| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1640 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To establish a grant program for States that adopt the Uniform Partition |
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| 6 | 6 | | of Heirs Property Act, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY26, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. W |
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| 10 | 10 | | ILLIAMSof Georgia (for herself, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. |
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| 11 | 11 | | D |
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| 12 | 12 | | ONALDS, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. MFUME, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. TLAIB) in- |
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| 13 | 13 | | troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi- |
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| 14 | 14 | | nancial Services |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
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| 16 | 16 | | To establish a grant program for States that adopt the |
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| 17 | 17 | | Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, and for other |
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| 18 | 18 | | purposes. |
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| 19 | 19 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 20 | 20 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 22 | 22 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heirs Estate Inherit-4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | ance Resolution and Succession Act of 2025’’ or the 5 |
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| 24 | 24 | | ‘‘HEIRS Act of 2025’’. 6 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES THAT ADOPT THE 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | UNIFORM PARTITION OF HEIRS PROPERTY 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | ACT. 3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (a) I |
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| 32 | 32 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | Urban Development shall, not later than 1 year after the 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | date of the enactment of this section, establish a grant 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | program that provides amounts to eligible entities that— 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (1) before the date of the enactment of this sec-8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | tion, had enacted or adopted the Uniform Partition 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | of Heirs Property Act as approved and rec-10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ommended for enactment in all the States by the 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | State Laws in 2010 or a similar law that the Sec-13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | retary determines is a substantial equivalent; and 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (2) on or after the date of the enactment of this 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | section, enact or adopt the Uniform Partition of 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | Heirs Property Act as approved and recommended 17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | for enactment in all the States by the National Con-18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | 2010 or a similar law that the Secretary determines 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | is a substantial equivalent. 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (b) U |
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| 51 | 51 | | SE OFAMOUNTS.— 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (1) I |
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| 53 | 53 | | N GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re-23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ceives amounts under this section shall use such 24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | amounts to assist residents of such eligible entity 25 |
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| 56 | 56 | | with bona fide expenses relating to establishing and 26 |
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| 58 | 58 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 60 | 60 | | documenting property ownership rights or settling a 1 |
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| 61 | 61 | | decedent’s estate, including fees and costs related to 2 |
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| 62 | 62 | | obtaining title reports and title abstracts, copies of 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | public records, land surveys, estate planning, heirs 4 |
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| 64 | 64 | | search or tracing services, recording and filing fees, 5 |
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| 65 | 65 | | notary fees, and legal fees and expenses. 6 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (2) L |
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| 67 | 67 | | AYERING OF ASSISTANCE .—An eligible en-7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | tity that receives amounts under this section may 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | use such amounts to assist residents of such State 9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | who are receiving assistance from other sources, in-10 |
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| 71 | 71 | | cluding Federal, State, local, private, public, and 11 |
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| 72 | 72 | | nonprofit sources. 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (c) R |
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| 74 | 74 | | EGULATIONS ANDCRITERIA FORSELECTION.— 13 |
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| 75 | 75 | | The Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the date 14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | of the enactment of this section, issue a rule to carry out 15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | this section, that includes criteria for the selection of re-16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | cipients. 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (d) A |
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| 80 | 80 | | UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.— 18 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (1) I |
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| 82 | 82 | | N GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 19 |
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| 83 | 83 | | appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 20 |
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| 84 | 84 | | Development $30,000,000 each of year fiscal years 21 |
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| 85 | 85 | | 2026 through 2036 to carry out this section. 22 |
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| 86 | 86 | | (2) A |
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| 87 | 87 | | VAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 23 |
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| 88 | 88 | | under this subsection shall remain available until ex-24 |
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| 89 | 89 | | pended. 25 |
