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Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, Inc.
1701 N 24th St, Omaha, NE 68110
habitatomaha.org
https://www.facebook.com/HFHOmaha; https://twitter.com/habitatomaha; https://www.youtube.com/user/HabitatOmaha; https://www.instagram.com/habitatomaha/
Janneane Gerot
Senior Project Manager
jgerot@habitatomaha.org
+1 (402) 884-6691
Yes
Amanda Brewer serves as Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s (HFHO) Chief Executive Officer, responsible for ensuring the project is progressing in line with the required timeline and helping to make connections with other agencies to identify properties with cloudy titles. Amanda has 25 years of experience working for Habitat for Humanity, both at the local and international level, and has been leading HFHO since 2005. Family Services Program Director, Lacey Studnika, oversees all of HFHO’s client-facing programs, including its Almost Home housing counseling program, which focuses on getting individuals mortgage-ready. Lacey has many years of experience in nonprofit program management and implementation and will be the staff lead for the Clear Title Project. Lacey will handle outreach and sourcing of houses with title issues with the assistance of Dan Brewer. Land Acquisition Manager, Dan Brewer, has been with the organization for 14 years and has extensive experience with real estate acquisitions and the impact of cloudy titles. Dan will assist Lacey in the administration and execution of this project, particularly in the identification of title issues on North Omaha properties. Aimee Cizek is an attorney with McGill Gotsdiner Workman & Lepp, who specializes in real estate law, title insurance defense, and title issue resolution. Aimee is frequently called upon by title companies to resolve complicated title issues. Aimee will act as the primary advisor and attorney for the project, with other estate planning and real estate attorneys assisting as needed.
Amanda Brewer heads the organization as CEO, with a senior leadership team made up of the heads of five departments: Construction, Family Services, Finance, Development, and Advocacy and Public Affairs. An organizational chart has been uploaded as Attachment A.
HFHO has been building and renovating homes in Omaha since 1984. Over the years, the organization has grown to serve five counties, and HFHO’s holistic approach to neighborhood revitalization has led to the addition of home repair and weatherization programs that have helped the organization serve more than 2,000 households over its 38-year history. HFHO has built 466 affordable new construction houses, rehabilitated 201 existing houses in North and South Omaha, and completed more than 450 home repairs for Douglas County homeowners. We have worked for several years to clear titles in North Omaha and regularly hold Transfer of Deed on Death (TODD) clinics for area homeowners and our Habitat homebuyers to educate North O residents on the importance of clear title to prevent additional inheritance issues in the future. Our acquisition work over almost four decades of building in North Omaha has taught us a lot about complicated titles and the ins and outs of estate issues that act as a barrier to home repairs, house rehabilitations, and new construction within existing neighborhoods.
HFHO Clear Title Project
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3000000.0
Service/program
Cloudy titles and estate issues in North Omaha have built up an unseen barrier to neighborhood revitalization in our community. While many organizations, including Habitat Omaha, are doing amazing work to build, renovate, and repair homes in North O, title and estate issues limit the extent to which this work can be done. In areas of concentrated poverty like the QCTs in North Omaha, a high percentage of the properties have unclear titles that make it nearly impossible for residents to take out home equity loans or sell their home or land. As the original homeowners pass away, many lack a will guaranteeing clear transfer of their home or property to the next generation, and heirs are often left with liens and an inability to pay for probate. Without the proper transfer of property to the next generation, homes frequently pass for years through different family members until an adult child or grandchild is forced to abandon the home due to a move and an inability to sell the home due to the cloudy title. HFHO is requesting $3 million in funding from LB1024 to allow HFHO to clear 600 titles over three years. This would cover the cost of title searches, the legal work involved in clearing the title, the intake attorney fees, and the administrative costs to run the program. While the project will span three years, all LB1024 funds will be obligated by December 2024 via contracts with the attorneys and linked to a set amount of required titles to be cleared. The title-clearing work will take place in North Omaha, where an estimated 20% of all properties have title issues. All work will take place in Qualified Census Tracts (QCT) or in neighborhoods immediately adjacent to QCTs.
