►
Description
The Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development and The Homeless of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, at 10:00 AMto hear testimony on the following items:
210695 Resolution authorizing the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless to hold a hearing to discuss the impact of tangled titles in Philadelphia.
B
I
now
note
that
the
hour
has
come
eliza
alford.
Would
you
please
call
the
role
to
take
attendance
members
that
are
in
attendance?
Will
please
indicate
that
you
are
present
when
your
name
is
called
also,
please
say
a
few
brief
words
when
responding
so
that
your
image
will
be
displayed
on
screen
when
you
speak
council,
member,
joan.
A
A
B
B
B
B
E
B
Okay,
before
we
begin
to
hear
testimony
from
the
witnesses
we
have
for
today,
everyone
who
has
been
invited
to
the
meeting
to
testify
should
be
aware
that
this
public
hearing
is
being
recorded
because
the
hearing
is
public
participants
and
viewers
have
no
reasonable
expectation
of
privacy.
By
continuing
to
be
in
the
meeting,
you
are
consenting
to
being
recorded
additionally
prior
to
recognizing
members
for
the
questions
or
comments
that
they
have
for
witnesses.
B
B
Thank
you
so
much
for
attending
this
housing
committee
hearing
to
discuss
the
impact
of
tangled
titles
on
the
city
of
philadelphia.
I'm
very
grateful
to
my
colleague,
catherine
gilmore
richardson
for
her
leadership
and
partnership
on
this
issue
and
for
her
dedication
to
solving
this
serious
problem
for
our
city.
B
B
So
thanks
for
recent
report
from
the
pew
charitable
trust,
we
have
confirmation
for
what
many
residents
of
west
and
southwest
philadelphia
already
knew
to
be
true.
That
tangled
titles
are
a
major
barrier
to
creating
intergenerational
wealth
in
our
communities
and
they
disproportionately
affect
black
homeowners
in
low-income
neighborhoods
and
when
it,
when
a
title
ii,
a
property
is
tangled.
Residents
cannot
benefit
from
the
value
that
exists
within
their
homes,
but
they're
expected
at
the
same
time
to
maintain
their
homes
and
to
pay
taxes
on
the
property
regardless.
B
A
tangled
title
also
makes
it
infinitely
more
difficult
for
residents
to
access
resources
like
loans
and
city
run
repair
programs.
That
can
be
a
real
life
saver
when
it
comes
to
maintaining
a
property,
especially
for
low-income
homeowners
and
as
a
result,
homes
with
tangled
titles
often
fall
into
disrepair
and
are
sometimes
even
abandoned
in
turn,
creating
conditions
that
make
our
communities
vulnerable
to
disinvestment
and
increased
levels
of
violence.
B
Great
work
is
already
being
done
to
address
this
issue
both
by
city
agencies
like
the
register
of
wills
and
the
department
of
records,
as
well
as
legal
aid
organizations
like
community
legal
services
and
philadelphia
vip,
which
coordinate
pro
bono,
support
from
private
practice
attorneys
and
as
a
chair
of
council's
housing
committee
and
as
a
representative
of
the
district
with
the
highest
volume
of
tangled
title
properties.
I
feel
it's
important
to
advocate
for
residents
and
to
address
this
problem
in
any
way
that
I
can
and
that's
why.
B
I'm
really
proud
of
the
7.6
million
dollars
that
city
council
as
a
body
allocated
towards
tangled
titles
over
four
years
of
the
neighborhood
preservation
initiative
and
looking
further
down
the
road,
I
plan
to
call
for
increased
funding
to
support
and
expand
the
existing
efforts
to
address
tangle
titles.
I
think
additional
resources
will
allow
us
to
offer
even
more
extensive
assistance
to
more
philadelphia
and
struggling
with
this
problem,
because
home
ownership
is
one
of
the
clearest
paths
to
building
generational
wealth.
It's
incredibly
important
that
we
clear
that
path
for
all
philadelph
communities.
B
Housing
equity
has
been
my
number
one
priority
since
I
was
on
the
campaign
trail
and
in
my
career
before
city,
council
and
I'll
continue
to
fight
for
it
until
every
resident
has
access
to
safe,
affordable
housing
that
they
can
pass
on
to
the
next
generation.
And
with
that
I
wanted
to
open
it
up
to
my
colleague,
council
member
gilmore
richardson,
for
any
opening
remarks.
I
D
My
dad's
estate
was
never
resolved
and
we
had
no
idea
what
to
do
so.
A
lot
of
months,
a
lot
of
money,
a
lot
of
blood,
sweat
and
a
whole
lot
of
tears.
Later
we
got
it
done.
It
was
difficult
and
in
a
city
like
philadelphia
where
so
many
of
our
residents
live
in
underserved
communities
working
in
low-wage
jobs,
it
is
almost
impossible
to
imagine
a
positive
outcome
like
the
one
my
sister
and
I
enjoy.
D
So
today,
I'm
looking
forward
to
having
a
robust
discussion
about
tango
titles
and
bees
in
our
city
about
what
more
we
can
do
to
ensure
we
are
helping
as
many
families
as
possible
through
this
issue.
So
again,
madam
chair,
I
thank
you.
I
thank
you
for
always
standing
up
in
the
housing
community
to
all
of
my
colleagues
here.
Thank
you
for
participating
in
this
hearing
to
all
of
the
witnesses
and
to
everyone
assemble.
D
We
thank
you
very
very
much
and
we
know
we
are
going
to
move
the
needle
on
this
issue
and,
finally,
I
have
to
say
thank
you.
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
council
president,
thank
you
for
the
allocation
through
the
neighborhood
preservation
initiative
of
the
7.6
million
dollars,
rectangle
titles
and
deeds
1.9
million
dollars
per
year
over
the
next
four
years
that
robust
investment
will
triple
triple
the
investment
year
over
year
for
the
next
four
years
to
help
families
resolve
tangled
titles.
Indeed,
so
I
want
to
thank
you
for
your
commitment.
D
B
B
B
J
J
J
This
home
was
the
first
property,
my
mother's
family
ever
owned,
and
she
really
worked
hard
to
maintain
it,
and
it
just
hurts
me
that
I
can't
address
the
upkeep
of
this
property,
because
the
title
is
tangled
there's
little
I
can
do
to
afford
on
to
take
care
of
it
on
my
own,
and
actually
I
have
friends
that
are
always
telling
me
about
programs.
The
city
has
to
offer,
but
of
course
I
don't
qualify
technically.
I
am
not
the
owner
and
it's
really
really
frustrating.
J
J
I
realized
that
I
was
not
alone
but,
more
importantly,
the
opportunity
came
to
correct
the
ownership
status
of
my
home
and
I
realized
help
had
arrived,
so
I
called
the
number
right
away.
I
spoke
to
michael
at
community
legal
services
and
began
the
process,
but
the
very
first
thing
he
did
was
assign
me
to
a
highly
skilled
and
dedicated
paralegal
dot
goldberger.
J
It's
huge
for
my
whole
family
and
the
fact
of
being
able
to
get
our
house
together,
so
they
have
been
guiding
me
through
the
legal
process
to
raise
my
mother's
estate.
Believe
me,
I
couldn't
have
done
this
on
my
own,
nor
could
I
afford
to
hire
an
attorney,
and
through
all
of
this
I
learned
the
importance
of
having
a
will
and
they're
able
to
help
me
with
that
too.
J
J
B
Thank
you
so
much
miss
mohan
and
thanks
for
sharing
such
a
personal
story,
and
I'm
really
glad
that
you
were
able
to
find
your
way
to
our
register
of
wills
and
all
of
the
agencies
cls
and
everybody
else
who
helped
you.
But
you
make
a
good
point
that
we
have
to
make
these
resources
more
visible
so
that
we
can
help
more
more
people.
Thank
you
so
much
for
being
with
us
today.
B
B
D
D
B
K
Sure
my
name
is
garrett
hinken,
I'm
a
researcher
at
the
pew
charitable
trust,
philadelphia,
research
initiative,
prp.
I
like
to
thank
chair
gautier
vice
chair
jones,
councilmember,
richardson
and
members
of
the
committee
for
this
opportunity.
Today,
at
a
prpi,
we
conduct
independent
nonpartisan
research
and
engage
with
policy
makers
and
civic
partners
to
address
important
challenges
facing
philadelphia,
pew's
hometown.
K
One
of
those
challenges
is
tangled
titles,
the
hometown
term,
for
a
property
with
unclear
ownership.
Somebody
living
in
a
home
with
a
tangled
title
has
all
the
obligations
of
homeownership
paying
taxes,
maintaining
the
property,
but
few
of
the
resources
and
protections
afforded
to
deed
holders.
Resolving
the
issue
can
be
daunting,
particularly
for
households
with
limited
means.
The
left
unresolved,
tangled
titles
undercut
family
wealth,
preservation
of
affordable
housing
and
ultimately
neighborhood
stability.
K
In
august,
we
released
a
detailed
report
looking
at
the
issue
which
is
available
on
our
website,
I'd
like
to
spend
just
a
quick
few
minutes
walking
through
our
key
findings.
First,
we
looked
at
how
tangled
titles
arise.
There's
many
ways,
but
the
most
common
scenario
is
when
the
owner
of
record
dies
and
a
relative
inherits
the
property,
but
does
not
record
a
new
deed.
The
existence
of
a
will,
although
helpful,
is
not
enough
in
itself.
A
tangled
title
still
needs
to
a
tackle.
K
Title
can
still
result
unless
the
will
goes
through
the
legal
process
known
as
probate
and
a
new
deed
is
filed
with
the
city.
We
also
examined
how
widespread
the
problem
is
and
found
at
least
10
407
philadelphia
households
grappling
with
the
tangled
title
collectively.
Those
affected
homes
are
valued
at
more
than
1.1
billion
dollars,
so
a
significant
amount
of
money,
family
wealth
is
potentially
at
risk.
K
We
examine
where
they're
found
and
they
exist
in
every
part
of
the
city,
but
clearly
affects
some
neighborhoods
more
than
others.
The
incidence
is
highest
in
parts
of
north
upper
north
west
southwest
philadelphia
areas
that
account
for
about
a
third
of
the
tangled
titles
but
or
half
the
tangle
titles,
and
only
a
third
of
all
residential
properties.
In
my
written
testimony,
we've
included
a
chart
breaking
out
the
numbers
by
council
district,
where
the
greatest
numbers
are
found
in
the
third
fifth
and
eighth
districts.
K
Those
neighborhoods
most
affected
tend
to
be
those
with
relatively
low
housing
values,
low
incomes
and
high
poverty
rates,
the
population's
hardest
hit
or
predominantly
black,
while
those
least
affected,
are
majority
white.
I
think
differing
levels
of
estate
planning
likely
contribute
to
that
dynamic.
A
national
study.
We
looked
at
found
that
among
people
over
age
50,
only
20
percent
of
black
people
have
valid
wills
compared
with
63
percent
of
white
people
and
in
philadelphia
49
of
black
households
own
their
own
homes,
which
is
the
highest
rate
of
black
home
ownership.
K
Without
legal
assistance,
fee
waivers
or
other
subsidies,
the
cost
can
be
significant.
We
came
up
with
the
number
ninety
two
hundred
dollars
for
the
simplest
case,
so
that
suggests
that
remedying
10,
000
plus
tangled
titles
is
a
roughly
96
million
dollar
problem,
which
is
a
significant
amount
of
money,
but
it's
less
than
a
tenth
of
the
1.1
billion
in
housing,
wealth
potentially
at
risk.
K
So
for
as
long
as
the
title
remains
tangled,
the
affected
homeowner
will
find
themselves
unable
to
take
to
sell
the
home
take
out
a
home
equity
loan
obtain
homeowners
insurance
participate
in
city,
home
repair
programs.
Additionally,
they'll
face
obstacles
participating
in
relief
programs
that
can
help
with
real
estate
taxes
and
water
department
charges
altogether.
These
limitations
put
a
home
in
many
cases,
the
family's
primary
source
of
accumulated
wealth,
a
greater
risk
of
deterioration,
foreclosure
and,
in
some
cases,
deed
theft,
so
remedying
a
tangle
title
can
make
a
world
of
difference.
K
Looking
back
at
the
experience
he
said,
you
know,
I
went
a
lot
of
places
and
they
told
me
you
don't
own
the
house,
you
can't
get
the
help,
and
now
I
do
and
now
I
can,
I
can
say,
here's
the
deed.
What
can
we
do
and
our
research
shows
that
there
are
at
least
10
000
philadelphians
out
there,
who
still
don't
know
what
that
feels
like.
So
thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
share
this
research
and
for
the
ongoing
work
for
this
committee.
B
K
I
think,
for
this
I
mean
the
panelists
you
have
coming
up.
Next
are
basically
all
my
sources
for
this
report,
who,
I
think
are
you
know
closest
to
the
ground
in
the
action.
So
I
mean
I
I
would
like
you
know
really
to
hear
what
more
what
they
have
to
say
than
me,
but
I
think
you
know
hitting
it
early
and
making
sure
that
people
know
where
to
go
for
help
and
what
they
need
to
do.
You
know
that
that
it
is
an
issue
when
someone
dies
and
the
longest
longer.
D
G
B
D
Yes,
thank
you
so
much,
madam
chair
and
garrett.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
research
and
for
all
of
the
information
you
have
shared
with
our
office
and
just
really
helping
us
to
understand
the
scope
of
this
issue
in
the
city.
Now
I
wanted
to
to
clarify
for
the
record-
and
I
know
in
your
report,
you
stated
that
there
are
over
ten
thousand
four
hundred
and
seven
tango
titles
that
you
estimate
are
in
philadelphia,
but
that
could
be
a
low
estimate.
D
K
K
So
if
it
had
the
same
name
and
address,
then
they
came
up
as
dead
and
we
flagged
those
as
tangled
titles,
but
they're
people
who
might
have
changed
names
chains
addresses
that
we
wouldn't
have
been
able
to
catch
in
that,
and
also
through
those
other
means
that
we
wouldn't
have
been
able
to
identify
from
what
the
tangle
title
fund
hasn't
done.
We
think
it's
like
75
percent
of
tangle
titles
are
attributable
to
the
death
of
the
record
owner.
So
we
were
able
to
identify.