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| 91 | 91 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 93 | 93 | | (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (1) S |
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| 95 | 95 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 2 |
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| 96 | 96 | | the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 3 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (2) E |
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| 98 | 98 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-4 |
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| 99 | 99 | | ty’’ means a ‘‘State’’ and a ‘‘unit of general local 5 |
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| 100 | 100 | | government’’ as such terms are defined in section 6 |
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| 101 | 101 | | 102 of title 1 of the Housing and Community Devel-7 |
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| 102 | 102 | | opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302) a territory, 8 |
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| 103 | 103 | | or a Tribal government. 9 |
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| 104 | 104 | | SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE RELATING TO 10 |
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| 105 | 105 | | HEIRS’ PROPERTY RESOLUTION. 11 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (a) I |
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| 107 | 107 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 12 |
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| 108 | 108 | | Urban Development shall carry out a program under this 13 |
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| 109 | 109 | | section to provide grants each year to eligible entities to 14 |
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| 110 | 110 | | use to provide housing counseling, legal assistance, and 15 |
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| 111 | 111 | | financial assistance related to title clearing and home re-16 |
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| 112 | 112 | | tention efforts for owners of heirs’ property. 17 |
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| 113 | 113 | | (b) A |
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| 114 | 114 | | WARDS.—The Secretary shall consider the fol-18 |
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| 115 | 115 | | lowing when awarding grants under this section: 19 |
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| 116 | 116 | | (1) Whether the eligible entity has a proven 20 |
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| 117 | 117 | | track record of— 21 |
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| 118 | 118 | | (A) providing assistance to homeowners; 22 |
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| 119 | 119 | | (B) targeting services to minority and low- 23 |
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| 120 | 120 | | and moderate-income persons; and 24 |
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| 121 | 121 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1640.IH H1640 |
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| 122 | 122 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 123 | 123 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 124 | 124 | | (C) providing services in neighborhoods 1 |
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| 125 | 125 | | that have a high concentrations of minority per-2 |
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| 126 | 126 | | sons or low- and moderate-income persons. 3 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (2) Whether the eligible entity has planned or 4 |
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| 128 | 128 | | existing partnerships with other eligible entities. 5 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (3) Whether the eligible entity is located in an 6 |
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| 130 | 130 | | area with a high number of owners of heirs’ prop-7 |
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| 131 | 131 | | erty, as determined by the Secretary. 8 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (c) A |
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| 133 | 133 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9 |
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| 134 | 134 | | authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for grants 10 |
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| 135 | 135 | | under this section, $10,000,000 in each of fiscal years 11 |
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| 136 | 136 | | 2026 through 2030. 12 |
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| 137 | 137 | | (d) D |
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| 138 | 138 | | EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 13 |
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| 139 | 139 | | following definitions shall apply: 14 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (1) E |
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| 141 | 141 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-15 |
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| 142 | 142 | | ty’’ means— 16 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (A) a HUD approved housing counseling 17 |
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| 144 | 144 | | agency; 18 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (B) a legal services clinics operated by an 19 |
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| 146 | 146 | | institute of higher education; or 20 |
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| 147 | 147 | | (C) a qualifiying nonprofit. 21 |
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| 148 | 148 | | (2) H |
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| 149 | 149 | | EIRS’ PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘heirs’ prop-22 |
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| 150 | 150 | | erty’’ means residential property for which title 23 |
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| 151 | 151 | | passed by operation of law through intestacy and is 24 |
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| 152 | 152 | | held by two or more heirs as tenants in common. 25 |
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| 154 | 154 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 155 | 155 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 156 | 156 | | (3) HUD APPROVED HOUSING COUNSELING 1 |
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| 157 | 157 | | AGENCY.—The term ‘‘HUD approved housing coun-2 |
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| 158 | 158 | | seling agency’’ means a housing counseling agency 3 |
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| 159 | 159 | | found eligible to receive assistance by the Depart-4 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ment of Housing and Urban Development under sec-5 |
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| 161 | 161 | | tion 106(a)(2) of the Housing and Urban Develop-6 |
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| 162 | 162 | | ment Act of 1968. 7 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (4) L |
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| 164 | 164 | | OW- AND MODERATE-INCOME PERSONS.— 8 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (A) I |
