Media

Media About the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA)

The Nation takes a look at the efforts around the country to get the UPHPA enacted.

• A guest opinion piece in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette by Karama Neal, founder of Heirs of Arkansas, looks at the impact of the UPHPA in Arkansas and across the country.

The New Yorker and ProPublica looked at the historical problem of heirs property loss and how the UPHPA works to help the problem in part.

• Pew Charitable Trusts has an article looking at the UPHPA's success around the country.

• An article in Spectrum News NY 1 talked about how some NYC property owners have lost their homes through forced partition sales. A subsequent piece in NY 1 addressed the passage of the Uniform Act in New York, in part due to the prior media coverage.

• NCCRC Coordinator John Pollock was interviewed by Princeton University's Innovations for Successful Societies on the origins of the UPHPA and how it came to be.

CityLab took a look at the impact of Hurricane Florence on the Gullah/Geechee nation, especially due to the amount of heirs property there.

PLACE, a product of the Thompson Reuters Foundation, looked at the progress of the UPHPA across the country.

• The Nation took an in-depth look at heirs property as it has affected African-American landowners, and the Uniform Act. The Nation also looked at how the Farm Bill incentivizes states to pass the UPHPA.

• Live@5 News has a story on South Carolina's passage of the Uniform Act, known in South Carolina as the Clementa Pinckney Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act.

• Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg filed partition sales actions in Hawaii on properties adjacent to his, and American City Business Journals notes that he filed his suits on December 31, 2016 in order to avoid the Uniform Act going into effect in Hawaii on Jan 1, 2017. USA Today, the Honolulu Star Advertiser, and the Huffington Post have more on the story, while Wired notes that Zuckeberg is reconsidering his plans in light of public outcry. The Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation penned an op-ed in the Star Advertiser discussing how quiet title actions harm Hawaiians.

• UPHPA reporter Thomas Mitchell has written an article in the ABA Section of State and Local Government's newsletter about the Uniform Act.

• The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta took a look at heirs property in the Southeast, and featured both the HPRC and the Uniform Act.

• UPHPA Reporter Thomas Mitchell appeared on Blog Talk Radio to discuss heirs property in South Carolina (particularly in Hilton Head Island) and the Uniform Act.

• Northeastern Law School Magazine profiled HPRC Facilitator John Pollock, an alum of the school, about his work on the Uniform Act.

• The Jackson Advocate ran an article featuring Uniform Act Reporter Thomas Mitchell urging Mississippi to enact the Uniform Act.

• The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta takes a look at heirs property in the Southeast, and features the HPRC and the Uniform Act.

• Pew Charitable Trusts took a deep look at heirs property in general and the Uniform Act in particular.

• NCCRC member Karama Neal, who was instrumental in the passage of the Uniform Act in Arkansas, has a blog post on State of the South about how the Uniform Act is one tool for preserving family wealth, and gave a TED talk that addressed the Act

• The introduction of the Uniform Act in South Carolina has been covered by numerous media outlets, including The Washington Times, The Island Packet, and The Post & Courier (opinion piece).

• The BBC did a story on the problems of heirs' property and the work on the Uniform Act. It features interviews with HPRC members Jennie Stephens and Thomas Mitchell.

Dow Jones has a story on the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act.

Media Stories About Heirs Property in South Carolina

• The Summerville Journal Scene tackles the story of a South Carolina heirs property owner who couldn't sufficiently prove ownership of her property and so lost it to tax foreclosure.

GPB News covers the loss of heirs property and the Gullah tradition on Daufuskie Island.

• The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation, a HPRC member, is featured in a Charleston Regional Business Journal story about CHPP's work on the Sustainable Forestry Program, and CHPP is also mentioned in a NY Times book review of "If Sons, Then Heirs", a fiction novel that highlights the troubles with heirs' property.

• An article in The Island Packet (local news for Hilton Head, South Carolina) describes a partition case that is fairly typical.

• The Post & Courier ran a story about a complex heirs' property case that mentions a HPRC member, the Center for Heirs Property Preservation. The Post & Courier also covered a story about a community fighting a losing battle against development due to heirs' property problems, and a an effort to use historic trusts to preserve heirs property.

• Read a USA Today piece about HPRC member Gateway Development's attempt to preserve a valuable heirs' property parcel in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Media Stories About Heirs Property Elsewhere

• The Philadelphia Enquirer looked at how heirs property owners can be victimized by speculators who acquire heirs property on the cheap and then flip it for huge profits days later.

• The Nation looked at partition sales as a major cause of black land loss.

• HPRC member Georgia Heirs Property Center was featured on NPR's Here and Now.

• The Honolulu Star Advertiser has a story about how Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is looking to use partition sales to acquire property adjacent to his in Hawaii .

• Georgia Public Radio took a close look at heirs property issues in Georgia and the work of HPRC member Georgia Heirs Property Law Center.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured the work of HPRC member Georgia Heirs Property Law Center in look at thorny heirs property problems in Atlanta .

• The Jackson Advocate ran a story on a lengthy heirs property battle over a Virginia farm. . The story also features discussion of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act.

• The NAACP of Alabama issued a press release describing some specific cases of land loss involving heirs' property.

• The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (which is an HPRC member) helped preserve century-old property in Warren County, North Carolina.

• The ABA Journal released a feature story on heirs' property that featured many members of HPRC.

• In 2001, the Associated Press did an excellent series on black land loss called Torn from the Land.

• Henry Louis Gates wrote an opinion piece for the NY Times on how property ownership helps reduce the wealth gap and increases political participation, and how African-Americans have experienced a steep decline in property ownership in the last century.

• Hurricane Katrina inadvertently revealed the scope of the heirs' property problem. Read an NPR story about how heirs' property owners have had trouble accessing federal relief funds.

• Read a story in Mother Jones about black land loss in the South.