K
D
Of
the
problem,
it's
very
very
challenging
and
lastly,
I
want
to
get
this
on
the
record,
because
I
do
think
this
is
important
in
this
study.
You
noted
that
32
percent
philadelphians
with
tangled
titles
are
tax
delinquent
compared
to
nine
percent
of
philadelphia
and
city-wide,
but
that
39
percent
of
philadelphians
rectangle
titles
are
in
payment
programs
compared
to
34
of
philadelphia
and
city-wide.
K
Well,
I
I'd
say
to
answer
the
last
part
first,
and
this
is
kind
of
something
I
heard
from
from
michael
fro
like
at
cls
that
people
with
tax
issues
was
one
of
the
issues
that
was
bringing
them
in
that
when
they
went
to
get
into
a
owner-occupied
payment
agreement.
Only
then
did
they
realize
that
they
had
a
tangled
title
so,
and
you
know,
dhcd
does
does
work
with
people
that
you
have
a
three-year
window
to
kind
of
show
ownership
and
to
be
able
to
participate
in
the
program.
K
So
you
know,
but
you
still
have
to
go
through
the
whole
probate
process.
You
still
have
to
do
the
whole
thing,
but
that
does
kind
of
bring
you
into
the
system.
But
until
then
you
know
for
a
home
equity
loan
or
getting
a
grant.
You
know
things
that
are
kind
of
attached
to
the
deed.
If
you're,
not
the
owner
of
it,
you
know,
even
if
you
know
legally,
you
are
the
the
equity
owner
or
things
that
attorneys
coming
up
can
can
speak
about
more
clearly.
K
K
Well,
I
know
for
the
payment
programs
and
for
the
owner
occupied,
you
know
for
the
water
department
and
the
the
city
you
there
there
are
ways
kind
of
provisionally
to
get
involved.
I
think
for
the
repair
programs-
it's
not
possible,
but
I'm-
and
I
think
that
has
to
do
with
them,
putting
the
lien
against
the
property
which
the
the
record
owner
would
have
to
agree
to.
B
H
B
L
L
L
When
nothing
happens,
properties
titled
to
a
deceased
person
become
tangled
titles.
These
properties
don't
create
generational
wealth.
You
can't
sell
them.
You
can't
borrow
against
them.
You
can't
get
fema,
which
is
government
assistance.
You
can't
get
basic
system
repair
grants
which
is
free
money
that
comes
from
local
state
and
federal.
L
L
L
L
The
probate
deferment,
initiative
or
pdi
was
designed
by
my
office
to
assist
philadelphians,
who
found
themselves
the
victim
of
a
tankled
title,
and
they
are
victims
because,
most
don't
know
their
entangled
titles.
The
dead
people
didn't
know
they
were
supposed
to
make
wills.
This
is
something
that
you
know
they
were
never
taught
the
city
never
taught
them.
L
The
state
of
pennsylvania
never
taught
them
how
to
protect
your
wolf
and
how
to
transfer
your
death
of
you
off
just
in
case
you
die
too
many
tangled
titles
require
raising
an
estate
for
more
than
one
deceased
person
with
pdi.
My
office
will
defer
the
probate
fees.
No
probate
fee
will
be
collected
unless
the
property
is
sold.
L
If
the
relative
decides
to
remain
in
the
property,
my
office
will
not
seek
the
probate
fee
or
apply
any
interest
at
our
request.
Commissioner
deeds,
james
leonard
generously,
agreed
to
waive
the
d
filing
fee
for
any
pdi
recipient.
In
addition
to
waiving
and
deferring
fees,
we
also
connect
families
with
the
necessary
legal
assistance.
L
You
cannot
untangle
a
title
without
an
attorney
assistance.
It's
too
technical.
It's
too
it's
legal.
They
don't
know
that
they
don't
even
know
what
a
tangled
title
is
they
don't
they
don't
know
how
to
raise
a
state,
get
letters
of
administration.
They
don't
even
know.
You
know
they
thought
grandma
left
me
this
house.
This
is
my
father's
house,
it's
my
mother
house.
They
said
this.
This
is
my
family's
house.
This
is
air
property
which
is
no
such
thing
and
then
now
they
they're
hit
with
you
know
their
their
roof
collapsed.
L
So
they
go
to
one
of
your
outreach,
festivals
or
seminar.
You
disseminate
information
to
them
about
all
these
grants.
We
just
had
a
hurricane
ella
or
edna.
It's
money.
I
just
got
a
call
from
one
of
our
judges.
The
deadline
is
coming
up
for
people
to
be
able
to
get
the
free,
federal
legal
assistance
to
repair
houses
that
they're
not
eligible
for
because
the
house
is
not
in
their
name.
We
are
in
a
pandemic
here
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
L
L
L
I
want
people
to
stay
in
their
homes
and
in
closing
I
would
like
to
publicly
thank
councilman
curtis
jones
for
being
a
mentor
to
me
and
encouraging
me
and
speaking
highly,
of
what
I'm
able
to
do
over
to
register
wills.
I
like
to
thank
kathy
gilmore
richardson,
who
took
went
above
beyond
and
didn't
just
say.
Okay,
I
got
out
of
my
tangle
title.
You
know,
I
I'm
not
worried
about
everybody
else,
and
she
took
this
as
a
passion,
councilwoman
jamie
garcia,
for
being
a
fearless
fighter
for
homelessness.
L
I
think
we
can
make
history
here
by
helping
people
get
out
of
these
single
titles
is
really
bigger
than
a
hearing.
We
may
have
to
get
some
assistance
from
the
state
of
which,
I
always
proudly
say
we
send
between
80
to
100
million
dollars
in
a
state
and
inheritance
tax
to
the
city
of
to
harrisburg
every
single
year
we
may
even
be
able
to
get
some
federal
assistance
through
the
fair
housing
act.
We
I
I'm
doing
some
research
on
that
to
see
that
we
we
have
to
help
these
families.
L
Not
you
know
it's
not
just
one
home.
It's
fair.
This
is
family,
generational
wealth
that
we
had
we
bought,
but
we
did
not
know
and
understand.
You
know
we
did
not
understand
the
dynamics
of
the
educational
part
and
that's
what
my
office
is
going
through.
All
of
your
help
disseminating
information.
I
made
sure
that
I
tran
all
your
staff,
all
the
state
staff.
My
staff
continues
to
get
training.
We
have
remained
open
throughout
the
pandemic,
we're
in
room
180
of
city
hall.
We
are
open
by
appointment.
Only
we
can
be
reached
at.
L
215-686-6250
I
heard
somebody
had
a
question
if
we
don't
get
to
the
question,
you
can
also
email
me
at
ro
online
at
phillip.gov,
and
we
will
answer
any
question
that
we
can
or
we
will
refer
you
to
these
legal
agencies
that
have
been
that
we
have
been
partnering
with
to
assist
you
all
to
save
your
homes.
Thank
you
all
and
have
a
nice
day.
Thank
you.
B
So
much
thank
you
so
much
madam
register
for
your
testimony,
but
also
for
the
way
that
you
have
dived
right
into
this
issue
and
you
know
took
it
upon
yourself
to
get
out
into
the
community,
spread
the
word
about
the
importance
of
tangled
titles
and
and
how
people
can
get
help.
Your
advocacy.
Your
passion
around
this
and
the
probate
deferment
initiative
has
led
to
residents
receiving
a
lot
of
assistance
to
untangle.
B
It's
amazing
it's
six
months,
yeah
and
you've,
also
beyond
the
the
seven
families
that
you
helped
directly.
You've
done
a
lot
to
elevate
this
issue
among
us
as
policy
makers,
which
I
think
will
lead
to
even
more
progress
on
the
issue
in
the
long
run,
and
so
we
really
really
appreciate
your
tireless
advocacy
and
in
your
work.
I
have
a
question
for
you:
building
building
off
of
what
one
of
our
previous
panelists
ms
mahan
said
in
her
testimony
and
thinking
about
you
know
the
outreach
that
you've
done
in
the
community.
L
This
hearing
is,
is
one
definitely
we're
talking
about
it
and
that's
the
most
important
thing
that
we
are
all
talking
about
it
collectively.
You
know
we're
going
to
bring
the
state
on.
We
want
to
bring
the
federal
on
the
legal
agencies.
We
have
enough
brain
power
that
can
put
together
and
make
you
know,
have
our
voice
heard
for
advocacy.
L
Another
thing
we're
getting.
That's
a
big
thing
that
next
hearing
we
have
where
we're
going
to
make
sure
that
the
funeral,
parlors
and
funeral
homes
have
information,
and
hopefully
they
can
incorporate
on
their
intake
form.
Do
you
have
a
will
or
if
you
don't
have
a
will,
you
need
to
go
and
direct
them
directly
to
our
office
once
they
get
to
our
office,
our
staff
is
equipped
to
help
them.
So
the
thing
is
we
have
to.
This
has
to
be
a
a
collective
campaign
billboards
along
buses
in
schools,
universities.
L
We
have
to
ask
the
school
board
to
incorporate
estate
planning
in
their
curriculums
mandatory,
making
it
mandatory
that
they
learn
and
just
we
have
to
find
more
funding.
I
said
we
had
the
80
to
100
million
to
go
to
state,
so
we
can
partner
with
our
state
legislators,
or
maybe
we
can
find
some
type
of
emergency
funding,
so
we
can
do
a
moratorium.
L
L
We
will
change,
of
course,
the
history
of
the
seventh
largest
city
in
in
in
this
country.
We
have
the
most
home
ownership
as
a
large
city.
We
we
we
certainly
sent
a
lot
of
money
to
the
state,
so
we
are
very,
our
land
is
wealthy
and
by
the
way
one
billion
is
underestimating
underestimating,
because
if
you,
if
they're
going
by
the
brt,
how
much
our
houses
are
worth
like,
for
instance,
your
area-
and
I
know
councilman
curtis
jones-
may
be
able
to
speak
to
this.
L
Your
area
of
councilman,
jamie
garcia,
is
one
of
the
top
areas
of
that
are
kangal
titles.
If
you
look
at
the
how
much
they
are
worth
for
those
houses
are
worth
a
lot
of
money,
location,
location,
location,
and
we
could
we
could.
We
could,
I
don't
know
about
stopping
gentrification,
but
we
could
slow
it
down,
slow
it
down,
and
then
we
could
keep
people
and
families
in
their
houses,
so
they
can
protect
their
generation
well
and
the
good
thing
about
the
pdi
program.
L
My
program
that
I'm
proud
of
and
I'm
proud
that
the
community
legal
agencies
agreed
that
when
we
untangle
their
title,
they
are
going
to
make
a
will
because
we
got
to
stop
it
right
there.
So
we
got
to
one
stop
the
hemorrhaging
and
then
two.
We
got
to
be
very
aggressive
about
educating
people
to
avoid
detangle
timing.
B
C
You,
madam
chair,
and
thank
you
member
gilmore
richardson,
for
zeroing
in
on
this
issue.
Madam
register,
I
just
think
that
you
have
begun
the
process
of
moving
the
registers
of
will's
mission
to
become
more
aligned
with
communities
that
are
disenfranchised,
that
you're
taking
complicated
issues
and
taking
the
time
to
translate
them,
showing
them
their
importance.
C
I
want
to
focus
my
time
not
so
much
on
the
humanity.
You
got
that
I
you
you
understand
what
it
means
to
families
and
neighborhoods
and
how
it's
detrimental
to
the
future
of
those
families.
I
want
to
talk
about
or
ask
questions
about
the
economics
you
mentioned
that
these
properties
were
in
the
billions.
Can
you
repeat
that
number
again.
L
They're
worth
billions
of
dollars,
I
mean
okay,
say
for
instance,
one
home
is
out
of
a
tangled
title
and
they
qualify
for
they
qualify
for
the
bsrp
grants
just
to
help
them
with
their.
You
know
heaters,
you
know
roofing,
you
know,
that's
not
only
money
to
help
that
family,
but
there
has
to
be
people
to
do
all
the
installation.
That's
economics
right.
There.
C
I
took
the
liberty
of
looking
at
your
map
you
sent
what
is
interesting,
madam
chair
and
remember
members
of
the
committee
is
that
this
map,
if
you
were
to
juxtapose,
put
right
over
it
crime
and
make
crime
maps
where
there
is
tango
title
there
happens
to
be
a
correlation
on
high
crime
rates.
If
you
then
take
that
map
and
look
at
sheriff's
sales
see
where
they
are,
because
somebody
who
doesn't
have
title
may
not
have
the
interest
or
where
we're
from
to
want
to
pay
the
taxes
on
or
keep
up
with,
reverse
mortgages.
C
L
Absolutely
I
can
speak
as
a
block
captain
an
empty
building
which
most
in
a
lot
of
cases
had
was
tingle
titles.
You
know
people
just
abandoned
them
or
couldn't
keep
them
up
or
it
was
a
fire
they
couldn't.
They
didn't.
You
can't
get
home
and
holding
insurance.
So
that's
that's
a
liability.
You
live
next
door
to
somebody,
that's
in
a
tango
title
and
they're
not
insured.
L
You
know
and
I'll
tell
you
the
houses
that
are
abandoned
on
your
block,
a
lot
of
times,
people
slide
in
them.
They
sell
drugs
out
of
them.
This
is
all
one
house
can
totally
a
destroyed
a
block,
and
I
know
you
know
that
you
grew
up
in
the
we.
We
live
in
rome
homes,
and
so
what
I'm
saying
is
the
crime
in
that
study
that
the
university
pen
did?
This
is
a
study,
22
percent.
That's
a
huge,
that's,
not
three,
but
22
percent.
L
If
that
one
house
that
one
family
was
able
to
get
some
basic
system
repair
grants
to
help
them
fix
up
and
maintain
houses
that
are
basically
100
years
plus
not
to
mention
with
the
climate
change.
Look
at
the
flood
vine
street
was
covered.
I
never
thought
I
would
ever
see
vine
street
covered
with
water.
L
It's
a
lot
of
homes
that
was
affected
by
that
last
hurricane
they're
not
going
to
be
able
to
get
fema
now
fema
is
not
even
insurance
insurance
is
you
have
to
pay
for
the
insurance
to
be
able
to
get
the
protection?
For
that
a
liability
fema
is
you
just
have
to
be
a
homeowner
and
the
government
will
come
in
and
give
you
money
to
repair
your
house.
