At the end of the Civil War, as part of Reconstruction, African Americans in the South either purchased or were deeded land. Much of this land was “bottom land†– too wet to grow anything but rice, too full of mosquitoes and snakes to be of value.
Now this same land is being taken away by developers with the cooperation of local and state governments.
What’s being lost is not just land or money: It’s community. Five, six, even eight generations of the same families have lived continuously in these coastal communities. The neighborhoods they form are tight-knit, safe, and supportive – a rarity in modern American life.
Generations without wills or the need for them
Every state in the US requires that land deeds be transferred in writing. However this was not an option for the African American property owners during Reconstruction.
It was illegal to teach slaves to read and write, so that first generation couldn’t possibly have written wills. The Jim Crow laws that followed Emancipation then impeded black people’s access to the legal system, according to Willie Heyward of the Center for Heirs Property Preservation. So, the first generations of these land owners were unable to create written wills, and property was handed down verbally.
The tradition of verbal bequeaths continued in the African-American community. Rather than honoring a verbal will, the State considers land left by those without a written will (those who are “intestateâ€) to be equally owned, by all heirs.
Thus, there are many tracts of “Heirs’ Properties†in the South in which the last recorded deed is from the Reconstruction period. Some of these properties can have over a hundred heirs associated with them.
Turning Bottom-land to Gold
The introduction of air conditioning and mosquito control has turned these properties into the type of gold that makes developers drool. Since the mid-50’s, coastal islands and marsh-front properties have been converted to high-end housing, resort and commercial properties, displacing the long-standing African American communities.
The SC Government has so favored developers that they have changed the laws defining land ownership. For instance, persons who possess a piece of land, pay taxes on it, and were verbally deeded it by an ancestor do not have “clear title†to that land in South Carolina. This lack of clear title leaves the land vulnerable to court-forced sale, if even a single heir chooses to raise the question of ownership.
Once a court orders the sale, the developers are standing in line at the auction with more cash in their hands than the heirs could ever hope to raise.
Techniques of Taking The Property
Unclear Title
So long as there is no clear title to a property, a single heir can force its sale. In all heirs’ property cases a ruling from a court is required to “clear†the deed. Quite often, there are too many heirs, or the plat is too small, for equal and reasonable division. So, the court orders the property to be sold at auction, and profit is split between the heirs.
Build Something Really Nice Next Door
Property taxes in places other than California are assessed based on the value of the house and land. This value is based on subjective factors – how much would people be willing to pay for it? A $10,000 house surrounded by other ten thousand dollar houses will be assessed at ten thousand dollars. However, if someone builds a single $1 million dollar house next door, the property value of the $10,000 will go up – a hundred fold.
So while the property tax on the ten thousand dollar house was just a couple hundred dollars and easily paid, the property tax on the same house next to a mansion is in the tens of thousands and beyond the reach of the average South Carolinian.
Tax ‘em Out
While many States consider land ownership to be a basic and inviolable right, South Carolina acts aggressively to remove land from people who cannot pay property taxes.
South Carolina will sell off a person’s land if they are ten months late in the payment of taxes. Other states give people several years to pay back taxes and some even have laws preventing tax sales. For instance, in Ohio, a lien may be placed on a property for delinquent taxes, but the land cannot be forced into sale.
The taxes on heirs’ properties were quite reasonable for a very long time. However, as the value of the land has gone up, thanks to air conditioning, mosquito control, and mansions placed on neighboring properties, the tax bills have also increased.
It can be difficult to keep track of a single tax bill, which is applied to large tracts where dozens of families live. If the person who has taken responsibility for paying the taxes dies or moves away, the bill is often forgotten.
It is also possible for any person to go to the County offices and change the address on any tax bill.
Would the developers do this and then enjoy the confusion as the land goes into tax sale?
It would explain a few incidents.
South Carolinians are only given nine months to pay their property tax bill. After that, they must pay what is owed, plus the taxes that will be due next year to prevent the sale of their land in the tenth month.
