H.R. 1607 — HEIR Act of 2025

This section directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to amend regulations at 24 CFR part 570 governing the Community Development Block Grant program for disaster recovery (CDBG-DR) and the Community Development Block Grant program for mitigation (CDBG-MIT)—which provide flexible block grants to state and local governments for housing reconstruction, infrastructure repair, and risk-reduction activities following Presidentially declared disasters—to expand options for proving property ownership. Those options, for applicants lacking traditional documentation (including owners of heir property, defined as residential property whose title passed by intestacy and is held by two or more heirs as tenants in common), include (1) a standardized, non-notarized affidavit of ownership form developed by the Secretary and made available to applicants in English, Spanish, and other locally predominant languages of the disaster area; or (2) letters from local public or private schools, federal or state benefit providers, or social service organizations (e.g., community assistance programs and nonprofits). The affidavit is exempt from public comment periods or publication notices under part 570.