They
can't
qualify
for
fema.
They
can't
qualify
for
homeowners
insurance.
They
can't
they
can't
get.
They
can't
send
their
children
to
college.
L
L
The
high
properties
are
in
dead
people's
name,
and
what
alarms
me
the
most
is
this
office
has
been
in
existence
since
the
1600s,
william
penn,
the
quakers
are
for
the
four
parents
of
this
country.
They
all
knew
how
to
transfer
their
generational
wealth.
We
have
still
have
trust
a
a
lot
of
driving
because
they
left
a
will
with
details
on
how
their
property
was
supposed
to.
You
know
continue
to
exist
even
in
their
death.
L
Definitely
I
was
going
to
get
the
home
of
homeowners
insurance
because
the
bank
wasn't
going
to
risk
a
liability,
but
I
would
have
liked
this
for
somebody
to
say
to
me
as
a
young
woman
who
was
college,
graduate
educated,
hey,
you
may
want
to
think
about
it.
Well,
just
in
case
and
remove
this
superstition
about
making
wills.
This
is
is,
is,
is
it's
corny
like
it's
like?
Is
this
unbelievable
that
it's
something
as
simple
as
a
will
is
not
people?
L
M
L
L
I
did
visit
athens,
georgia
and
I
spoke
with
the
registered
wheels
there
and
she
said
that
it's
not
so
unique
there,
but
the
university
of
georgia
actually
has
a
tangle
title
unit
and
I
I'm
scheduled
to
go
visit
with
them
to
talk
to
them
about
it,
but
I'ma
tell
you
it's
very
unique
to
philadelphia
and
that's
tragic,
because
this
is
one
of
the
original
colonies,
the
original
cities
this
this
this
this,
the
idea
of
making
wills
and
being
able
to
protect
your
wealth.
What
was
already
is
already
in
the
it's
already
in
the
constitution.
L
B
So
this
is
not
a
distinction
that
we
want
as
a
city,
so
that
sort
of
drives
home
all
of
the
the
heart
that
we
we
need
to
do
and
council
member
jones.
Thank
you
for
that
line
of
questioning
and
for
making
clear
the
high
correlation
between
this
issue
and
violence
in
our
communities
and
because
we're
reciting
her
work
a
lot.
I
also
wanted
to
give
a
shout
out
to
dr
eugenia's
self.
B
She
has
done
a
lot
of
research
around
place
based
strategies
like
targeted
basic
systems,
repair
and
tree
planting
and
greening
of
vacant
lots
and
how
we
can
see
drastic
improvements
with
respect
to
gun,
violence
in
communities
up
to
22
percent
or
even
more
in
some
cases,
and
she
is
she's
a
black
trauma
surgeon
and
is
also
a
resident
of
the
third
district.
So
I
wanted
to
make
sure
to
give
her
her
shout
out,
and
I
know
that
council
member
gilmore
richardson
has
questions
for
madame
register,
so
go
ahead.
D
L
Yes,
yes,
my
solicitor
sharon
wilson
she's
on
can
somebody
release
her
microphone
and
she'll,
be
able
to
give
you
a
step-by-step
detail
process
she's
been
very
instrumental
in
helping
us
navigate
this
probate
deferment
initiative,
she's
the
one
that
made
sure
that
we
found
a
legal
agency
that
assisted
us,
which
was
christian
legal
clinics
and
I'll.
Let
her
answer
that
question.
Thank
you.
N
I'll
do
that
my
name
is
sharon
wilson,
as
mentioned
I'm
the
solicitor
for
the
register
of
wills
and
really
excited
about
this
community,
proceeding
and
happy
to
discuss
our
probate
deferment
initiative
early
in
the
administration.
The
register
noted
she
wanted
to
handle
this
problem
to
tackle
this
problem
with
tangle
titles.
She
called
a
meeting
with
herself
and
some
of
the
legal
organizations
here
in
philadelphia
to
discuss.
N
So
this
program
will
actually
allow
the
person
who
was
applying
to
open
an
estate
to
defer
paying
the
probate
fee.
The
probate
fee
can
go
range
up
or
down
depending
upon
the
value
of
the
property
involved
and
as
the
register
mentioned,
even
though
the
property
may
look
decrepit,
it
may
have
a
certain
value
that
could
have
the
fee
be
higher
than
our
average,
which
is
about
500
and
remember,
that's
500
per
estate.
N
So,
if
you're
trying
to
open
a
property
which
was
owned
by
grandma
and
then
she
and
then
the
her,
the
only
child
of
grandma
passed,
you
now,
you
know
very
easily
facing
having
to
open
several
estates
and
also
remember
that
probate
fees
are
just
one
of
the
fees
that
you
have
to
pay.
They
may
also
be
back
real
estate
taxes.
They
may
also
be
inheritance
tax
due
so
and
able
to
at
least
allow
people
to
move
forward
and
to
get
over
the
sort
of
psychological
and
financial
hurdle
of
opening
up
an
estate.
N
N
The
register
does
not
attempt
to
collect
the
fee
and
applies
no
interest
on
the
fee,
while
the
relative
remains
in
the
home.
So
if
you
just
are
trying
to,
as
we
heard
testimony
earlier
from
michelle,
you
just
try
to
get
your
home
titled
properly,
so
you
can
continue
to
stay
there
and
take
advantage
of
these
prop
of
these
programs
that
are
available.
You'll
never
have
to
pay
that
defer
fee
when
the
house
is
sold.
N
However,
that's
when
the
register
would
look
to
collect
that
fee
for
payment
as
a
collection
agent,
because
the
register
of
will's
office
is
a
collection
agent
for
the
state
of
pennsylvania.
It
was
unclear
as
to
whether
or
not
we
could
waive
the
fee.
I
mean
our
job
is
to
collect
the
monies,
but
this
allowed
us
to
move
forward
without
having
to
go
through
that
process.
N
Although
we
haven't
given
up
that
process,
but
to
go
through
what
would
probably
be
a
lengthy
process
in
order
to
just
get
those
fees
cleared
out,
we've
talked
to
several
clients
regarding
those,
this
waiver
of
the
fee
and
payment.
Only
upon
sale
and
none
of
the
clients
that
we
talked
to
thus
far
expressed
any
hesitation
merely
because
the
fee
was
there,
but
what
may
be
collected
upon
some
later
date.
N
So
so,
in
addition
to
allowing
the
waiver
of
the
fee,
we
also
have
a
list
of
organisms
that
can
be
burned,
your
organizations,
but
they
begin
the
process
of
untangling
the
title
and
with
whatever
court
that
they
need
to
in
order
to
begin
that
process.
So
it's
a
process
that
allows
waiver
of
the
fee,
as
well
as
to
begin
the
tangle
title
process.
The
legal
process
attended
with
it.
This
application.
N
It's
our
hope
to
expand
the
program,
because
this
isn't
a
problem
that
just
happens
to
lower
income
communities
and
middle-income
communities
are
having
some
of
the
same
problems,
because
people
may
not
be
poor,
but
it
takes
a
certain
amount
of
funds
to
get
this
done,
and
the
legal
process,
as
I
think
gary
testified
to
earlier
from
pugh,
can
take
a
substantial
amount
of
money
between
eight
and
ten
thousand
dollars.
So
that's
the
program
we
have
instituted
to
date
and,
as
she's
mentioned,
we've
had
at
least
seven
successful
clients
and
families
go
through.
D
Thank
you.
Thank
you
very,
very
much,
and
and
thank
you
again
for
your
work
on
pdi
and
for
really
detailing
how
philadelphians,
particularly
low-income
philadelphians,
could
be
involved
in
the
program.
I
just
wanted
to
ask
you,
because
madam
register
talked
about
the
seven
tangled
titles
that
you
all
were
able
to
resolve.
Can
you
share
more
with
us
about
that
work
and
the
process
that
those
clients
went
through
to
come
to
resolution?
D
N
They
would
usually
it
starts
with
an
inquiry
to
our
role
online
email
box.
We
have
a,
we
have
a
email
just
for
pdi
programming,
so
we
run
the
program
through
our
legal
department.
Even
though,
as
the
register
mentioned,
we
don't
have
dedicated
staff
or
resources
for
this.
We
are
really
stretching
ourselves,
because
this
is
a
passion
that
she
really
wants
to
address.
N
So
we
run
it
through
that
legal
department.
They
begin
the
process
with
an
application
and
a
referral
to
a
legal
services
provider.
We
confirm
that
they
in
fact
have
that
provider.
They
then
make
an
appointment
for
probate.
We
have
established
a
special
lane
for
pdi
clients
so
that
they
can
get
into
probate.
It's
probate
can
be
a
a
pretty
long
wait
these
days,
because
culvert
has
had
such
an
impact
on
our
office.
N
There's
been
so
many
additional
deaths
and
disabilities,
and
it's
it's
you
know,
sent
people
to
our
office
in
a
way
that
we
are
really
full
of
just
trying
to
handle
that
population.
But
again
we
made
a
decision
by
stretching
employee
resources
that
we
would
create
this
little
lane
for
pdi
to
make
sure
that
it
happens.
So
once
that
occurs,
the
probate
clerk
is
alerted
that
this
is
a
pdi
case,
so
they
know
to
go
through
the
process
to
put
it
in
a
particular
lane
and
then
to
not
charge
the
client
a
fee.
N
The
application
has
an
internal
review
at
that
time
and
if,
in
fact,
they're
accepted-
and
we
haven't
really
turned
anyone
away
that
meets
our
process,
then
we
institute
a
lien
for
that
500
so
that
it
remains
there
so
that
the
city
can
get
their
money
eventually
and
that
the
state
will
get
their
money.
So
it's
a
process
that
allows
the
family
to
go
forward,
but
ultimately
doesn't
deprive
the
city
or
the
state
of
any
monies
because
absent
this
program,
they
would
have
never
seen
this
money
anyway.
N
These
people
would
have
never
gone
through
this
process.
We
also
issue
a
deed
waiver
that
the
department
of
records
has
agreed
to
set
at
the
conclusion
of
probate.
A
deed
can
be
drafted,
giving
this
property
to
the
appropriate
relative.
It
can
be
filed
as
a
department
of
records
for
no
fee.
That's
not
the
same
as
saying
that
there's
no
transfer
fee
and
it
usually
isn't
between
the
parties,
but
this
is
a
filing
fee,
there's
no
filing
fee
and
thereafter
they
go
through
the
normal
process.
N
At
any
time.
One
of
these
clients
can
come
in
and
say
to
us:
hey.
We
have
the
money
now
to
pay
this
and
we'll
collect
that
fee
at
that
time,
and
sometimes
it's
because
you
need
an
estate
in
order
to
access
the
monies.
So
they
are
really
in
a
catch-22
when
they
can't
open
up
an
estate
because
the
monies
are
sitting
there,
but
they
don't
have
the
authority
to
receive
the
monies.
N
So
once
we
do
that
it
can
sort
of
unlock
that
door
for
them
and
if
those
monies
are
available
to
them,
we
say
no,
we
judge
a
little
nudge.
We
want
our
monies.
Thank
you
and
we
go
forward
at
that
point
and
the
finals
that
we
we
at
least
remind
them
to
say,
hey,
you
need
a
will.
Where
is
your
will
and
they
talk
to
their
legal
service
representative
to
get
that
world
done.
D
B
O
Good
morning,
chairperson
gautier
and
committee
members,
I
am
james
leonard
commissioner
of
the
department
of
records,
thank
you
for
inviting
me
to
testify
today
on
the
impact
of
tangled
titles
in
philadelphia
and
ways
to
support
those
suffering
with
tangled
titles.
I'm
joined
today
by
frank,
breslin
revenue,
commissioner
melissa
long,
director
of
housing
and
community
development
and
james
arrows,
jr
chief
assessment
officer.
O
First,
I
thank
chairperson,
gautier
and
council
member
gilmore
richardson
for
the
introduction
of
this
resolution
and
their
leadership
on
this
issue.
I
also
thank
city
council
for
recently,
including
7.6
million
dollars
in
new
funding
for
tangled
titles
as
part
of
its
neighborhood
preservation.
Initiative.
O
Tangled
title
is
a
crisis
confronting
thousands
of
philadelphia
homeowners
with
a
disparate
impact
on
communities
of
color.
Since
2003,
the
city
has
supported
philadelphia,
vip
to
help
over
2
000
tangled
title
clients,
most
of
whom
were
persons
of
color
tangled
title
prevents
one
from
exercising
basic
rights
of
homeownership,
taking
out
a
home
equity
loan
modifying
a
mortgage
selling
the
property
or
qualifying
for
many
programs,
such
as
the
long
time
owner
occupants
program,
loop,
the
pennsylvania
property
tax
rebate.
O
The
new
restore
renew
and
repair
program
and
basic
system
repair
program,
to
name
just
a
few
to
address
this
crisis,
the
records
department
has
partnered
with
register
of
wells
tracy
gordon
on
our
probate
deferment
initiative.
The
records
department,
as
you've
heard,
is
waiving
recording
fees
for
participants
a
savings
of
almost
260
dollars
per
deed.
I
applaud
register
gordon
for
her
leadership
on
this
issue.
O
In
an
effort
to
inform
our
collective
efforts
in
philadelphia,
it
will
take
a
collaborative
and
innovative
combination
of
funding,
both
governmental
and
philanthropic,
additional
legal
assistance,
creative
programming
and
legal
reforms.
To
combat
this
problem
at
scale,
the
administration
is
committed
to
this
effort.
Thank
you
again
for
the
opportunity
to
speak
with
you
today.
The
administration
looks
forward
to
working
with
council
and
community
advocates
to
support
those
burdened
with
tangled
titles.
I
would
be
pleased
to
answer
any
questions.
B
O
But
to
summarize,
I
had
a
call
a
few
weeks
ago
we
had
a
call
with
a
legal
services
organization
and
a
non-profit
in
southeastern
louisiana,
where
they've
experienced
and
continued
to
experience
since
katrina
and
through
ida,
the
impact
of
tangled
title
in
a
really
acute
manner,
because
it's
been
most
closely
felt
in
terms
of
the
flooding
as
a
result
of
hurricanes
and
climate
change.
So
similarly,
we've
learned
to
philadelphia
folks
in
those
communities
have
a
a
similar
tradition
or
a
history
for
all
similar.
