2013-2014
Texas Title Project
This is a past project.
The Justice Center completed an innovative two-year title-clearing project designed to provide low-income disaster survivors with the chance to move to higher opportunity neighborhoods, with a grant from the Texas General Land Office to assist survivors of Hurricanes Dolly and Ike. The project was part of a larger coordinated hurricane recovery program that included the participation of communities affected by the disasters, advocates for low-income survivors, and local, state, and federal agencies.
The Justice Center project had a threefold mission: to clear title for families participating in the program; to develop a legal services delivery model that can be implemented in future disasters; and to study barriers to clear title in Texas low-income communities affected by disasters.
Law students contributed to the Project by researching tax exemptions available to disaster survivors and helping survivors on the Gulf Coast and in the Rio Grande Valley draft wills and apply for homestead tax exemptions. Pro bono clinics staffed by Texas Law students were designed to help survivors in these communities preserve their new homes.
Additional information:
Justice Center announces Texas Title Project fellows