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The Southern University Law Center will host a free title-clearing event and legal aid session for flood survivors regarding title issues affecting flood-damaged property in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes, at A. Lenior Hall on Saturday, Jan. 28, from 9 a.m. to noon. ​The event includes partners Louisiana Appleseed, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, Baton Rouge Bar Foundation, SULC, LSU Law Clinic, Baton Rouge Bar Association, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, American Bar Association Center for Innovation, and Louisiana State Bar Association. 

​Those attending the event need to bring the following items:

• Death certificate (for those who passed away in Louisiana, the certificate is available at dhh.louisiana.gov)
• Social Security Number
• Will (if available)
• Record of the last sale or deed of the property you were left
• Assessed value of the real estate you were left
• Records of other assets
• Record of deceased person's debts
• Individuals attending the session must be able to show that they are related to the person who left them the home.
  ​Documents that  can prove that are as follows:
  • Obituary or funeral program
  • Marriage license
  • Copies of divorce judgments
  • List of children of the deceased

For more information call 1-844-244-7871.

Homeowners living on property passed down from family sometimes can’t take advantage of their property rights. After the 2005 hurricanes and subsequent disasters, some Louisiana residents were unable to receive federal and state aid for property damage. They owned their homes. They even paid property taxes. But legal documents didn’t list them as owners. So, they lacked “clear title.” Their homes were passed down through generations by family agreement, but not through the legal system. Heir property comes about when necessary legal work isn’t done after a property owner dies. If you do nothing, the right to live on the property goes to an “heir.” Heirs are related to the deceased property owner by blood or marriage, or named in a will and alive when the property owner dies.

If you do not have clear title, you might not be able to:

• Sell your property.
• Make repairs to the property.
• Borrow money against the property.
• Cash an insurance check.
• Deal with a bank on a foreclosure.
• Get a homestead exemption for taxes.
• Get notice of actions by the City or Parish if they try to take
• Have a court rule on “claims of heir” in a lawsuit against those falsely claiming to be heirs of the original owner