O
O
O
What
we've
learned
is,
I
learned
was
that
this
is
also
an
issue
for
not
just
urban
areas,
but
rural
areas.
It
afflicts
farmers,
including
we
learned
black
farmers
in
southern
communities
and
the
we
learned
that
the
usda
has
incorporated
this
uniform
law
into
its
farm
bill
in
the
past
a
few
years
to
help
ease
folks
with
tangled
title
to
qualify
for
farm
aid.
B
Thank
you
so
much.
Thank
you
for
doing
that
work
and
I'm
excited
about
how
we
might
employ
some
of
those
best
practices
here.
I'd
also
like
to
ask
about
transfer
tax
exemptions.
I
believe
there's
an
exemption
for
transfers
between
certain
direct
relatives
like
grandparents,
parents,
children
and
siblings.
Can
you
clarify
that
exemption
for
the
record
and
what
it
means
for
someone
who
is
entitled
to
receive
a
property
with
a
tangled
title
from
the
estate
of
a
parent
or
grandparent.
O
So
when
the
when
a
an
air,
when
an
estate
transfers
property
to
an
error
as
part
of
its
probate
process,
that
that
transfer
is
tax
exempt
as
our
property
transfers
between
relatives
of
certain
degrees,
that
includes
parents
to
children,
grandparents
to
grandchildren,
brothers.
The
sisters,
for
example,.
B
B
Hi,
okay,
wonderful,
so
my
question,
for
you
is
if
the
title
to
the
property
that
that
I
live
in
is
tangled-
and
I
approach
the
revenue
department
to
enter
into
a
payment
plan
for
back
taxes
or
if
I
was
looking
to
set
up
an
installment
plan
for
my
property
taxes.
Can
I
enter
into
a
payment
plan
with
revenue
and
what
documents
would
I
have
to
provide
to
do
that
and
also
do.
B
M
I'm
frank
breslin
revenue,
commissioner,
and
thank
you
for
that
question
for
those
questions,
I'll
start
kind
of
in
reverse.
To
start
it
there
is
no
representative
required,
so
a
taxpayer
can
work
on
their
own
behalf,
but
certainly
they
can
have
an
attorney
or
an
accountant
represent
them
or
they
can
have
somebody
just
you
know
another
relative
that
sometimes
people
will
come
in
to
assist
in
the
case
of
tangle
title.
They
are
eligible
to
get
into
our
owner-occupied
payment
agreement
and
and
that
owner-occupied
payment
agreement
is
an
income
based
agreement.
M
M
It's
one
of
five
tiers
based
on
income,
tier
four
and
tier
five,
applying
to
people
with
the
lowest
income
and
tier
four
has
payments
as
low
as
twenty
five
dollars
a
month
and
tier
five
payments
as
low
as
believe
it
or
not,
zero
dollars
a
month.
So
people
can
stay
in
compliance
and
fully
protect
their
house
from
foreclosure
by
getting
into
an
upa,
and
they
can
do
that,
even
if
they
have
tangled
title
and
that
tier
four
and
five
payment
agreement.
M
M
The
the
upper
guidelines
say
that
the
property,
the
tangle
title,
has
to
be
resolved
in
a
time
frame.
We
have
not
enforced
that
realizing
that
this
is
a
significant
issue
and
it
could
take
quite
some
time
for
people
to
resolve
that
tangled
title,
but
we
want
to
them
not
just
to
get
into
the
uppa
payment
agreement
and
become
compliant.
Certainly
we
want
that,
but
we
want
to
give
them.
You
know,
guide
them
through
a
process
so
that
they
can
clear
this
tangle
title.
B
Thank
you.
Thank
you
for
that
information.
Does
your
answer
to
that
question
change
if,
if
I'm
someone
that
does
not
live
in
the
property
like
I,
you
know,
a
property
is
intended
to
be
passed
down
to
me
and
it
has
a
tangled
title,
but
I
don't
live
in
it.
Can
I
still
have
access
to
those
city,
programs.
D
Yes,
thank
you
so
much
councilman
regardier
and
thank
you
so
much.
Commissioner
breslin.
I
have
questions
for
both
you
and
commissioner
leonard
so
I'll
start
with
commissioner
breslin
first
just
wanting
to
to
thank
you
so
much
for
always
answering
the
phone
and
taking
the
calls
and
for
all
the
meetings
that
we've
had
with
your
office
and
with
my
team
in
the
multiple
conversations
we've
had
over
the
last
several
weeks.
I
just
wanted
to
start
by
saying.
Thank
you.
M
Yes,
I
mean
thank
you
for
acknowledging
those
meetings
and
thank
you
for
your
partnership.
In
those
meetings
and
with
you
and
your
staff,
a
result
of
those
meetings
is
we've
been
working.
My
team
has
been
working
on
draft
regulations
similar
to
those
for
uppa,
so
that
we
could
expand
that
to
loop,
and
you
should
be
seeing
those
shortly
because
I
saw
them
this
week,
they're
still
being
reviewed.
So
I
think
that's
a
great
step
forward.
M
Also,
I
think
the
conversations
that
we've
had
and
we've
had
you
know
several
conversations
on
the
record
and
meetings
where
we've
talked
about
the
outreach
work
that
the
revenue
department
does,
and
most
of
that
is
geared
towards.
You
know
our
tax
programs
and
compliance,
but
but
has
not
been
a
a
a
real
focus,
maybe
on
tangle
title,
although
we
always
have
that
information
there.
So
now
what
we're
going
to
try
to
do
is
take
back.
M
You
know
this
information
that
has
come
out
of
our
conversations
and
out
of
you
know
the
study
and
everything
that's
been
learned.
You
know
our
conversations
with
commissioner
leonard
and
we're
going
to
try
to
incorporate
that
formally
into
all
of
our
outreach
revenue
has
a
pretty
robust
communications
team,
so
we're
going
to
try
to
make
that
part
of
our
in
person
outreach
at
events
that
generally
we
we
partner
with
council
to
do
those
in
person
and
that's
starting
again.
M
D
She
was
with
us
for
the
fair
we
had
in
council
president
clark's
district
on
york
street
she's
been
with
us
with
all
the
faith-based
community
organizations
that
we
work
with
every
sunday
before
the
pandemic,
even
throughout
the
pandemics
she's
been
on
all
of
our
virtual
events.
So
I
want
to
give
a
special
shout
out
to
vicki
from
revenue
for
being
there
and
educating
our
constituents
about
the
programs
available,
and
I
look
forward
to
continuing
to
work
with
you,
commissioner,
breslin
on
those
relief
programs
for
individuals
suffering
with
tangled
titles
and
deeds.
D
O
Yep,
thank
you
for
that
that
question
council
member,
the
the
source
for
property
ownership
data
is
the
records
department
because
it
all,
ultimately
that
all
derives
from
a
deed,
that's
recorded
in
our
office.
It's
then
that
date
on
an
ongoing
basis,
is
shared
out
through
a
variety
of
means
to
opa
and
then
downstream
into
the
department
of
revenue.
O
There
has
been
you
know.
Some
of
these
systems
are
our
legacy
systems
and
there's
been
and
they
they
pose.
You
know
technical
challenges
that
that
have
resulted
in
discrepancies
and
property
data,
which
I'm
sure
many
of
you
and
your
staff
have
have
experience
with
on
behalf
of
your
constituents
and
we've
all
folks
at
this
table
have
collectively
spoken
to
many
of
you,
several
of
you
on
council
about
the
issue,
there's
a
there's,
an
ongoing
effort,
as
we've
mentioned,
to
some
of
you
among
revenue.
D
No,
I
want
to
thank
you
so
much
for
your
work
and
also
for
your
department's
work
through
the
pandemic
right.
You
know
I
still
use
philadox,
even
when
I'm
not
on
my
city,
computer,
for
constituent
cases
and
you
all
are
really
working
hard
to
to
get
the
cases
processed
as
soon
as
possible.
I
think
I
went
on
yesterday
and
you
all
are
up
to
august
5th.
I
believe
so.
D
I
just
wanted
to
thank
you
very
very
much
because
I
know
it's
just
extraordinary
circumstances
because
of
code,
but
you
all
are
doing
a
wonderful
job.
So
thank
you
very,
very
much,
commissioner
and
madam
chair,
if
possible,
I
do
have
a
question
for
dhcd
in
the
planning
department
and
also
for
the
office
of
property
assessment.
J
D
P
Yes
and
I'd
like
to
introduce
myself
I'm
melissa
long
director
of
dhcd
and
again,
I
want
to
thank
both
you
and
chairperson
gautier
for
all
your
work
and
commitment
to
this
very
serious
issue,
and
I
really
appreciate
appreciate
you
bringing
all
the
partners
together
and
I'm
I'm
looking
forward
to.
You
know
continuing
that
work
and
working
on
the
exciting
work
that
commissioner
leonard
discussed
and
some
of
the
outreach
strategies
that
I
know
we
discussed
at
our
last
meeting.
P
P
That's
broken
out,
a
hundred
thousand
in
cdbg
for
legal
counseling,
citigen
of
625
and
100
of
htf
for
the
tangled
title
fund,
and
we
are
so
grateful
for
the
housing
trust
fund.
New
vip
receives
a
commitment
of
support
of
290
000.
We
are
also
able
to
support.
I
have
my
colleague
here,
michael
froelick.
P
I
see
him
up
in
my
screen:
125
000
to
intake
and
legal
advice
to
cls
and
then
an
additional
85
000
to
pla,
and
so
that
is
for
tangled
title
fund
work
for
folks
that
already
have
households
that
already
have
tangled
titles.
I
do
you
know,
I
think,
want
to
point
out
too
that
we,
like
madame
register,
very
on
to
the
importance
of
having
a
will
and
the
partners
have
been
working
over
the
last
year
to
incorporate
on
that.
P
D
P
H
P
D
Excellent,
that
is
excellent,
because
I've
heard
from
several
families
that
say
you
know
we,
you
know
we're
just
a
little
over
the
the
income
eligibility
for
legal
aid
assistance,
but
we
still
can't
afford
the
ten
thousand
dollars
for
the
lawyer
fees.
So
what
are
we
doing
to
sort
of
help?
Those
folks
along-
because
I
look
at
this
issue
also
as
a
a
homeownership
preservation
issue
right
as
a
homelessness
prevention
issue,
totally
generational
legacy
and
wealth
issues.
So
how
are
we
helping
folks
stay
in
their
homes,
and
this
is
another
program
to
do
that?
D
D
So
I
just
wanted
to
get
on
the
record
today
for
the
hearing
on
this
issue
around
the
conversation
that
we've
had
about
the
technology
systems
in
the
city
and
some
of
the
challenges
that
we
face
around
you
know
getting
our
records
updated
on
our
publicly
available
websites,
but
even
in
in
philadelphia,
because
folks
can
still
do
a
public
search
on
on
philadelphia.
So
if
you
could
just
detail
for
us
some
of
the
challenges
for
the
record
today
and
how
you
all
are
working
to
remedy
those
issues.
I
Sure
so
I
think,
as
as
most
council
members
are
aware,
we
began
our
transition
to
our
new
computer,
assisted
and
mass
appraisal
system
abbreviated.
We
call
it
camera
that
began
in
february
of
last
year
when
certain
parts
of
the
system
went
live
and
it's
continued
since
then,
currently,
opa,
all
previous
functionality
and
job
roles
that
the
opa
did
prior
to
camera
are
fully
functional
in
the
camera
system.
The
camera
system
is
our
system
of
record
and
for
the
website
in
particular.
I
That
means
that
the
values
that
are
on
the
website,
the
property.gov
and
the
excuse
me
backup.
So
the
market
values
that
are
seen
there,
the
assessment,
breakouts
and
the
ownership
are
being
pulled
from
the
canvas
system,
as
that
is
the
system
of
record.
So,
as
we
began
that
integration,
we
had
a
transition
from
some
of
the
legacy
systems
that
commissioner
leonard
spoke
about.
So
in
phases,
we
moved
into
taking
the
records
from
the
camera
system
and
uploading
them
to
the
public
website.
I
So
ownership
was
not
the
first
piece
of
information
that
began
updating
on
the
site.
The
first
piece
was
the
the
market
values
that
began
in
february
and
but
for
several
months
now,
the
ownership
has
been
getting
pulled
from
the
canvas
system
so
that
that
feeds
directly
to
the
property
website,
and
so
throughout
the
process.
I
I
So
if
I
don't
have
the
exact
date
of
the
last
full
that
we
got
from
revenue,
but
it
is
fairly
close
to
the
date
that
you
mentioned
as
far
as
where
records
has
proofed
information
from
and
as
they
proof
records
going
forward
and
upload
them,
and
that
information
into
philadox
we'll
be
receiving
regular
feeds
from
them.
That
will
automatically
update
ownership
in
the
opa
records,
which
will
then
feed
the
ownership
that
is
displayed
on
the
public
property
website.
I
D
B
Q
I'm
rita
hock,
executive
director
of
philadelphia
vip.
Thank
you,
madam
chair
and
council
members,
for
inviting
us
to
share
our
roles
in
the
bigger
picture
of
tangled
title
legal
work
here
today.
More
importantly,
in
addition
to
my
executive
director
role,
I
do
want
to
say
that
I'm
formerly
a
case
manager
who
helped
many
tangle
title
clients
navigate
their
legal
issues
at
vip.
Q
Q
We're
so
grateful
to
dhcd
for
its
long-standing
commitment
to
addressing
this
issue
and
we're
really
excited
to
see
the
city
building
out
its
pool
of
resources
for
addressing
tangled
titles.
So
18
years
ago,
I
dug
out
some
old
city
council
testimony
from
2003
just
to
check
these
resources
held
just
a
handful
of
philadelphians,
but
by
2021.
Thanks
to
this
commitment,
we've
been
helping
hundreds
every
year
and
I'm
confident
that
we
will
collectively
expand
our
reach
to
thousands
in
years
to
come
and
cement
ourselves
as
a
national
leader
on
tangled
titles.
Q
I'm
glad
madame
register
actually
briefly
touched
on
this
being
a
philadelphia
issue,
and
it
is
certainly
true
that
philadelphia
raised
the
concept
of
siddhangal
title
and
has
identified
this
larger
volume,
but
council
member
jones,
to
your
point
and,
as
commissioner
leonard
briefly
demonstrated,
I
believe
philadelphia
is
not
unique
in
having
this
issue,
and
nor
should
we
be
ashamed
of
this
problem.
