5) Qualifying nonprofit.--The term ``qualifying 
        nonprofit'' means a nonprofit, mission-driven entity that, as 
        determined by the Secretary--
                    (A) has a track record of providing assistance to 
                homeowners;
                    (B) targets services to minority persons and low- 
                or moderate-income persons; or
                    (C) provides services in neighborhoods that have a 
                high concentration of--
                            (i) minority persons; and
                            (ii) low- or moderate-income persons.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
    (b) Grant Program.--The Secretary shall carry out a program under 
this section to provide grants to eligible entities to use to provide 
housing counseling, legal assistance, and financial assistance related 
to title clearing and home retention efforts for owners of heirs' 
property.
    (c) Awards.--The Secretary shall consider the following when 
awarding grants under this section:
            (1) Whether the eligible entity has a proven track record 
        of--
                    (A) providing assistance to homeowners;
                    (B) targeting services to minority persons and low- 
                or moderate-income persons; and
                    (C) providing services in neighborhoods that have a 
                high concentration of--
                            (i) minority persons; and
                            (ii) low- or moderate-income persons.
            (2) Whether the eligible entity has planned or existing 
        partnerships with other eligible entities.
            (3) Whether the eligible entity is located in an area with 
        a high number of owners of heirs' property, as determined by 
        the Secretary.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary, for grants under this section, 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.

SEC. 4. HEIRS' PROPERTY HOUSING COUNSELING.

    Section 106(g) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 
U.S.C. 1701x(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Counseling with respect to heirs' property.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A nonprofit organization that 
                receives amounts under this section shall, when 
                providing homeownership counseling services to a 
                consumer--
                            ``(i) explain to the consumer what heirs' 
                        property is, the risks associated with heirs' 
                        property, and how to avoid heirs' property 
                        issues; and
                            ``(ii) inform the consumer of all available 
                        estate planning and title clearing options, 
                        assistance, and services, including those 
                        offered under sections 2 and 3 of the Heirs 
                        Estate Inheritance Resolution and Succession 
                        Act of 2024.
                    ``(B) Referral.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
                each nonprofit organization that receives amounts under 
                this section knows how to refer consumers, where 
                appropriate, to mission-driven nonprofit organizations 
                and legal services clinics operated by institutions of 
                higher education, as defined in section 101 of the 
                Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), that are 
                capable of assisting a consumer to clear title and with 
                general estate planning.
                    ``(C) Definition of heirs' property.--For purposes 
                of this paragraph, the term `heirs' property' means 
                residential property--
                            ``(i) for which title passed by operation 
                        of law through intestacy; and
                            ``(ii) that is held by 2 or more heirs as 
                        tenants in common.''.
                                 <all>