In Georgia, Inherited Property Creates Risks For Vulnerable Communities

NPR

Published April 12, 2017 at 12:33 PM EDT

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The sun sets on the Rose Hill neighborhood of Porterdale, Georgia. These homes were built in the early 20th century for African-American workers at the nearby cotton mill.
(Sam Whitehead/GPB) — The sun sets on the Rose Hill neighborhood of Porterdale, Georgia. These homes were built in the early 20th century for African-American workers at the nearby cotton mill. (Sam Whitehead/GPB)

Across the country, especially in the South, property is often passed down from generation to generation without proper legal paperwork. It’s known as heirs property, and it can create a host of problems: from the inability to access home equity to the risk of losing one’s house.

Sam Whitehead (@sclaudwhitehead) of Here & Now contributor Georgia Public Broadcasting brings us the story of how heirs property could make a community east of Atlanta completely disappear.