We
should
be
proud
that
we
have
researched
it.
We've
acknowledged
it
and
we
are
invested
in
resolving
it.
Q
I
will
pause
there
I'll
stop
there
and
let
you
all
ask
me
questions
if
you
want
to
about
these
other
communities
across
the
country,
but
what
I'm
here
to
talk
about
today,
as
others
will
discuss
in
more
detail.
There
is
no
typical
tangle
title
case,
no
matter
the
different
paths,
a
tangle
title
can
take.
One
thing
is
certain:
the
vast
majority
are
identified
years
after
they
occurred,
and
none
of
them
can
be
navigated
without
financial
resources.
Q
Concurrently,
the
housing
crisis
continues
to
worsen
and
there
is
growing
demand
for
legal
assistance
with
tangled
title,
often
at
a
crisis
point
when
home
loss
is
imminent,
it
became
apparent
that
proactive
action
is
just
as
important
as
the
reactive
resources,
so
as
a
response
in
2019,
with
increased
support
from
dhcd
vip
designed
a
pilot
preventative
estate
planning
program.
We
call
this
our
preserving
homeownership
and
family
wealth
initiative,
and
it
now
supports
homeownership
via
its
tangle
title
component
and
family
wealth
retention
through
estate
planning.
Having
a
will
in
place
is
one
of
the
most
effective
ways.
Q
Second,
we
know
from
vip
small
business
outreach
that
client
engagement
is
most
effective
when
performed
in
collaboration
with
groups
that
have
already
earned
community
trust.
For
this
reason,
we
have
deliberately
partnered
with
specific
community
organizations
like
cdc's
knacks,
religious
institutions
and
a
city
council
office.
These
organizations
co-present
vip's
estate
planning
services
to
their
constituents
and
or
refer
local
homeowners
to
vip
for
estate
planning.
Q
Finally,
with
over
10
000
attorneys
practicing
in
the
philadelphia
area,
there's
ample
opportunity
to
deploy
lawyers
in
a
volunteer
capacity
to
address
this
legal
need.
Vip
uses
a
different
number
of
approaches
to
inspire
attorneys
to
engage
with
the
larger
community
and
we've
seen
great
success
in
drafting
these
documents
for
hundreds
of
clients
over
just
a
few
years
with
sufficient
resources.
We
hope
to
be
able
to
use
what
we
have
learned
to
scale
this
service
and
help
more
families
across
philadelphia.
We're
so
grateful
to
dhcd
city
council.
Q
The
register
of
wills,
the
commissioner
of
records
and
everybody
else
on
this
call
for
leading
this
renewed
commitment
to
making
a
meaningful
difference
in
the
tangled
title
crisis.
The
legal
improvements
that
are
going
to
follow
will
allow
many
philadelphians,
who
honestly
stand
alone
in
a
very
complex
legal
system
to
get
the
help
they
need
and
hopefully
prevent
future
tangle
titles
from
arising.
B
E
B
E
The
probate
matters
that
is
really
the
most
common
issue
that
we
see
come
up
with
tangle
title
cases
where
we're
dealing
with
a
home
titled
in
the
name
of
a
deceased
family
member.
There
are
a
few
other
types
that
I
just
wanted
to
make
sure
we
touch
on
because,
as
garrett
mentioned
as
well
in
his
testimony
about
the
pew
report,
you
know
it
did
not
capture
all
the
tangled
titles
out
there.
So
one
of
those
other
types
of
tangled
title
issues
are
matters
that
are
resolved
through
a
quiet
title
action.
E
To
us
for
help
is
the
victim
of
a
forged
deed
or
a
fraudulent
conveyance,
where
they
were
defrauded
into
taking
title
out
of
their
names,
or
it
might
be
someone
who
has
an
adverse
possession
claim
to
their
property,
which
I
know
so
many
of
us
hear
inklings
about
and
there's
a
lot
of
talk
about
in
the
community
adverse
possession.
But
you
can
make
a
claim
a
proper
claim
to
title
if
you've
been
there
for
a
long
period
of
time
and
have
been
acting
like
the
owner
of
the
property.
E
E
There
are
also
simpler
title
issues
that
we
call
d
transfers
at
vip,
which
are
those
more
straightforward
title
cases
where
the
owner
of
the
property
is
around
and
willing
and
able
to
transfer
title
over
to
our
client
and
these
matters.
You
know
they're
much
more
straightforward,
it's
great
if
we
can
get
people
in
the
door
when
their
case
is
this
simple.
E
A
common
example
is
something
like
you
know,
a
godmother
who
is
the
owner
of
a
house
and
has
moved
away,
wants
to
give
the
property
to
her
goddaughter
who's
been
living
there,
taking
care
of
it
paying
the
taxes
and
they
just
need
help,
drawing
up
a
proper
deed,
getting
the
transfer
tax
paid
and
getting
the
deed
recorded.
That's
something
that
is
far
easier
to
take
care
of.
While
we've
got
everyone
around
rather
than
once.
The
godmother,
you
know,
really
kind
of
you
know,
falls
out
of
touch
or
passes
away
herself.
E
So
those
are
the
issues
that
that
at
vip,
our
volunteer
attorneys
spend
a
lot
of
their
time
on
all
three
of
those
types.
All
of
them
disproportionately
affect
black
and
brown
philadelphians.
Like
we've
already
heard
a
lot
about
today,
we
know
that
we
have
actually
a
really
high
homeownership
rate
for
blacks
here
in
philadelphia,
which
is
really
encouraging,
but
we
also
know
that,
unfortunately,
a
minority
of
them
do
not
have
wills
as
mad
and
register
already
discussed.
E
So
you
know
we
have
that
that
racial
lens
and
that
backdrop
for
this
issues,
it's
not
just
a
homeownership
issue.
It's
really
a
race
issue
as
well.
The
way
that
vip
approaches
this
this
tangle
title
problem
and
this
racial
problem
that
we
have
here
in
philadelphia,
is
through
three
ways.
One
is
trying
to
prevent
tangled
titles
from
beginning
in
the
first
place
through
estate
planning,
which
madam
register
and
my
colleague
ritha
already
touched
on.
E
E
E
The
third
way
that
we
have
to
solve
our
tangle
title
problem
here
in
the
city
is
just
making
sure
we're
resolving
the
tangled
title
issues
that
already
exist.
It
requires
consistent,
persistent
and
thorough
legal
work
by
legal
professionals
at
vip.
We
match
over
100
new
tangled
title
clients
with
volunteers
every
year
before
we
send
a
client
out
to
a
volunteer.
E
We
work
with
that
client
to
figure
out
who's
in
their
family
tree,
who
has
a
legal
interest
in
the
home
to
reach
out
to
those
family
members
and
to
really
get
the
case
started
and
make
sure
that
we
have
a
path
to
getting
the
client
title
and
then
once
we
match
a
client
with
a
volunteer
attorney,
we
stay
involved
with
the
case.
We
provide
our
volunteers
with
support.
We
build
up
substantial
training,
materials
and
templates
for
our
volunteers
over
the
years,
because
we
don't
want
them
reinventing
the
wheel.
E
We
want
them
focusing
on
helping
their
client
because,
as
rita
said,
no
tangle
title
case
is
the
same
as
the
one
that
came
before
it.
So
we
want
our
volunteer
attorneys
spending
time
and
working
through
their
unique
clients,
tangle
title
situation,
and
you
know
leaning
on
us
as
they
need
to
to
help
that
client
get
title.
E
All
of
this
work
really
relies
on
money
as
well,
which
we've
talked
a
lot
about
today.
There
are
costs
involved
with
these
title,
resolving
these
title
issues,
so
we're
really
grateful
that
we've
had
the
tango
title
fund
in
existence
for
over
20
years
now,
actually,
which
pays
for
administrative
costs
associated
with
clearing
title
to
home.
So
things
like
the
transfer
taxes
that
were
discussed
earlier,
so
you
know
these
are.
This
is
really
how
vip
has
approached
resolving
tangle
title
issues
over.
E
E
So
we're
really
we're
excited
and
we're
energized
at
vip
to
bring
attention
to
this
issue
that
we've
been
working
on
and
really
looking
forward
to
working
with
city
council
and
everyone
testifying
today,
who
I'm
so
grateful
I
already
know
and
work
so
closely
with
to
keep
expanding
upon
this
work.
Thank
you
so
much
for
having
me
to
testify
today.
B
R
R
I've
been
involved
with
philip
philly
vip
since
summer
of
2018.
When
I
joined
the
tango
title
group
as
a
summer
associate
at
my
law,
firm,
philly,
vip's
work,
particularly
tangled
title
cases,
piqued
my
interest,
because
the
ease
at
which
families
could
lose
their
homes
in
philadelphia
was
very
concerning.
R
R
Philly
vip
provided
online
resources
and
in-person
resources
like
manuals
and
presentations
to
assist
volunteers,
understand
their
role
and
properly
handle
cases.
Philly
vip
staff
is
always
open
to
answering
questions,
especially
for
someone
like
me,
who
does
strictly
litigation
work
and
provided
a
lot
of
guidance
when
needed.
So
I
appreciate
that
type
of
assistant
and
support.
R
It's
very
rewarding
to
hear
the
happiness
and
sense
of
relief
in
my
clients,
voices
especially
trying
to
navigate
the
convoluted
systems
of
philadelphia,
legal
home
ownership
services
like
vip
and
other
organizations,
are
very
essential.
You
know,
navigating
the
probate
process
is
difficult
and
and
often
expensive
for
the
population
that
we
serve
and
so
for
me.
R
Philly,
vip
and
similar
organizations
should
be
a
staple
for
this
city
and
continue
to
grow
such
organizations
and
add
more
organizations,
and
so
that
we
can
ensure
that
all
philadelphia
residents
have
an
opportunity
to
comfortably
reside
in
a
city,
and
I
want
to
emphasize
comfortably
and
build
their
homes
and
enjoy
the
fruits
of
the
city.
You
know
it's,
it's
open
for
a
lot
of
individuals
and
we
want
them
to
continue
to.
B
S
Good
morning,
everybody
especially
good
morning,
chair
gautier,
council,
member
gilmore,
richardson
and
members
of
the
committee,
my
name
is
michael
frolick
and
I'm
the
managing
attorney
of
the
home
ownership
and
consumer
rights
unit
here
at
cls,
and
I'm
very
pleased
to
talk
today
about
this
topic
of
tangled
titles.
The
role
that
cls
plays
in
helping
our
clients
resolve
their
titles
and
how
resolving
a
title
is
a
critical
step
to
closing
the
racial
wealth
gap
in
philadelphia.
S
We've
heard
from
so
many
witnesses
this
morning
discuss
tangled
titles
and
I'm
really
grateful
to
be
in
this
community.
I
wanted
to
especially
thank
miss
mahan
for
talking
about
her
personal
experience
at
the
top
of
the
hearing,
I'm
not
sure
if
she's
still
listening.
I
know
she's
at
home
today,
caring
for
her
grandchildren,
but
I
really
appreciate
miss
mahan,
your
your
courage
and
your
to
step
forward
and
talk
about
your
story
this
morning.
S
I
had
prepared
remarks
for
this
morning,
but
so
much
of
what
I
prepared
is
you've
already
heard
from
other
witnesses
presented
and
more
succinctly
presented
than
me.
So
I've
gone
through
and
sort
of
deleted,
large
paragraphs,
but
I
have
submitted
written
testimony
as
well.
Cls
is
really
really
proud
to
partner
with
the
hcd
and
other
city
partners
to
represent
clients
resolve
their
tangled
titles
in
the
last
two
years
that
we
have
received
dedicated
funding
from
dhcd
we've
represented
over
200
homeowners
with
tangled
titles
and
other
home
ownership
issues.
S
I'm
sorry
and
sorry,
we've
represented
over
200
clients
with
tangle
titles
issues,
and
we
have
presented
at
95,
community,
trainings
and
outreach
programs,
untangled
titles
and
other
homeownership
issues.
We've
recorded
nine
we've
recorded
67
new
deeds,
and
this
morning
my
cls
colleague,
dot
goldberger
texted
me
that
she's
on
her
way
down
to
city
hall
this
morning
to
record
four
more.
The
process
of
resolving
tangled
titles
ranges
from
the
simple
to
the
excruciatingly
difficult.
S
S
The
process
can
drag
on
for
well
more
than
a
year,
and
so
much
of
this
work
needs
to
be
done
before
heirs
are
even
in
a
position
where
they
can
go
to
the
register
of
wills
and
raise
their
estate,
but
in
addition
to
raising
estates
with
the
register
of
wills,
we
resolve
tangled
titles
in
all
sorts
of
other
ways.
As
as
kelly
gasly
mentioned,
we
file
lawsuits
called
quiet,
title
complaints
in
the
court
of
common
pleas.
We
file
petitions
directly
with
orphans
courts
as
an
alternative
to
raising
estates.
S
Now,
one
of
the
most
important
parts
of
pieces,
of
our
city's
tangle
title
problem
and
and
kelly
gasly
mentioned
this,
and
others
mentioned
it
as
well-
is
that
tangle
titles
do
not
affect
all
areas
of
the
city.
Equally,
according
to
the
pew
report,
homes
with
tangled
titles
are
disproportionately
located
in
census,
tracts
with
higher
black
and
brown
populations
and
at
cls
84
of
our
tangled
title,
clients
identifies
black
and
an
additional
15
identify
as
hispanic
or
latino.
S
It's
no
secret.
We
have
a
yawning
racial
wealth
gap
in
the
united
states,
where
the
median
white
household
is
reported
to
have
10
times.
The
wealth
of
the
median
black
household
and
homeownership
is
a
vital,
vital
part
of
closing
this
racial
wealth
gap
and
tangled
titles
too
often
thwart
this
growth
of
intergenerational
wealth,
but,
as
others
have
testified.
Resolving
already
tangled
titles
is
only
one
side
of
the
coin,
and
we
must
also
be
proactive.
S
Madam
register
has
done
an
amazing
job
in
getting
the
message
out
to
neighborhoods
throughout
the
city
about
home
preservation,
especially
during
the
covet
19
pandemic,
and
she
does
with
a
clear
message.
