The project started by 3 CWRU law students seeks to identify and create solutions for a problem faced by scores of homeowners that often hides in plain sight: “tangled” property titles.
CLEVELAND — For college students, the weeks leading up to graduation typically bring about final exam cram sessions and the final touches on important class projects. However, for a trio of third-year law school students at Case Western Reserve University, their year-long project isn’t going to end when they graduate. Instead, in many respects, the project is just getting started.
Wilber was on the team that planned and successfully secured $35 million in federal funding through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant. The funding, which was later boosted by another $10 million allocation earlier this year, will be used to replace and redevelop CMHA’s aging Woodhill Homes complex with brand-new, high-quality housing. Retail and healthcare offerings are also included in the mixed-use development.
“There was a real interest of the residents to be able to have access to the home repair funds, but they were running into this barrier,” Rossman said. “They would come to the table ready to apply for these funds, but they found out that they didn’t have a title that was clean enough or clear enough to be able to qualify for the funds.”
The process of untangling the title can grow even more complicated — not to mention expensive — if there are encumbrances like tax liens. “The research that we did, it’s laying the foundation to have a very real impact on people,” Kimmelfield said. “For the city of Cleveland, for the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood and also other neighborhoods, to adopt a tangled title fund model, I think that would be a very helpful solution.”