2025 National Rural Housing Conference – Heirs’ Property Forum

Inside the Heirs’ Property Forum: Panel Summaries and Key Themes 

The National Rural Housing Conference took place during the week of November 2, 2025, in Washington, DC. During the conference, the Rural Homes, Secure Lands Forum convened heirs’ property practitioners, researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and funders to explore the multidimensional challenges surrounding heirs’ property.  

Across all sessions, the forum revealed that heirs’ property can lead to multidimensional, intergenerational, socio-economic, cultural, and infrastructural challenges. Addressing these requires cross-sector ecosystems, including legal, financial, design, philanthropic, governmental, and community-based resources, that can meet families where they are, honor their histories, and create durable structures for long-term stability. 

Building on this shared understanding, the forum was organized as a pre-conference symposium featuring a series of panels, followed by two workshops during the conference week that examined these themes in greater depth. The following summaries highlight the key focus areas, perspectives, and approaches explored throughout the event.  

This article is part of an ongoing conference series. Want to learn more? Explore the full series below. 

Rural Homes, Secure Land Symposium Panels 

Forum Panel #1: Evolution of the Heirs’ Property Movement  

The first panel of the day, Evolution of the Heirs’ Property Movement, provided an overview of how the heirs’ property field evolved into its current form. The panel highlighted leaders who have dedicated their careers to strengthening protections and expanding resources for heirs’ property owners, as well as the passionate individuals and organizations whose efforts laid the groundwork for the continually expanding heirs’ property movement.  

Panelists: 

• Francine Miller, Vermont Law and Graduate School and Heirs’ Property Practitioner Network  

• Dr. Jennie Stephens, Center for Heirs’ Property 

• Dr. Kara Woods, Alcorn State University, National Policy Research Center  

Forum Panel #2: Collectively Living on Rural Land   

Rural America is diverse, and so are the ways land is held and passed down through generations. Our second panel of the day, Collectively Living on Rural Land, highlighted the diversity of rural communities and the varied forms of residential land tenure that shape them. Panelists shared perspectives as practitioners who live in, work in, or are from rural communities, discussing the unique strengths and characteristics of how land is held in their communities. The conversation explored the intersection of heirs’ property and communal land tenure and examined current and aspirational approaches to supporting affordable and sustainable housing on collectively held land and heirs’ property.  

Panelists: 

• Alicia Díaz Santiago, Centro para la Reconstrucción del Hábitat 

• Rusty Smith, Auburn University, Rural Studio 

• Natasha Moodie, Senior Research Associate, Housing Assistance Council  

Forum Panel #3: Expanding Capital Access Through Philanthropy and Housing Finance 

Increased access to capital is essential not only for families navigating heirs’ property and other forms of landownership, but also for the professionals working to support them. Our third panel of the day, Expanding Capital Access Through Philanthropy and Housing Finance, highlighted funding strategies that advance heirs’ property work, along with national and local collaborations and innovations aimed at expanding capital access for heirs’ property owners. The session explored how philanthropic investments and housing finance innovations can strengthen capital infrastructure and support homeowners and practitioners.  

Panelists: 

• Olivia Barrow Strauss, JPMorgan Chase 

• Ruth Gao, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

• Ben Navarro, Fannie Mae  

• Kristopher Smith, LISC Jacksonville 

Forum Panel #4: Preserving Rural Homes Through Collaborative Services  

Our closing panel, Preserving Rural Homes Through Collaborative Services, highlighted impactful and effective models for providing holistic support to rural homeowners, with a focus on preventing and resolving heirs’ property issues and preserving rural homes and communities. The session explored the strengths of cross-sector partnerships and collaborative approaches that bring together housing, legal, and community-based services to create sustainable and accessible solutions for rural residents.  

Panelists: 

• Chris Doll, Housing Development Alliance 

• Jacy Fisher, Gregory Varner and Associates and Clear Landing 

• Dr. Karama Neal, Neal Firm and Asset Funders Network 

• Myra Martinez, Affordable Homes of South Texas 

Stay tuned! In the coming weeks, we will be sharing more in-depth summaries of each individual panel to further explore the insights highlighted here. 

Compiled and written by Odia Kaba, Research Fellow