Everyone
needs
to
plan
prepare
protect,
and
that
means
having
conversations
now
with
your
children
and
heirs
about
what
you
want
to
have
happen
to
your
house,
and
it
means
having
a
will.
Commissioner
leonard
mentioned
dr
thomas
mitchell,
he's
the
texas
law
professor,
who
won
the
macarthur
genius
award
last
year
for
his
work
on
preserving
black
homeownership
and
in
his
work.
S
Dr
mitchell
discusses
not
just
a
racial
homeownership
gap,
but
a
racial
will
making
or
a
racial
estate
planning
gap.
According
to
dr
mitchell,
65
of
white
families
in
america
have
wills,
but
only
23
percent
of
african-american
families,
and,
what's
more
when
you
look
at
the
college,
educated
folks,
75
percent
of
white
americans
with
a
college
education
have
a
will
only
33
of
african
americans
with
a
college.
S
Education
have
a
will
and-
and
I
really
do
think,
that
working
together
legal
services,
programs,
city
officials,
the
register
of
wills
and
others
cannot
just
address
like
existing
title
problems
from
the
past,
but
can
ensure
that
future
generations
do
not
have
these
issues.
So
again,
thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
testify
today.
This
is
a
critical
moment
for
tangled
title
issues
in
our
city
and
on
behalf
of
our
clients.
We
are
so
grateful
to
city
council
dhcd,
madam
register,
commissioner
leonard
and
other
city
officials,
for
really
rising
to
meet
this
moment.
B
G
Yes,
thank
you.
Chair
person,
my
name
is
dana
goldberg
and
I'm
the
legal
director
at
senior
law
center
here
in
philadelphia,
I'd
like
to
say
a
thank
you
to
council
person,
gautier
for
convening
this
and
all
of
the
council
members
for
this
opportunity
to
speak
to
you
about
the
work
of
senior
law
center
and
the
importance
of
tackling
what
has
become
known
as
tangle
title
in
our
city.
I
have
prepared
written
testimony
and
like
mike
I'm
going
to
excise.
G
G
We
provide
free
legal
assistance
to
thousands
of
seniors
each
year,
including
victims
of
elder
abuse
and
financial
exploitation,
grandparents,
raising
grandchildren
and
older
persons
facing
homelessness
and
housing
crisis.
We
serve
those
who
are
60
years
of
age
and
older,
including
those
who
are
well
into
their
100s.
G
Those
we
serve
face
not
only
the
challenges
of
poverty,
but
also
those
of
aging
which
are
distinct
to
each
individual,
but
may
include
isolation.
Dependence
on
others
for
care,
mobility
and
health
challenges,
cognitive
decline,
transportation,
depression
and
access
to
services
is
perhaps
the
most
critical
legal
issue
facing
older
people
today.
In
light
of
its
enormous
impact
on
every
other
aspect
of
life,
health
safety
and
security.
G
Safe,
habitable
housing
is
a
basic
human
right
and
a
racial
justice
issue.
The
disparities
in
homelessness
and
foreclosure
of
black
indigenous
people
of
color
communities
are
historic
and
persistent.
Today,
without
a
safe
habitable
home,
there
is
no
ability
to
age
in
place.
Access
home
and
community-based
health
and
support
services
avoid
institutionalization
and
remain
in
the
community
near
relatives.
No
neighbors
resources
and
comfort.
G
G
The
impact
of
redlining
and
racial
prejudice,
however,
has
left
particular
neighborhoods
vulnerable,
because
the
individual's
home
is
the
setting
in
which
home-based
long-term
care
services
are
delivered.
Characteristics
of
the
setting
may
affect
how
or
what
care
is
provided,
or
even
whether
it
is
feasible
to
provide
care
at
all.
G
As
long
as
titles
remain
tangled,
those
residents
are
not
eligible
to
apply
for
free
city
or
other
home
repair
programs
desperately
needed
additionally
without
untangling
the
title.
These
older
adults
cannot
avail
themselves
of
needed
property
tax
assistance,
programs
or
mortgage
finance,
refinance
programs
which
will
help
ensure
that
they
can
remain
in
their
homes.
G
The
coven
19
crisis
exacerbated
the
trend
of
younger
generations,
moving
back
into
the
family
homestead
with
older
relatives,
unemployment,
the
need
for
care,
the
impact
of
isolation
all
resulted
in
an
increase
in
multi-generational
households.
For
many
families,
the
older
person's
home
is
the
only
real
estate
asset
in
the
family.
We
have
also
seen
a
rise
in
older
generations,
caring
for
and
raising
children,
grandchildren
in
the
family.
Due
to
both
covet
and
the
continuing
opioid
crisis,.
G
In
addition,
homes
are
often
the
biggest
financial
asset
older
homeowners
have
many
older
adults
have
worked
their
entire
lives
to
protect
this
family
asset,
denying
them
access
to
services
to
continue
and
protect
ownership.
Punishes
these
hard-working
individuals
for
growing
older
and
for
being
poor.
It
also
blocks
the
ability
of
this
generation
to
pass
on
any
wealth
to
the
future
generation
and
to
keep
that
wealth
in
the
community.
G
As
pew
noted,
access
to
legal
services
makes
an
extraordinary
difference
between
losing
a
home
or
clearing
title
and
maintaining
it
for
generations
to
come.
Access
to
justice
is
essential
to
make
real
change
in
tangle
title
and
homelessness
prevention,
but
untangling
title,
as
all
of
my
colleagues
have
pointed
out,
takes
time,
effort,
resources
and
expertise.
G
G
However,
older
people
who
are
turned
away
either
by
the
registered
wills
or
the
reporter
of
deeds
for
trying
to
do
something
enough
on
their
own,
not
doing
it
properly.
Having
put
forward
the
we,
the
fees
or
the
out-of-pocket
expenses,
may
lose
those
funds
and
have
to
start
over
again
and
they
may
need
help
in
terms
of
guiding
guidance
through
the
process.
G
Getting
clear
title
is
a
first
step,
but
it
doesn't
make
property
taxes
affordable
as
a
neighborhood
gentrifies.
It
does
not
fix
a
roof
or
furnace
and
it
does
not
turn
the
water
back
on.
We
work
to
ensure
that
our
clients
get
connected
with
the
various
programs
and
agencies
that
will
ensure
continued
home
ownership.
G
We
run
legal
life
planning
clinics
and
we
have
for
many
many
years,
including
throughout
covet
to
draft
and
execute
essential
planning
documents,
including
simple
wills,
to
empower
older
persons
to
direct
to
whom
their
property
will
go
after
their
death.
Life
planning
documents
are
an
essential
part
of
the
tangle
title
solution.
G
G
The
solutions
to
tangle
titer
require
these
multiple
steps
with
clear
title
now
and
faith
that
their
heirs
will
enjoy
the
same
clear
title.
Older
persons
are
free
to
invest
in
and
maintain
their
homes
and
age
in
place.
Philadelphia
continues
to
have
one
of
the
largest
and
poorest
populations
of
older
people
in
the
nation.
They
have
helped
to
build
and
grow
our
city
and
neighborhoods
raise
their
families.
They
are
the
matriarchs
and
patriarchs
of
our
communi.
G
G
B
F
Thank
you,
madam
thank
you,
madam
chair,
and
I
want
to
thank
also
council
member
catherine
gilmore
rickson
for
bringing
this
forward
and
my
question
might
be
from
michael,
but
anyone
can
answer
it.
I
just
I
have
two
questions.
One
is:
can
you
kind
of
break
down
michael?
I
think
you
said
in
your
testimony.
It
was
like
nine
thousand
dollars
per
case.
Roughly
I
heard
9
500
to
9
000
in
that
range.
Can
you
give
me
an
idea
what
that
breakdown
is
of
all
those
costs.
S
I
can't
thank
you
so
much
for
the
question
council
member
dom
and
for
your
sort
of
involvement
in
this
issue
and-
and
if
I
may
you
know
another
issue
which
causes
tangled
titles,
the
residential
property
wholesaler
bill
that
you
sponsored
last
year
and
it's
passed
into
law.
So
that
number
is
drawn
from
the
pews
report
and
if
you
in
my
other
screen
here,
I'm
going
down
in
their
report
just
because
they
break
it
down.
S
F
And
I
said
the
reason
for
asking
the
question:
I'm
trying
to
figure
out
is
there
a
way
that
we
can
save
on
some
of
those
costs.
Maybe
I
mean
I
know
the
bar
association,
I
believe,
does
have
people
that
volunteer
to
help.
Is
there
a
way
to
expand
that
I'm
just
throwing
it
out
there
just
to
try
to
figure
out
how
we
can
get.
F
S
Yeah
I
can,
I
would
defer
to
my
colleagues
at
vip
about
private
inc
and
other
legal
services
programs
about
private
lawyer
involvement.
I
I
will
say
that
the
one
of
the
the
best
you
know
dollar
for
dow
dollar
way
to
resolve
these
issues
is
not
to
have
them
happen
in
the
future,
and
that's
why
I
think
investing
in
helping
philadelphians
have
have
wills
now
and
doing
estate
planning.
Now
it
makes
things
so
much
easier
down
the
road.
S
I
know
that
council
member
gilmore
richardson
has
a
bill
pending.
That
would
work
with
funeral
homes
to
get
the
word
out
about
potential
wills.
I
think
that's
a
great
step
forward,
but
really
you
know
so
much
of
the
top
cost
in
unraveling
a
title
is
you
know,
sort
of
investigative
work
in
trying
to
track
down
where
these
errors
are
and
working
with
them
and
counseling
them
and
talking.
F
I'm
just
my
thought
is
that
we
have,
let's
just
say,
the
top
20
25
law
firms
in
the
city
and
over
the
last
two
years,
I'm
not
going
to
speak
for
them
about
what
I
can
see
in
the
papers.
It
seems
like
law
firms
have
done
pretty
well
during
this
time
period
and
I
think,
there's
a
lot
of
lawyers
in
the
city
who
would
love
to
help,
and
I
think
there
are
already
many
that
are
helping,
but
maybe
we
need
to
go
to
those
top
25
law
firms
and
say
hey.
F
F
F
So,
while
I'm
listening
to
this
testimonies,
I'm
saying
to
myself,
how
do
we
connect
the
dots
here?
How
do
we
make
sure
that
anyone
has
a
tangled
title
like
goes
to
a
campaign
for
working
families,
united
way
or
bdt,
and
they
figure
out
wait
a
second?
I
can
get
six
thousand
dollars
from
any
itc.
I
can
get
five
thousand
for
a
chocolate
child,
whatever
the
numbers
are,
and
I
can
use
that
to
untangle
this
title.
F
Is
there
connectivity
on
every
one
of
the
people
that
have
tangled
titles,
because
I
got
to
think
that
well,
I
know
they
can't
get
issues
with
the
revenue
department
because
of
the
title,
but
they
can
get
that
money
because
it
has
nothing
to
do
with
real
estate.
Then
they
could
free
up
their
property
and
get
all
the
other
benefits.
S
Right-
and
I
think
this
is
a
an
initiative
that
we
that
we
at
cls
really
hope
to
be
able
to
to
do
seriously
with
the
npi
bond
you
know.
Historically,
we
haven't
been
able
to
prioritize
wills
because
everybody
we
see
is
in
crisis
and
somebody's
coming
and
they're
losing
their
home
at
sheriff's
sale
and
then
somebody
else
is
coming.
Who
wants
a
will,
and
so
we
have
sort
of,
by
necessity,
of
limited
resources,
address
the
person
who's
about
to
lose
their
home
with
the
npi
bond
and
the
additional
city
investment.
S
We
hope
to
be
able
to
to
take
a
breath
and
say:
look
you
know
for
24
of
cls
clients
own
their
own
home
and
47,
almost
half
of
our
clients,
age,
60
and
over
own
their
own
home.
What,
if
just
looking
at
cls
alone?
What
if
before
we
left
our
clients?
You
know
we
help
them
with
an
ssi
issue,
a
food
stamp
issue,
an
employment
issue.
You
know
whatever
type
of
issue
before
we
left.
S
Let
them
leave,
we
said,
look,
we
gotta
do
a
will
together,
and
that
would
is
just
sort
of
like
a
low-hanging
fruit
really
and
then,
if
that
model
works,
we
can
expand
on
to.
You
know
the
city's
two
dozen
housing
counseling
agencies
that
do
such
great
work
and
and
on
to
the
benefits
with
benefits,
data
trusts
and
with
other
trusted
community
partners
to
offer
this
opportunity.
F
And
I
I
applaud
cls
and
all
the
others
that
you
guys
are
doing
great
work,
but
I
guess
my
question
is:
if
I
had
a
tangled
title-
and
I
called
you
michael-
you
said:
hey
al-
it
cost
nine
thousand
dollars
to
do
this
and
I
don't
have
the
money,
but
if
you
said
to
me,
go
call
bdt
or
campaign
for
working
families,
and
maybe
you
could
fill
out
some
of
those
forms
and
get
the
money.
Oh
I'm
just
trying
to
get
that
connectivity
going
so
that
we
can
get
that
federal
money,
a
billion
dollars.
F
Okay,
75
000
families
qualify
for
this
almost
300
000
residents
of
our
city.
That's
federal
money!
That's
free!
We
can
use
that
money
to
like
untangle
these
titles
in
some
cases,
because
I
kind
of
think
there's
a
lot
of
connectivity
here
and
then
they
can
apply
to
the
city.
For
some
of
these
other
programs,
I
just
I
think
it
should
be
an
automatic
anyone
who
goes
for
a
title.
A
tangle
title
should
be
connected
to
one
of
these
sources.
For
the
for
these
other
funds
of
federal
money.
G
F
G
Where
can
we
take
out
money
from
the
rest
of
the
budget,
get
them
resources
for
that
that
then
can
go
into
the
housing.
So
I
believe
that
all
of
our
partners
are
working
on
that
now.
I
would
stress
with
mike
the
fact
that
the
prevention
part-
and
I
know
registered
gordon-
is
right
there
with
us
that
that
is
so
important
in
terms
of
riding
the
wheels.
G
It
also
has
to
come
on
the
back
end
of
untangling
the
title
and
we
work
with
all
of
the
large
law
firms
they're
at
our
clinics
we're
in
their
sites.