For example, in 2005 taxes are due on January 15 and delinquent properties are sold on October 3. Developers, with loads of cash in hand, will be ready to snatch up the valuable properties at auction, pricing heirs out of the picture but still often buying at well below market value.
Even though the governing agency is only allowed to sell as much land as is necessary to cover the delinquent taxes, they have traditionally sold the entire plat.
Regulate ‘em Out
In other places, the local government has lent the developers a hand by creating regulations that surpass the means of the Heirs’ Property owners. For instance, in Mount Pleasant, sewer hookup is now required for all new houses and renovations. But the City did not run the sewer line close enough to the Heirs’ Property sites to allow for hookup at a reasonable cost; They actually went around one Heirs’ Property site to put sewer lines to a new sub-division.
So now the property owners must pay tens of thousands of dollars to “tap in†to the system. If unable to pay, they can not modify their homes, build new homes, or even repair the existing septic systems when they break. In effect, they are forced to sell the land, to someone who has enough money to pay for the sewer connection.
What Is Being Done
The Center for Heirs Property Preservation is fighting hard to preserving these unique communities in Charleston and surrounding areas. They are providing community education by doing things like leaving pamphlets at government offices and community centers and teaching Heirs Property seminars. There has been a Public Television special about Heirs Property.
They are additionally providing legal and mediation services to embattled Heirs Property owners, and helping to clear the titles. Also they work to change State laws that disadvantage Heirs Property owners.
In one ingenious approach, according to Willy Heyward, they are helping families create autonomous entities to manage and own land in potentially disputed heirs’ properties. Once this entity is formed — a Partnership, Limited Liability Corporation, or other form of Corporation — each heir is given shares in it equal to their stake in the land. Developers cannot then get a single heir to force a sale; the majority of the share holders must agree to what will be done with the property.
A State-appointed task force that includes members of the Center for Heirs Property Preservation and Charleston School of Law is looking at ways to protect property owners’ rights. One law they are working on would require mediation amongst heirs prior to, or instead of, going to court, in order to avoid a forced sale.
Even the world-famous Spoleto Festival USA is getting involved. Their Evoking History project for the 2006 Festival involves the members of the Phillips Community – one of the Heirs’ Properties that is being threatened by developers.
In the end, it all comes down to how well groups of heirs, some numbering over 100, can cooperate to save their communities. The sad thing is that they have to fight against both developers, and their own government.
Sources
http://ccfgives.org/heirsproperty.htm
http://www.lri.lsc.gov/abstracts/abstract.asp?level1=SPA&level2=Housing&abstractid=030017&ImageId=1
http://www.pfdf.org/innovation/innovation/innovation.asp?innov_id=567
There is nothing new here — the unefranchised have be getting screwed as a matter of civil procsedure for a long time. We know who the screwers are. We see their expensive SUV’s with the stickers on the glass, proclaiming their membership in their exclusive clubs. A flat tire can ruin someone’s afternoon.
What would be the point of that?
True enough: it takes little wit to imagine what will happen with Karl Rove and the Iraq planners in charge (don’t know in advance who’ll most benefit from the patronage–only who won’t: dealing with poverty by cutting the minimum wage is as farcical as awarding a corrupt Texas company with a public record of desecrating corpses the mortuary contract).
I see several differences though. One is scale: you have on one end the quarter of a million people who were eventually, after days of being–deliberately perhaps–dehumanized and degraded, bussed to Houston, and then dispersed like dust in the wind; on the other end is Halliburton. Another difference, from the beginning, has been–with exceptions like a few miscreant Coast Guard helicopter pilots who took it on themselves to rescue as many human beings as they could–the deployment of the official U.S. military and the blackwater types was for law enforcement on U.S. soil (I heard one officer on a tv clip talking about bringing “the insurgency” under control).
Claudia did you mean to comment about the New Orleans story?
Ok, let’s see. Where to begin? First off, this whole “heirs” program started out as a way to pay the blacks back for their slavery. This, is not necessary under any circumstance as their own people in Africa were selling their own people into slavery. If they want reparations, they’re looking in the wrong places.
