Heather K. Way
- Clinical Professor
Heather Way joined Texas Law in 2006 and directs the Law School’s Housing Policy Clinic and teaches in the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. Her teaching, research, and law reform work focuses on addressing systemic housing and community development challenges that impact disadvantaged families and marginalized communities. A national expert in housing law and policy and frequent commentator in the media, Professor Way’s work has shaped numerous high-impact legal reforms that advance housing stability and close critical gaps in housing policy.
A lifelong Texan who grew up in the Texas Hill Country, Professor Way enjoys backpacking, trail running, and exploring the Austin region’s greenbelts and spring-fed swimming holes.
Featured Work
Heather Way is a Clinical Professor at Texas Law where she directs the Law School’s Housing Policy Clinic and teaches in the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. A national expert in affordable housing and community development law, her work focuses on advancing housing justice, opening paths to economic opportunity, and fostering equitable and inclusive communities.
Professor Way’s work has shaped numerous high-impact legal reforms that advance housing stability and close critical gaps in housing policy, ensuring greater accountability and fairness in housing practices that impact low- and moderate-income families. Her recent projects include curbing predatory fees in rental housing and securing affordable housing requirements in tax-subsidized housing developments.
Professor Way is a leading authority on heirs’ property, a form of land ownership passed down across generations which disproportionately impacts African-American families. Her most recent scholarship has revealed the prevalence and unique challenges of heirs’ property in urban areas, the disproportionate risks of property tax foreclosure, and pervasive legal barriers preventing families from accessing critical property tax relief and disaster recovery aid. These findings have informed significant legal reforms, including legislation expanding heirs’ property homeowners’ access to homestead exemptions.
Professor Way serves on the governing committee of American Bar Association’s Affordable Housing and Community Development Forum and co-chairs the Forum’s Community Development Practitioners and Legal Educators Practice Group. Previously, Professor Way served as an advisor to the Uniform Law Commission’s Tenancy in Common Ownership Default Rules Drafting Committee. She founded the Uprooted Project, an initiative providing tools to address displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods and co-authored Real Property for the Real World, a book featuring hands-on case studies for property law students. A frequent media commentator, she has been interviewed by media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ProPublica, and NPR.
After graduating from The University of Texas School of Law, where she was Grand Chancellor and co-founded the Public Interest Law Association, Professor Way clerked for the Honorable William Wayne Justice of the Eastern District of Texas and served as a Skadden Fellow at Legal Aid of Central Texas, representing low-income tenants and community organizations. She later co-founded and directed Texas Community Building with Attorney Resources (Texas C-BAR), a statewide initiative delivering pro bono transactional legal services to community organizations.
No publications or activities matching the current search and filters.
year-2024
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Combatting Rental Junk Fees at the State and Local Levels
Heather K. Way. "Combatting Rental Junk Fees at the State and Local Levels." National webinar hosted by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Consumer Law Center, Housing Policy Clinic, and BASTA (November 20, 2024).
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
A Right to Stay: Dallas Neighborhood Anti-Displacement Toolkit,
Heather K. Way. Moderator for Panel on "A Right to Stay: Dallas Neighborhood Anti-Displacement Toolkit," hosted by Builders of Hope and JPMorgan Chase, Dallas, Texas (November 14, 2024).
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Report
The Intersection of Residential Heirs' Property and Property Tax Foreclosure
Heather K. Way. “The Intersection of Residential Heirs' Property and Property Tax Foreclosure” (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, November 8, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Hot Housing Policy Topics in the 2025 Texas Legislative Session
Heather K. Way. “Hot Housing Policy Topics in the 2025 Texas Legislative Session” at 2024 Policy Summit, Texas Association of CDCs (November 7, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Local Government Issues: Blight, Code Enforcement, and Property Tax Foreclosure
Heather K. Way. “Local Government Issues: Blight, Code Enforcement, and Property Tax Foreclosure” at Estate Planning & Heirs’ Property Intensive, National Consumer Law Center, 2024 Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (October 23, 2024). -
Other Publication
The Impacts of Heirs' Property on Homeowners in North Texas
Heather K. Way and Noah J Durst. "The Impacts of Heirs' Property on Homeowners in North Texas" (Asset Funders Network, October 9, 2024). View online.
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Heirs’ Property Homeowners: Pathways and Pitfalls to Achieving Housing Stability
Heather K. Way. “Heirs’ Property Homeowners: Pathways and Pitfalls to Achieving Housing Stability” at 2024 Poverty Law Conference, State Bar of Texas (August 29, 2024). -
Report
Best Practices to Prevent Substandard Conditions in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties
Texas Law Housing Policy Clinic, "Best Practices to Prevent Substandard Conditions in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties" (August 22, 2024). View online.
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Property Tax Justice and Heirs' Property
Heather K. Way. “Property Tax Justice and Heirs' Property” at Law & Society Association Annual Meeting (June 6, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Property Tax Foreclosures and Heirs Property
Heather K. Way. “Property Tax Foreclosures and Heirs Property” at 2024 Mortgage Conference, National Consumer Law Center and National Association of Consumer Advocates (June 4, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Teaching and Facilitating Teamwork in a Transactional Law Clinic
Heather K. Way. “Teaching and Facilitating Teamwork in a Transactional Law Clinic” at 20th Annual Transactional Clinical Conference, St. Louis University, School of Law (May 1, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Public Facility Corporations, Pitfalls and Opportunities
Heather K. Way. "Public Facility Corporations, Pitfalls and Opportunities, hosted by ULI’s Multifamily Local (Austin) District Council (April 16, 2024).
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Moderator, Advancing Housing Affordability in Counties
Heather K. Way. Moderator, "Advancing Housing Affordability in Counties" at UT School of Law Land Use Law Conference, Austin, TX (April 5, 2024).
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Heirs’ Property Homeowners: Barriers to Resilience
Heather K. Way. “Heirs’ Property Homeowners: Barriers to Resilience” at Fannie Mae's National Convening on Heirs’ Property: Past and Future, Fannie Mae Headquarters, Washington D.C. (April 4, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Property Tax Foreclosures of Heirs' Property Homes
Heather K. Way. “Property Tax Foreclosures of Heirs' Property Homes” at Heirs’ Property and the Racial Wealth Gap Conference, Boston College Law School (March 22, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Heirs' Property and Homeownership in Texas
Heather K. Way. “Heirs' Property and Homeownership in Texas” at Asset Funders Network Convening on Heirs' Property, United Way, Fort Worth, TX (February 29, 2024). -
Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Heirs' Property and Disasters
Heather K. Way. “Heirs' Property and Disasters” at Disaster Primr 2024: Interfaces of Disaster, Texas A&M University (February 24, 2024). -
Other Activity
Moderator, Community Development from the Frontlines
Heather K. Way. Moderator, "Community Development from the Frontlines" at UT School of Law Nonprofit Organizations Institute, Austin, TX (February 9, 2024).
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Report
Combatting Junk Fees in Texas Rental Housing: A Pathway to Fairer and More Transparent Leasing Practices
Elizabeth Blackford, Madison DeLuca, Nicholas Heflin, and Heather K. Way. "Combatting Junk Fees in Texas Rental Housing: A Pathway to Fairer and More Transparent Leasing Practices" (BASTA Austin, January 31, 2024). View online.
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Presentation / Panelist / Discussant
Policy in Motion: Equity in Transit Access
Heather K. Way. Panelist, "Policy in Motion: Equity in Transit Access" at UT LBJ School of Public Affairs (January 31, 2024).