We
were
pre-coveted,
but
what
I
can
tell
you
is
administering
these
programs
within
our
our
agencies
does
take
time
and
it
takes
funds,
and
our
population
is
at
a
critical
point
right
now.
If
we
don't
get
this
population
right
now
and
get
those
wills
written
you're
going
to
have
yet
another
generation
of
tangle
title.
G
So
I
do
think
that
our
commitment
to
the
city,
in
addition
to
untangling
those
that
are
already
tangled,
is
getting
out
there
into
the
neighborhoods
and
giving
some
funding
to
get
those
wheels
written.
So
we
don't
have
another
generation
lost
where
this
has
not
been
repaired
or
they
haven't
directed
to
where
it's
going
to
go.
F
B
L
L
L
B
L
B
T
T
We
utilize
the
network
of
volunteers
to
help
low-income
philadelphians,
so
we
touch
everything
from
immigration
to
family
law
to
land,
lieutenant
some
guardianship
record,
clearing
and
unemployment.
Since
this
past
january,
we've
helped
raise
12
estates
for
the
assistance
of
pdi
and
tangle
title
fund
and
they're
on
their
way
to
finishing
up.
We
have
22
that
are
still
in
the
pipeline
being
worked
on
as
many
of
our
already
acknowledged
tangle
titles
of
crisis,
and
it
it
needs
attention.
It
needs
money,
I'm
glad
to
see
that
it's
getting
both
today.
T
It
needs
free
legal
services.
It
contributes,
if
so
many
have
have
said
to
these
blocks,
where
all
you
see
are
boarded
up
houses.
I
live
near
point
breweries
and
it's
just
it
was
boarded
up
houses
and
now
it's
like
tree
condos
we're
like
handing
neighborhoods
away.
If
we
do
nothing
to
address
this
vip
through
the
tingle
title
fund
and
educational
materials
have
been
lifesavers
today.
T
You
guys
are
so
helpful
with
my
practice
and
the
materials
have
actually
helped
so
many
of
our
clients
directly
like
take
a
lot
of
these
steps.
So
all
my
faith,
education,
materials
and
just
the
information
you
can
find
through
them
are
wonderful.
The
fund
has
been
wonderful,
they
hear
from
me
a
lot.
However.
T
Legal
services
and
money
are
good,
but
as
michael's
testing
there's
there's
a
lot
of
there's
a
lot
of
tangled
title
situations
that
it
doesn't
touch
right.
Errors
can't
be
found.
The
client
doesn't
live
in
the
home,
so
you
know
they
find
out.
There's
32
errors,
they're
like
right,
it's
just
an
empty
house.
That's
waiting
for
the
area
to
be
gentrified
enough
for
a.
T
Along
right,
they
don't
live
in
the
homes;
they
don't
qualify
for
tangled
title
they're,
just
not
poor
enough
right
there.
I
have
a
guy
to
that
he's,
just
not
poor
enough.
There's
a
medicaid
claim.
I
mean
that's
a
bigger
issue
than
that.
You
know
that's
a
state
issue,
but
these
cases
that
have
medicaid
claims
and
they
don't
qualify
for
the
hardship
waiver.
T
Those
are
situations
where
they've
got
to
walk
away
and
that
house
again
will
sit
until
a
developer,
finds
it
interesting
enough
to
do
something
with
it.
While
we
can,
we
need
to
and
we
and
we
have
to
stop
the
bleeding,
and
I
think
today's
effort
is
there.
We
have
to
educate
people
better.
We
have
to
focus
on
prevention,
it's
not
as
if
death
is
uncommon
or
it's
not
going
to
touch
everyone
if
we're
doing
our
jobs,
because
everyone
has
a
house
passing
down
to
the
next
line.
T
I
appreciate
when
leaders
can
cite
their
own
experiences
to
say.
I
don't
know
what
to
do
and
if
I
didn't
know
what
to
do,
then
my
constituents
don't
know
what
to
do
so.
I
think
ms
gilmore
richardson
for
sharing
that
story.
That
would
be
my
story,
I'm
a
lawyer,
but
before
I
did
this
work
did
I
know
how
to
do
anything.
No,
my
grandfather
died.
I
had
to
figure
it
out.
Just
like
just
like
you
did.
T
We
have
to
consider
the
ways
in
which
we
can
demystify
the
whole
thing,
I'm
interested
in
working
as
a
lawyer,
but
I'm
not
interested
in
us
needing
to
exist
as
a
legal
services
forever.
We
should
be
trying
to
shut
ourselves
down
right.
Most
people
don't
have
complicated
estates,
they
have
a
family
home.
They
have
a
checking
account
a
savings
account.
Maybe
life
insurance,
they
don't
need
complicated
wills.
The
probate
process
is
complicated
for
attorneys
much
less
for
non-attorneys.
T
T
T
We
have
a
group
of
practitioners,
myself
being
one
focused
on
just
putting
together
presentations
to
communities
we
serve,
we
are
in
our
whole
model
is
being
set
up
in
communities
and
I
think
who
was
saying
this
earlier.
I
believe
from
vip
that
finding
those
trusted
entities
within
communities
and
connecting
there
right-
they
don't
know
me,
but
they
know
canaan
baptists,
they
don't
know
me,
but
they
know
philadelphia
access
center
right
and
they
trust
that
place
and
the
people
there.
They
know
those
people.
T
So
we
can
connect
with
those
folks,
those
folks
who
are
already
leaders
and
get
information
to
the
communities
they
serve,
that
they
exist
in
funeral
directors
right.
They
they
interact
with
our
clients,
getting
information
to
them
on
why
estate
planning
is
important
and
just
the
basic
roadmap
of
probating.
T
What
to
do
the
steps
to
take
when
somebody
dies
right?
People
don't
know
this.
The
even
just
a
myth,
busting
right
here,
all
the
things
that
you
know
your
step.
Children
will
get
nothing
unless
you
make
a
will,
there's
huge
barriers
with
people
wanting
to
talk
about
debt.
It's
not
something
people
like
to
do
so,
even
just
making
that
normal
everybody's
going
to
die
right,
normalizing
that
we
need
to
do
estate
planning
everybody.
We
do
probate
for,
comes
back
and
does
a
will
with
us.
T
T
B
H
Thank
you
so
much
council
person,
gote
and
thank
you
council
person
camel
richardson
for
the
invitation
to
testify
here
today.
My
name
is
joanne
waddell
and
I
am
the
co-supervising
attorney
of
the
consumer
housing
unit
at
philadelphia.
Legal
assistance
pla
provides
free,
late
field
assistance
to
thousands
of
low-income
philadelphians
every
year
and
within
pla.
The
consumer
housing
unit
assists
homeowners
who
are
facing
the
loss
of
their
homes
due
to
mortgage
foreclosure,
tax,
foreclosure,
tangle
title
issues
and
predatory
lending
or
deep
theft.
H
The
hotline
assists
thousands
of
homeowners
every
year
and
in
fact,
much
of
pla's
current
work
on
tangled
title
issues
really
evolved
out
of
our
work.
Operating
the
hotline
and
working
in
close
partnership
with
the
mortgage
foreclosure
diversion
program
within
the
diversion
program.
Pla
is
the
primary
point
of
contact
for
those
cases
that
have
come
to
be
known,
sort
of
colloquially
as
the
block
cases.
H
Those
foreclosure
cases
in
which
some
title
issue
is
effectively
blocking
resolution
of
the
foreclosure
case
and
has
to
be
resolved
in
order
for
the
parties
to
move
forward
with
a
loan,
modification
or
other
workout,
and
as
our
work
in
this
area
has
expanded.
We
have
prioritized
those
cases
where
the
tangled
title
presents
some
urgent
risk
to
the
home
right
so
like
mike
was
saying
also
cls.
H
So,
as
mike
said,
and
as
others
have
said,
tangled
title
cases,
they
range
from
fairly
straightforward
to
just
incredibly
complex
a
recent
case
on
the
sort
of
extreme
end.
A
recent
case
that
we
litigated
successfully
at
trial
earlier
this
spring
required
over
250
hours
of
attorney
time
over
two
years
and
that's
on
the
very
extreme
ends.
When.
H
And
can
be
found
in
our
cooperative
cases
can
be
resolved
usually
fairly.
Simply
within
a
few
months
since
2019
pla
has
assisted
over
400,
low-income
homeowners,
with
tangled
title
issues,
providing
legal
advice,
referrals,
brief
service
and,
in
some
cases,
full
representative
representation
by
an
attorney
since
2019
we've
helped
at
least
79
philadelphians
obtain
clear
title
to
their
home,
and
we've
provided
legal
advice
on
how
to
provide
an
estate
or
other
brief
service
to
more
than
300
others.
H
So,
if
others
have
said
a
tangled
title
does
more,
it
does
more
than
just
tie
up
equity
and
wealth.
Tangled
titles
are
an
affordable
housing
issue.
It
can
make
it
impossible
to
access
critical
services,
such
as
the
city's
basic
systems,
repair
program.
I
can't
tell
you
how
many
clients
I've
talked
to
where
they
there's
a
hole
in
their
roof
right
or
there's
just
urgent
repairs
that
they
need,
and
they
can't
get
those
repairs,
because
we
can't
untangle
the
title
quickly
enough.
H
A
tangled
title
can
even
cause
a
home
to
be
lost
entirely
when
a
homeowner
dies
and
if
there's
a
mortgage
on
the
home,
you
know
the
mortgage
company
may
be
perfectly
happy
to
accept
money
as
long
as
the
account
is
current.
But
if
someone
falls
behind,
if
the
errors
fall
behind
or
something
else
goes
wrong,
the
title
issues
typically
need
to
be
resolved
and
resolved
quickly
in
order
to
save
the
home
from
foreclosure.
H
You
know
we
frequently
talk
to
folks
who
are
so
frustrated
because
the
mortgage
company
won't
speak
to
them
because
they're
not
the
account
holder
right
they're,
not
the
person
who
took
out
the
mortgage
and,
as
the
pew
report
makes
clear,
tangled
titles
in
philadelphia
they're
not
affecting
everyone.
Equally,
the
vast
majority
are
concentrated
in
census,
tracts
where
the
majority
of
residents
are
black
or
brown,
and
that
data
is
consistent
with
the
cases
we
see
at
pla.
H
H
H
The
challenge
is
obviously
huge
right
with
10
000
tango
titles,
but
we
look
forward
we're
so
grateful
to
be
working
with
our
partners
already
and
we're
grateful
for
everyone's
commitment
to
this
work.
So,
as
others
have
said,
there
are
a
couple
issues
where
you
have
to
address
both
preventing
more
tangled
titles
from
happening
in
the
future,
while
also
dealing
with
the
10,
000
and
plus
tango
titles
that
we
already
have
so
education
about
estate
planning,
as
others
have
said,
is
critical
to
avoid
more
tangle
titles
in
the
future.
H
H
Second,
many
people
believe
or
assume
that
if
they
are
the
ones
who
lived
in
a
family
home
and
took
care
of
it
for
years
after
their
family
member
died
that
it
belongs
to
them,
and
that
I
absolutely
understand
why
people
may
think
that,
and
it
seems
fair
right
if
you're,
the
one
who's
been
taking
care
of
the
home.
But
we
frequently
talk
to
folks
who
are
frustrated
and
can't
understand
why
they
need
to
jump
through
so
many
hoops
getting
death
certificates,
finding
lost
heirs
filing
petitions
with
the
register
of
wells
or
orphans
court.
H
Second
right
with
over
10
000
existing
tangled
titles
in
the
city
of
philadelphia,
it
will
take
a
dedicated,
concerted
effort
by
all
the
legal
services
providers
in
philadelphia,
along
with
our
promoter
partners
and
the
city,
to
help
homeowners
obtain
clear
title
to
their
house.
So,
as
others
have
have
mentioned,
resolving
tangled
titles
can
be
a
very
slow
process,
but
the
result
is
worth
it.
When
homeowners
have
clear
title,
they
can
access
critical
services
and
they
can
tap
into
the
equity
in
their
homes
to
make
investments.
H
H
H
So
this
home
urgently
needed
repairs
to
address
environmental
triggers
that
were
exacerbating
his
son's
asthma
and
cab
is
an
amazing
program.
They
were
prepared
to
do
the
work
to
do
the
repairs,
but
he
had
to
have
title
in
his
name
before
they
could
do
the
repair
work.
There's
also
an
outstanding
mortgage
on
the
property
which
had
become
delinquent
after
his
mother
passed
away
and
which
couldn't
be
resolved
until
he
had
obtained
clear
title
and
complicating
matters
a
little
bit
which
goes
goes
to
the
issue
of
estate
education,
about
estate
planning.
H
H
So,
as
tangled
title
cases
go,
this
is
a
pretty
simple
one,
but
it
still
needed
an
attorney
to
get
it
over
the
hump
right-
and
this
is
just
one
family,
but
there
are
thousands
of
others
like
them
in
philadelphia.
So
again,
I
thank
you
for
the
invitation
to
testify
today
and
just
want
to
express
again
how
grateful
we
are
for
the
city
for
city
council's
commitment
for
the
city's
commitment
to
the
issue
of
affordable
housing
for
the
register
of
wills
and
our
partners
and
the
reporter
of
deeds.
D
D
I
wanted
to
start
with
each
legal
aid
service
organization-
and
I
know
melissa
addressed
this
in
her
testimony
partially
relative
to
the
allocation
of
revenue
to
the
legal
aid
organization.
So
for
each
of
you,
if
you
could
just
respond
to
the
assistance
you
receive
directly
from
the
city
for
this
work,
so
for
each
legal
aid
organization
represented.
If
you
could
detail
the
the
city
funding
that
you
receive
with
this
work
and
we'll
start
with
vip
community
legal
services,
philadelphia,
legal
assistance,
then
senior
law
center,
then
christian
legal
clinics
of
philadelphia.
Q
Thank
you
kelly.
You
can
go
ahead.
Oh
got
it
perfect.
Thank
you
for
bearing
with
us
as
we
coordinate
so
philadelphia.
Vip
gets
by
far
the
largest
city
contract
regarding
tangle
titles,
and
we
are
by
the
way
so
excited
because
council
member
dom
kind
of
touched
on
this,
but
we're
so
excited
for
all
of
legal
services
to
get
in
the
game
and
start
getting
more
funding
to
do
this
directly.
