An Alabama legal group is helping residents without clear titles to their homes secure ownership.

Legal Services Alabama, a non-profit legal group that focuses on disadvantaged people, plans to hire staff to help those with claims to “heirs’ property,” property passed down without a clear title, do title searches, and clear up ownership issues with the help of a grant from the Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

“Heirs’ property has a significant negative impact across Alabama and this award will help provide much needed resolution and relief for families and communities that are currently unable to leverage the value in homes affected by an encumbered title,” said Guy Lescault, Legal Services of Alabama Executive Director.

Heirs’ property is common across the south, especially in African American families where it was not the custom to write wills. When a property lacks clear title, there may be too many heirs, and the property is more likely to fall into disrepair or be seized for unpaid taxes. The result is would-be heirs lose out on their inherited equity in the ancestors’ homes.

“The funding we are providing to Legal Services Alabama will not only help provide tangible relief to families and communities impacted by heirs’ property, it will also help bring more attention to this issue and hopefully spur additional involvement from other key stakeholders that have a vested interest in resolving and preventing heirs’ property,” said. Arthur Fleming, FHLBank Atlanta’s Senior Vice President and Director of Community Investment Services.

According to Legal Services Alabama, heirs’ property exists across Alabama, in both rural and urban parts of the state. The group plans to hold community events to educate about heirs’ property and connect people with legal help. The grant is meant to focus on low-income communities struggling with blight due to a lack of access to legal help, according to the group.