HFHO will begin identifying properties with cloudy title issues immediately upon award and will begin feeding them through the intake process as they are identified. We anticipate having 200 titles cleared in North Omaha by the end of 2023 if we get the award early enough in the year. Two hundred more titles will be cleared by the end of 2024, and all funds will be obligated at that time via contracts with attorneys to clear an additional 200 titles by December 2025. In total, this funding will result in a significant impact of 600 titles cleared. A timeline showing goals and processes has been uploaded as Attachment B.
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Fundamental Change (i.e., a proposal that will continue to elevate North or South Omaha's presence and perception within the region, significantly improving the lives of area residents through physical development) Long-Lasting Economic Growth (i.e., a proposal that will foster gainful employment opportunities and financial investment in the area, leading to the creation of generational wealth and widespread economic vitality in North and South Omaha) Transformational (i.e., a proposal that will help energize, recharge, or spur significant and favorable advancements in North or South Omaha's function or appearance)
Quality of Life (i.e., create or enhance natural spaces, mixed uses, parks, safety, etc.) Sustainable Community (i.e., create or enhance housing, services, education, civic uses, recreation, etc.)
When people think of issues affecting North Omaha’s sustainability as a community and its ability to provide housing for its workforce, they think of building new units and preserving existing units. What many in our community don’t realize is that an estimated 20% of homes in North O cannot be easily sold or repaired due to title issues, making it virtually impossible to completely revitalize many neighborhoods. An essential piece of transformative change in North O is the ability of organizations and individuals to purchase abandoned homes and lots so homes can be rehabilitated and new houses constructed. Without clear inheritance rights, existing residents cannot apply for home equity loans to complete necessary repairs or sell their houses. Instead, many choose to move away and abandon the property. These homes become the neighborhood blighted house, lowering home values and creating a domino effect of abandonment as neighbors struggle to find buyers willing to live next door to rundown properties. Real, transformative change requires a bold investment of funds that will allow skilled real estate attorneys to clear a large number of titles, freeing up real estate and asset inheritance in North O. HFHO requests $3m in LB1024 funding to pay the legal fees, attorney costs, and title search fees to clear 600 titles in North O over 3 years. HFHO has been working to clear titles for many years using pro bono assistance from Legal Aid and Creighton Law Clinic, but our work has been slow and hindered by the need for a highly skilled attorney who specializes in the intricacies of estate and title issues. Aimee Cizek, an attorney specializing in clearing title issues, has agreed to help HFHO clear these titles if funding for the project can be secured. HFHO will help identify properties with cloudy titles, and a non-practicing intake attorney will assess the complexity of the case. Properties deemed solvable will be referred to Aimee and other estate planning attorneys, who will work to clear the title. We expect to clear between 200-250 titles each year. Some examples of cloudy title issue causes are: Improper quit claim deeds or real estate transfers, the Deed of Reconveyance wasn’t filed and often the mortgage servicer is no longer in business, tax certificate liens, or a Warranty Deed missing a statement of “joint tenants in common with rights of survivorship” which makes it difficult to sell if a spouse dies. Estate issues typically relate to the property owner dying without a will. Even if the family stays in the home, they cannot get homeowner’s insurance to protect them from disasters, and they cannot take out a HELOC or refinance the home to make improvements. To sustain the North O community, we need to address a significant reason behind property abandonment. With LB1024 funds, we have the opportunity to make a true impact on title issues and preserve hundreds of housing units for the future.
This proposal aligns with the identified housing need in North Omaha as a necessary component of community sustainability. Neighborhoods filled with homes that cannot be sold or easily repaired negatively impacts the availability and quality of housing stock. Title clearing may not be the flashiest investment, but when the intent is to create fundamental change, title clearing has to be a part of that solution. This proposal addresses both the gap between existing entry-level housing availability and a gap in the ability of North O residents’ ability to pass housing assets to the next generation. Without a significant investment in title clearing in our neighborhoods, children will continue to start at ground zero without the advantage of a home purchased with the hard work and financial investment of their parents. These types of estate issues disproportionately affect lower-income households who are less likely to have a will and cannot pay for probate, and it is most common in areas affected by the barriers of redlining.