But
we
get
about
a
560.
Q
Sorry,
I'm
just
pulling
it
up
right
now,
so
we
get
cdbg
funding
in
the
amount
of
hundred
thousand
dollars
we
get,
and
that
goes
directly
to
program
services.
So
it
supports
staffing
and
volunteer
costs
and
75
000
in
city
general
funding,
which
goes
directly
to
the
tangle
title
fund
and
290
thousand
dollars
for
in
htf
new
funding,
which.
D
Q
Toward
it
goes
towards
staffing
costs,
overhead,
etc,
and
then
another
100
000
in
htf
monies
that
all
goes
toward
the
tangle
title
fund.
So
it's
all
together.
We
have
about
200-ish
thousand
sorry,
I'm
really
bad
at
mental
math
dedicated
to
the
tangle
title
fund.
So
when
you
see
the
entirety
of
our
city
contract
that
comprises,
that
is
comprised
of
both
staffing
costs
and
also
of
tangle
title
fund
costs.
S
Very
quickly
since
july,
1st
2019
cls
has
received
125
000
per
year
in
housing
trust
fund
money
for
tangled
title.
In
addition,
cls
has
a
long-standing
contract
with
dhcd
for
440
000
to
do
mortgage
and
tax
foreclosure
work
or
represent
clients
with
mortgage
and
tax
foreclosure
work.
So
if,
as
part
of
the
representation
in
the
mortgage
or
tax
foreclosure
work,
there
happens
to
be
a
tangled
title
that
work
will
also
be
funded
under
the
440
000.
I
would
estimate-
maybe
I
don't
know.
H
G
Yes,
so,
although
we
receive
money
from
dhcd,
that's
strictly
for
the
mortgage
foreclosure
diversion
program
and
we're
doing
triage
work
and
we
work
in
conjunction
with
the
housing
counselors.
So
our
tangle
title
work
that
we're
doing
and
we've
had
over
670
calls
in
the
last
five
years
is
not
funded
by
any
city
money
at
all.
G
G
T
D
J
J
On
community
stability,
homes
with
tangled
titles
are
more
likely
to
fall
into
despair
and
become
abandoned,
causing
blight
and
displacement
and
reducing
the
stock
of
affordable
housing.
Philadelphia
has
at
least
ten
thousand
tangled
titles
affecting
two
percent
of
the
city's
half
million
plus
residential
properties.
J
Although
no
demographic
data
on
affected
households
is
available
to
the
neighborhoods,
most
affected
needs
to
be
those
with
relatively
low
housing
values,
low
income
and
high
property
rates.
Resolving
a
tangled
title
issue,
which
usually
requires
an
attorney,
can
be
time
consuming
tedious
and
expensive
without
subsidized
legal
counsel,
fee
waivers
or
other
public
assistance.
The
cost
of
remedying
the
tango
titles
can
be
significant
about
9,
000
or
more
dollars
for
a
home
value
at
the
medium
of
88
thousand
eight
hundred
dollars,
aarp's
2020
livable
communities.
J
Action
plan
further
emphasizes
the
need
to
provide
legal
services
to
resolve
tangle
issues
that
threaten
the
ownership
rights
of
individuals
who
inherited
property
from
a
family
member
who
left
no
will
finding
solutions
to
this
complex
issue
will
not
be
done
in
one
hearing
or
by
one
committee.
It
will
take
the
combined
efforts
of
all
philadelphians
to
bring
about
meaningful
changes
to
this
issue.
J
Aarp
is
ready
and
willing
to
work
with
council
and
other
stakeholders
to
resolve
the
detrimental
effect
of
tangled
titles
and
make
sure
that
owners
can
exercise
their
property
rights
and
not
lose
their
generational
equality
acquired
over
time.
Thank
you
for
your
time
and
for
your
commitment
to
philadelphia,
aging
population.
Thank
you.
Thank.
B
A
Introduced
by
council
member
gilmore
richardson
as
we
strive
to
create
a
more
equitable
society,
we
philadelphians
must
set
an
example
to
other
cities
nationwide
that
non-discriminatory
practices
are
not
only
possible
but
incredibly
necessary,
as
I've
stated
before
many
things
about
how
we
move
through
the
world
have
changed
due
to
the
covid19
pandemic.
What
has
not
changed
is
the
need
for
housing
to
keep
philadelphians
safe
and
healthy.
A
A
A
An
individual's
home
can
be
his
or
her
most
valuable
asset.
Many
of
us
and
our
families
begin
to
build
wealth
through
home
ownership
and
real
estate
is
one
of
the
main
vehicles
preserved
for
preserving
intergenerational
wealth.
It
is
a
fact
that
homes
with
title
issues
are
at
risk
for
mortgage
disclosure,
real
estate,
tax
delinquency
and
property
theft.
This
means
that
families
are
at
risk
of
losing
wealth
they
have
built
for
generations.
A
There
is
no
one
solution
to
the
issue
of
tangled
titles.
However,
implementing
policies
and
programs
that
remove
unnecessary
barriers
to
housing
is
just
one
of
many
steps.
We
must
take
to
reverse
the
historical
effects
of
institutional
racism,
empower
the
people
of
philadelphia
and
strengthen
our
city
as
a
whole
when
our
people
are
empowered.
Our
city
is
empowered
government
and
other
organizations
must
take
steps
and
invest
in
programs
to
help
low-income
households
prevent
and
resolve
tangled
titles.
A
This
includes,
but
is
not
limited
to
greater
investments
in
one
educational
programs
that
ensure
homeowners
know
what
a
tangled
title
is,
how
probate
works
and
why
a
will
is
important,
and
we
cover
that,
as
I
said,
with
all
of
our
clients,
two
fee
deferrals
and
waivers
to
make
clearing
a
tangle,
less
costly.
It
is
costly
and
we
have
to
be
able
to
take
that
cost
away
from
our
residents.
A
B
J
C
B
D
Richardson,
thank
you
so
much.
Madam
chair.
I
just
wanted
to
thank
the
last
panel
for
their
testimony
to
aarp
and
to
andrea
custis
at
the
urban
league
of
philadelphia,
and
I
wanted
to
ask
andrea
specifically
and
both
of
them,
what
more
we
could
do
from
a
city
government
perspective
to
better
communicate
and
collaborate
with
their
offices
to
ensure
that
we
are
doing
all
we
can
to
inform
our
constituents
about
this
tangled
title
indeed,
issue
in
the
city.
A
Catherine,
that's
a
wonderful,
wonderful
question.
What
I
would
like
all
of
city
council
to
do
is
refer
any
of
your
constituents
in
your
area
to
us.
We
will
absolutely
help
them
assist
them.
We'll
do
one-on-one
we're
also
doing
workshops,
and
I
will
tell
you
we
are
not
going
to
let
anybody.
Someone
else
said
that
we're
not
going
to
let
turn
away
anybody
and
not
let
anybody
not
be
helped.
We've
done
that
with
renter
eviction.
The
city
has
been
so
pleased
that
they
gave
us
extra
money
to
help
those
renters
that
need
help.
A
I
think
all
of
you
know
our
work
ethic.
Abraham
has
worked
with
the
register.
We
are
doing
everything
we
can.
I
guarantee
you
and
commit
to
you
today.
Send
anybody
our
way
and
they
will.
We
will
definitely
take
care
of
them
and
then
the
other
thing
is
that
we
really
need
to
really
do
some
more
preventative
measures
and
make
sure
that
all
that
all
housing
counselors
are
going
over
this
information
so
that
we
won't
have
this
in
the
future
right
better
to
educate
upfront
than
to
wait
until
there
is
a
problem.
D
And
madam
chair,
I
just
wanted
to
say
for
the
record,
so
we
have
this
on
the
record
for
queen
judith
robinson
that
we
did
attempt
to
to
reach
out
to
her.
We
had
the
tech
team
contact
her
multiple
times
so
that
we
could
try
to
have
her
testimony
for
this
hearing,
so
queen
judith
robinson,
if
you're
listening.
If
you
could,
please
submit
us
a
testimony.
B
C
C
They
can
protect
their
inheritance,
that's
very
important
and
then
the
other
testimony
is
the
lady
from
vip
and
I'm
a
little
frustrated
because
it
takes
two
lines
and
a
pandemic
to
get
to
speak
in
city
council.
Y'all
got
to
do
better
than
this
really
and
I'm
avid
a
test.
You
know
at
testifying,
but
this
this
here
is
a
hot
dog
on
mess,
but
I'm
not
gonna
digress.
C
The
vip
the
lady
from
vip
who
said
this
is
a
black
people's
problem,
black
people
and
I
don't
see
black
people
in
the
room,
I'm
the
last
of
the
panel,
but
I
should
be
first
okay.
Let
me
tell
you
why
I'm
a
real
estate
broker
with
many
years
of
experience,
you
all
don't
have
the
right
people
on
the
panel.
You
don't
have
to
keep
right
people
in
the
room.
C
I
can
document
how
many
tangled
up
titles
that
I've
have
untangled
over
the
years
of
state
planning-
yes
very
important,
but
when
you
don't
have
it
in
order
to
close
a
deal,
we
untangle
titles
and
guess
what
we
don't
charge.
You
know
9
500
we
have
whatever
our
commission
is
we
close
the
deal
and
we
clean
up
every
bit
of
mess.
There
is
so
I
think
you
all
need
to
stop
with
the
nonsense
and
get
people
in
the
room
that
won't
be
charging
all
the
billable
hours.
C
C
C
Okay,
I
hate
to
be
so
emotional
about
it,
but
you
gotta,
be
you
gotta,
be
when
I'm
listening
to
this
mess
all
that
money
and
I'm
glad
you
broke
it
down
who's,
getting
what
who's
getting
what
of
taxpayer
dollars,
and
I
can
guarantee
you
brother,
dom
if
somebody
get
a
little
bit
of
child
care
money
and
they
starving
or
all
kinds
of
problems,
they're
not
going
to
go
and
untangle
the
title.
It
ain't
going
to
happen
like
that.
C
So
let
me
you
know,
because
this
is
the
end
of
the
of
the
road.
So
you
put
me
last,
but
I
should
be
first,
as
I
say,
41
in
strawberry
mansion,
where
I
was
born
and
raised
where
I
was
born
and
raised,
you
know
black
folks.
We
don't
talk
to
any
and
everybody
send
me
downtown
and
talk
to
somebody.
I
don't
trust
cause
you've
done
nothing
to
help
me.
The
invisible
hand
of
government
has
done
everything
against
us
from
the
nti
with
black
people
in
charge.
C
Violence,
it'll
reduce
violence,
bull
crap,
it'll
reduce
this
that
the
third
you
know
what,
if
that's
true,
then
you
all
need
to
run
to
me
run
to
me
and
help
have
me
help
y'all
right
away,
because
if
y'all
really
truly
believe
that
that
we
could
solve
all
these
societal
problems
by
untitling
titles,
I'm
here
and
available
to
you
I'll
show
you
what
I'm
working
with
and
guess
what
put
the
money
in
escrow.
I
wait
to
be
paid.
Okay,.
C
When
I
come
to
me,
then
you
want
to
shut
me
up,
but
I'm
gonna
be
your
secret
weapon.
Okay,
I'ma
get
you
something
done,
I'ma
get
you
something
done,
okay,
so
solution,
because
you
need
them
because
you
don't
have
them,
you
don't
have
them
you're
going
to
get
them
with
all
these
attorneys,
all
them
billable
hours,
I'm
uptown
where
it's
happening
in
strawberry
mansion,
but
you
don't
want
to
hear
what
I'm
saying
you
ready
to
rush
me
off.
C
C
C
C
That's
who
you
come
to,
so
you
leaving
me
out
the
room
shut
me
up,
but
you
need
me
baby.
Okay,
the
other
thing
is
all
of
the
things
that
you
can
do
before
somebody
dies
before
somebody
dies.
So
y'all
talking
to
white
folks
downtown
this
one
over
here
and
that
one
over
there
but
you're
not
talking
to
me.
C
I
don't
know
why
not.
I
got
solutions
for
you,
but
I'm
gonna
put
a
pin
in
it
right
there
cause
you
made
me
wait
two
hours.
My
time
is
just
as
damn
valuable
as
any
of
them:
lawyers
that
you
pay
in
billable
hours,
but
you're,
not
talking
to
your
sister,
I'm
a
grandmother
of
tim
all
right.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
no!
No!
Thank
you
too.
Okay.
Thank
you
too.
Y'all
need.
M
C
D
Today,
madam
chair,
can
I
can
I
just
respond
to
that,
because
I
think
for
the
record,
this
needs
to
be
on
the
transcript
for
the
record
as
we
prepare
for
all
hearings
in
philadelphia
city
council,
we
advertised
the
hearing
shared
the
information
on
social
media
in
advance
of
the
hearing.
The
hearing
was
advertised
by
the
chief
clerk's
office
and
my
team,
and
I
received
an
email
from
queen
judith
robinson
today.
D
We
we
received
the
email
today
at
around
10
35,
while
the
hearing
was
going
on.
So
as
soon
as
we
received
the
information,
we
did
get
it
over
to
the
tech
team
to
ensure
that
she
could
be
included
in
the
hearing.
Madam
chair,
I
had
to
include
that
for
the
record,
the
individuals
know
that
we
are
seeking
to
hear
from
all
of
our
constituents
on
this
very
important
matter.
Thank
you
very
much.
B
No
problem
and
thank
you
for
that
clarification,
so
there
being
no
further
questions
from
members
of
the
committee
and
no
other
witnesses
to
testify.
This
concludes
the
business
before
the
committee
on
housing,
neighborhood
development
and
the
homeless
today,
and
I
just
want
to
thank
everyone
who
called
in
to
share
testimony.
I
want
to
thank
everyone
for
their
work.
B
I
want
to
especially
thank
councilmember
gilmore
richardson
and
our
register
of
wills
and
all
of
the
legal
service
organizations
working
on
this
cause,
and
it
feels
like
a
big
issue,
but
I
feel
like
we
have
a
lot
of
the
right
people
at
the
table,
and
that
makes
me
confident
that
we'll
be
able
to
help
our
constituents
on
this
and
really
really
make
a
positive
impact.
So
thank
you
so
much
everyone
and
have
a
wonderful
day.
Bye-Bye.