Heirs’ Property in Urban America: A Case Study of Inherited Homeownership in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

Source abstract

Heirs’ property—real estate inherited by multiple family members, often without clear legal title—remains largely overlooked in urban research, despite its potential implications for housing instability and racial inequality. To address this gap, this article examines residential heirs’ properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Integrating county title and tax parcel records, we develop a systematic methodology that identifies more than 10,000 single-family residential heirs’ properties across Dallas and Tarrant counties. We find that heirs’ properties are, on average, older and of poorer quality than other homes and are heavily concentrated in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with large shares of Black and Latino homeowners. These findings offer insights into the urban dimensions of residential heirs’ property and efforts to reduce barriers to housing and neighborhood stability, support intergenerational wealth preservation, and reduce economic inequality in cities.