Section 2.4 of LB1024’s strategic priorities focus on “The social and economic challenges in North Omaha and South Omaha have persisted for multiple generations, partially fueled by past racial segregation and the historical practice known as redlining.” This project helps preserve, restore, and protect generational wealth in North Omaha, a community directly affected by redlining.
HFHO will be enlisting the aid of attorneys, both practicing and non-practicing, for intake and legal work. While Aimee Cizek is our first attorney committed to the project, we intend to outreach to local North and South Omaha estate attorneys and employ them in title-clearing work.
No permanent jobs will be created; however, this will open more housing units to the market, introducing affordable housing options to the workforce and aiding the stabilization of the workforce.
Temporary jobs for intake attorneys and specialized estate attorneys will be created through this project.
The average cost for an attorney to clear one title is $4,000, with a significant amount of work going into the title-clearing process. The intake attorney fee per title is estimated at $300.
Upon award, HFHO will reach out to attorneys specializing in this type of title and estate work who live and/or work in Qualified Census Tracts to enlist their assistance in completing the project.
The community will directly benefit from this project through the increased availability of affordable housing within North Omaha, the ability of homeowners to build wealth by securing a previously-unsecured, major asset, and an increase in the capacity of homeowners to upkeep and repair their homes.
This project will contribute to community stability by ensuring the proper transfer of property between generations. One home saved from falling into disrepair or successfully transferred to the next generation represents an estimated $100,000 in assets. 600 titles cleared means approximately $60m in property wealth--$60m in hard-earned assets that could, and should, be passed on to the next generation.
Most title-clearing work is done on an as-needed basis, with individuals or organizations like HFHO working to clear cloudy titles on abandoned properties that prevent a street from being fully revitalized or a home from being built on an overgrown lot. The scale of this project makes it bold and innovative. HFHO can use what free resources it can find to clear a few titles each year, but an investment of LB1024 funds would be truly transformative and represents an innovative “blitz” approach to solving steep barriers to redevelopment and proper generational wealth transfer in North Omaha.
HFHO measures will measure the success of this project based on the number of titles that can be cleared and the value of the property assets rightfully transferred to the next generation as a result of the cleared title deed.
HFHO will be tracking these outcome metrics and reporting them on a quarterly basis as part of the project process.
Yes. Currently, many residents of North O cannot access their home equity to complete repairs and get property insurance due to a cloudy title. This project gives residents the ability to gain clear title to their home and to utilize their home equity to hire contractors and purchase materials to upkeep and improve their residences.
Yes
HFHO will partner will other housing nonprojects, developers, and community groups to help identify properties with title issues.
none
No
This project will take place in QCTs and QCT-adjacent areas of North Omaha, with legal work clearing title on 600 properties.
Within one or more QCTs
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Construction bid package not applicable; budget based on quoted service rates and prior experience of HFHO in clearing titles.
No
The type of specialized legal experience necessary to complete this project is costly, but we believe the return on investment in the proper transfer of assets to the next generation is well worth the expense. Families living in QCTs do not have the disposable income to hire a lawyer themselves. A home is typically a family’s largest financial asset, and an inability to pay attorney fees shouldn’t be the reason someone doesn’t inherit their family home. This is a fight worth fighting, and an investment in the future of North O worth making. A budget for this request has been uploaded as Attachment C.
LB1024 grant funds will be used for title searches, the time of intake and specialized estate attorneys, and the administrative expenses of executing the project.
Yes
HFHO’s Finance team, led by CFO Louis Olivera, will oversee the budget of this project, ensuring proper financial controls, approving expenses, and monitoring any budget variances. Janneane Gerot, Senior Project Manager, will verify expenses, gather payment documentation, and will submit all expenses for reimbursement.
We do not have other funding sources committed for this project.
This project cannot move forward without the requested LB1024 funding of $3m.
This project is scalable. HFHO can clear 200 titles with every $1m in funding provided; however, the transformative effect this has the potential to have on North Omaha requires the full investment of $3m.
The budget, included as Attachment C, breaks down the expenses per title cleared. This project can be broken down by the number of titles cleared, with the cost per title clearly delineated in the budget.
HFHO is requesting the full project cost and is not contributing matching funds.
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Organizational Chart Proposal Budget/Sources and Uses Schedule