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| 166 | 166 | | N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘low- and 9 |
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| 167 | 167 | | moderate-income persons’’ means a person 10 |
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| 168 | 168 | | whose household income does not exceed 120 11 |
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| 169 | 169 | | percent of the median income for the area, as 12 |
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| 170 | 170 | | determined by the Secretary, within which— 13 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (i) the heirs’ property which respect to 14 |
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| 172 | 172 | | which the homeowner is seeking assistance 15 |
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| 173 | 173 | | is located; or 16 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (ii) the place of residence of the home-17 |
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| 175 | 175 | | owner is located. 18 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (B) E |
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| 177 | 177 | | XCEPTION.—If the area described in 19 |
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| 178 | 178 | | subparagraph (A) is a high-cost area, as deter-20 |
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| 179 | 179 | | mined by the Secretary, the term ‘‘low- and 21 |
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| 180 | 180 | | moderate-income persons’’ means a homeowner 22 |
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| 181 | 181 | | whose household income does not exceed 140 23 |
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| 182 | 182 | | percent of the median income for the area. 24 |
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| 184 | 184 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 185 | 185 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 186 | 186 | | (5) QUALIFYING NONPROFIT .—The term 1 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘qualifying nonprofit’’ means a nonprofit, mission- 2 |
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| 188 | 188 | | driven entity that, as determined by the Secretary— 3 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (A) has a track record of providing assist-4 |
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| 190 | 190 | | ance to homeowners; 5 |
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| 191 | 191 | | (B) targets services to minority and low- 6 |
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| 192 | 192 | | and moderate-income persons; or 7 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (C) provides services in neighborhoods that 8 |
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| 194 | 194 | | have high concentrations of minority persons 9 |
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| 195 | 195 | | and low- and moderate-income persons. 10 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (6) S |
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| 197 | 197 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 |
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| 198 | 198 | | the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 12 |
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| 199 | 199 | | SEC. 4. HEIRS’ PROPERTY HOUSING COUNSELING. 13 |
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| 200 | 200 | | Section 106(g) of the Housing and Urban Develop-14 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ment Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(g)) is amended by 15 |
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| 202 | 202 | | adding at the end the following new paragraph: 16 |
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| 203 | 203 | | ‘‘(6) C |
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| 204 | 204 | | OUNSELING WITH RESPECT TO HEIRS ’ 17 |
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| 205 | 205 | | PROPERTY.— 18 |
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| 206 | 206 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 207 | 207 | | N GENERAL.—Any nonprofit organi-19 |
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| 208 | 208 | | zation that receives amounts under this section 20 |
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| 209 | 209 | | shall, when providing homeownership counseling 21 |
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| 210 | 210 | | services to consumers— 22 |
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| 211 | 211 | | ‘‘(i) explain to such consumer what 23 |
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| 212 | 212 | | heirs’ property is, the risks associated with 24 |
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| 214 | 214 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 215 | 215 | | •HR 1640 IH |
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| 216 | 216 | | heirs’ property, and how to avoid heirs’ 1 |
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| 217 | 217 | | property issues; and 2 |
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| 218 | 218 | | ‘‘(ii) inform consumers of all available 3 |
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| 219 | 219 | | estate planning and title clearing options, 4 |
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| 220 | 220 | | assistance, and services, including those of-5 |
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| 221 | 221 | | fered under sections 2 and 3 of the Heirs 6 |
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| 222 | 222 | | Estate Inheritance Resolution and Succes-7 |
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| 223 | 223 | | sion Act of 2025. 8 |
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| 224 | 224 | | ‘‘(B) R |
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| 225 | 225 | | EFERRAL.—The Secretary shall en-9 |
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| 226 | 226 | | sure that each nonprofit organization that re-10 |
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| 227 | 227 | | ceives amounts under this section knows how to 11 |
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| 228 | 228 | | refer consumers, where appropriate, to mission- 12 |
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| 229 | 229 | | driven nonprofit organizations and legal services 13 |
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| 230 | 230 | | clinics operated by institutes of higher edu-14 |
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| 231 | 231 | | cation that are capable of assisting a consumer 15 |
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| 232 | 232 | | to clear title and with general estate planning. 16 |
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| 233 | 233 | | ‘‘(C) H |
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| 234 | 234 | | EIRS’ PROPERTY.—The term ‘heirs’ 17 |
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| 235 | 235 | | property’ means residential property for which 18 |
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| 236 | 236 | | title passed by operation of law through intes-19 |
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| 237 | 237 | | tacy and is held by two or more heirs as ten-20 |
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| 238 | 238 | | ants in common.’’. 21 |
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| 239 | 239 | | Æ |
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