Assessment of Title Complexity Associated with Informally Owned Real Property

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking a contractor to assess the title complexity associated with informally owned real property in four cities and surrounding counties impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Fall 2024. The contractor will examine informal property ownership in Asheville, NC; Tampa, FL; Greenville, SC; and Atlanta, GA, to assess the state of informal property ownership, categorize the various levels or types of informality, determine which kinds and costs of legal services would be required to formalize property titles, and identify those properties mostly likely to be eligible for Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funding. The contractor will use geospatial techniques and estimation to access and use remotely sensed imagery to assess properties affected by the hurricanes. The contract will involve several tasks, including research, data analysis, and report preparation. • The contractor will provide expertise in geospatial techniques and estimation. • The contractor will access and use remotely sensed imagery to assess properties affected by the hurricanes. • The contractor will deliver heirs’ property estimates as GIS layers compatible with commonly used geospatial software such as ARCGIS Pro. • The contractor will provide legal opinions, documented as memos, about the complexity of the twelve legal titles that will be evaluated. • The contractor will prepare a research paper addressing disasters or environmental threats and how tenuous property ownership intersects with these events.