Secondly, South Carolina is going by the laws. Simply put, if you cannot afford the property, you cannot own it. If my dad owns a Lamborghini, which is to be given to me upon his death, if it’s not paid off, I still must pay for it. If I cannot make the payments, I do not deserve to have it, regardless of it’s sentimental value. Simply because these “rare” groups of people, why they are so “rare” remains a mystery to me, have passed this property down for ages, doesn’t mean they can keep it if they can’t pay for it. I’ll agree to disagree if you can get a non-profit organization to help me get a new Lamborghini, because one, I want it, and two, I think I deserve one. I have had to put up with all of your nonsense for years now, after all.
It’s also so nice how you insult these people, while speaking for them. You say they are a “rare” community. Are you implying that all other black communities are filthy, vagrant savages that have no common, modern style of living? Seems to me as if you are. Props on that one, bud. Also, isn’t it great how nowadays, we think we can all try and change the laws that we don’t like? Oh, I want to murder, I think I ought to be able to murder. I believe I’ll go and petition to have murder legalized. Hey, if it works for you, it’ll work for me right? We wouldn’t have any double standards, not in our ideas, right? Simply put, your arguement has no validation, as you have cited two (2) sources, both sympathizers to the cause. Where my balance of opinion? Of course, I don’t need it because I am wise enough to form one on my own, but it’s the thing to do, regardless.
This one is for Timothy Nibul. What on earth is “unenfranchised”? Do you mean “disenfranchised” or “unable to vote” or “non citizens”? Surely that’s what you must mean. If they are not citizens, then you’ve proven my point; they don’t deserve the land. If they are unable to vote, they are either under eighteen, felons, or, again, not citizens. Thus, they still don’t deserve to own the land. Or, they could just choose not to vote, in which case, they don’t deserve to be spoken for in our government, that is “so against them”. Next, not everyone who drives an expensive sport ute with stickers on the glass is a corporate big-timer. I’m far from it, and I’ve driven an SUV with stickers on the glass, some even proclaiming my membership to what I believe to be an “exclusive club”. I’ve seen blacks in Atlanta, and every where else for that matter, driving expensive SUVs with stickers on the glass. They must be the enemies too, eh? And yes, a flat tire can ruin someone’s afternoon, now, you have to buy a new tire, spend time putting the spare on, and be late for whatever activites you had planned. Think of what the cost of a new tire would do to these poor (pun intended) African Americans, who can’t even afford the property they live on. What a travesty, yes?
All in all, this story retains no validity, will not hold up under pressure, and is simply unsubstantiated. Stick to fiction, author, for you seem to have found your niche.
This is a very uninformed opinion. Members of Phillips Community are not arguing to have the laws changed; the laws are being changed to push them out. Whether or not you find the area appealing it is sad that the government will support developers, who are simply out to make a profit, over local citizens trying to maintain their community. At least get the facts right before you make nasty remarks. And, thirty years from now when energy is extremely expensive and oil is scarce, won’t you feel silly knowing that you wasted much of it driving a silly, oversized piece of metal for no other reason than you thought it “looked good” or offered some prestige. sad really. You must have a lot of anger if you would even threaten to slash the tires of those with less money than yourself; just goes to show that many with money really do care about nothing but themselves. Must make you proud to be an American…but it makes me ashamed.
(previous comment was in response to “Adam”)
I am the only heir out of three paying the taxes on a parcel of land in York County, Maine. Am I entitled to own this property outright seeing I pay the taxes, or would I have to wait for so many years for this to take place? Thank You
In my case i am the heir of 15 possibly 30 acres of land .My relatives are too evil to deed to me my portion that is deeded to me .I need help. Most of them are out of state and claim that they don’t want anything to do with the land. If I cant afford to go to court to get my land. I am willing to sale my shares at the rate tha will build a subdivison. the land can be used for any project I assume not harmful to the people nor community. Contact me .If you are serious.
