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Preserving Home Ownership Analysis and Implementation

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Jacksonville
Economic Equity

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Jacksonville partners with residents and stakeholders to coordinate and invest resources that grow community pride and revitalize neighborhoods into healthy, sustainable communities. In Jacksonville, displacement in majority Black neighborhoods was exacerbating the racial wealth gap. To counter this trend, LISC Jacksonville began searching for solutions that would bolster family wealth and preserve homeownership in these communities and discovered that the root of much displacement was a prevalent but little-known legal issue related to property inheritance, called “heirs’ properties” or “tangled titles”. Heirs’ Properties occur when a homeowner dies without formal estate planning to establish the new legal titleholder, which divides the ownership among living heirs. Without legal status, heirs are unable to use homeownership to build generational wealth or leverage home equity to pursue other wealth-building opportunities. Heirs are unable to access assistance, extract, or borrow against the inherent value of the home, limiting the ability of heirs to attend college, start a business, or become an entrepreneur. Within Jacksonville, heirs properties are concentrated in majority Black neighborhoods.

Fourth Economy partnered with LISC on two projects:

  • Advancing Economic Mobility through Family Wealth Creation

  • Heirship Home Loans: A Product for Fractionalized Interest

Our Approach

In the first project, Fourth Economy used parcel records to identify locations of likely heirs property to prioritize outreach efforts and strategies that preserve homeownership and family wealth creation among these households. Fourth Economy then brought together lenders, community development professionals, philanthropic investors, legal experts, and housing counselors to develop a new lending product designed specifically for heirs properties.

The Results

LISC Jacksonville continues to be a national model for how to address heirs’ property and build generational wealth by assisting with financial and estate planning, probate, clearing titles, and consolidating property ownership. As of 2025, LISC’s efforts have helped nearly 200 families resolve their heirs’ property issues and preserved or stabilized $24.1 million in wealth for these households. In 2025, LISC Jacksonville secured ongoing funding from philanthropic partners to pilot the heirship loan program.

Location

Jacksonville, FL

Project Type

Economic Analysis

Client Type

Non-profit

Scale

Regional

Final Deliverable Design Samples (Click to Enlarge)

Email: engage (at) fourtheconomy.com

 

Fourth Economy Consulting
PO Box 81620
Pittsburgh, PA 15217

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