This is my online journal describing the unusual events in my family’s partition case in Alabama. We have succeeded in getting the case before the appellate court and briefs have been served.
I intend to write a book about our case and would appreciate any suggestions re sources, etc.
From my family research I found that my Great Great Grandfather Greene Vaughn, was was deeded land in the County of Merriweather Georgia after the civil war. The address given as late as 1910 was “White Sulpher Springs Precinct”. As you know names at that time were indicative of the “thing” being named. In all likelihood there were white sulphur springs under the ground making the land very fertile and farming good. He was subsequently “killed in a hunting accident” (around 1913) and the farm and all the animals, crops etc. were taken away. Maps of that time show the location of White Sulphur Springs. However around 1920-30 the land became a Rehabilitation Center for ailing victims of polio and other sicknesses because they could bath in the “healing waters” of the Warm Sulphur Springs. The Rehabilitation center fell on hard times and was later purchased by President Franklin Roosevelt, a victim of Polio and became the Little White House at Warm Springs, Georgia. Needless to say, that the town has become a tourist spot with hotels, restaurants and many other attractions. I feel that my family has been cheated of our inheritance as the land was taken from us because it was too valuable for Blacks to own. I have done some research but need further help in putting together a substantive case. Can you help? Although my Grandmother and her 13 siblings are now dead, they have children and grandchildren etc. who are still alive and could benefit from this. I most of all would just like to see justice done and satisfaction of the admission of the facts involved. Thank you inadvance for your help. Phyllis Beech
My father recently died and I found out that my sisters and I have heir property. He had remarried. He was living on the land and had built a house before he married. He did not leave a will. Is his spouse entitled to the house or land
The big lesson here is: DON’T DIE WITHOUT A WRITTEN WILL. Heir property is a result of dying intestate (without a will). The courts assign shares to your heirs. The courts also appoint who your heirs are. It may be an aunt you absolutely despise. And, it is very hard to reverse. Heir property will tend to stay heir property for generations to come, because there is simply no way to correct the situation.
I don’t agree with the guys that said “if you can’t afford it, you don’t deserve it”. See, if I bought a car I couldn’t afford, then I made a bad decision. Creditors can come and take it. BUT, if someone GAVE me land I couldn’t afford, and I have to keep it because it’s a family heirloom, it’s a totally different story. Besides, unlike a car, a piece of land (often forested) provides environmental services to the public. Its really not fair that they bear the brunt.
If I’m interpreting the law correctly, it takes only one heir (or whoever buys a share from an heir) to force a partition. This is completely weird. Whereas any activity done on the land requires unanimous agreement (e.g. sell timber, request government financial assistance), a request to partition the land needs only one person to do. Seems like heir property is going nowhere but the land market.
I’m happy to hear one of you want to publish your story about a family partition. Stuff like this should be more well known to people. Again, DON’T DIE WITHOUT A WILL! If you don’t have one, please spare your heirs and make one soon.
All of my life I remember stories of my Great-Grand Father and Mother. How several properties in and around the Jacksonville Florida and Tampa area were “Heir Property”. Ingenious I thought as a young developing mind but like most things. Well all I’d like to say to the developer or institutor of this information. I appreciate all of your efforts and hope that this information can be made more readily available. To even those without website or computer access.
Could some tell me exactly what “partition” means? I want to learn all I can about this subject as we are about to embark on an ugly battle, methinks!
Thank you for any relevent advice!
Check out http://www.ag.auburn.edu/agec/heirproperty/
We are having a family problem with heirs property. A family member asked to get his share “cut off” so he could get a clear deed. He now pays is own taxes separate from our heirs property since he has been cut off. Now, he wants to lay claim to the rest of the heirs property saying he knows he got his share but he is still a heir and he wants to claim more of the heirs family property. Does he has claim to this even though all the family members signed before a lawyer to allow him to “cut” his portion off. He tells us that he does not want any heirs property for himself that his kids are still entitled to it. Help us please.