Thank you to Wendy Harris, President of NC Realtors, who read the recent Charlotte Observer front page article about our efforts to save our family’s land from a forced sale and wrote an opinion piece published in this week’s News & Observer, urging the NC Senate to pass legislation (already passed by the NC House) that would protect families from losing land to such predatory real estate development tactics.

Ms. Harris writes in part:

”All it takes is one outside developer convincing, or coercing, a single relative to sell and the property can be taken away from everyone. There is a fix that would protect families but it’s waiting for a vote in the N.C. Senate. Last year, the N.C. House passed the bipartisan Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act which directly addresses the problem, giving families the right of first refusal to buy out family members who want to sell. If a court-ordered sale does occur, the bill ensures families get fair market value instead of the current process of selling on the courthouse steps for far less than the property is worth. The bill also enables these families, who often lack clear title to their land, to access federal funding for disaster recovery, resulting in fewer dilapidated properties that languish after hurricanes. Twenty states have passed this model legislation. North Carolina is one of two in the Southeast that hasn’t. We have an opportunity to protect vulnerable families from losing property due to an unfair process that’s existed for too long. Our lawmakers must correct this.”

Please continue to share this petition and encourage others to sign.  In our case, the developer has largely gone dark and seemingly hopes to avoid any public scrutiny in favor of hoping a court clerk will just rubber stamp his cruel efforts to force the sale.  We know from a landscaper tending to our property that the developer has seemingly been visiting the McQueen property and proudly speaks us his intentions to cram 4 houses on our plot of land.  Where we see Mangie’s McQueen’s legacy, all this developer sees is dollar signs.  And yet it is the family that continues to pay for all upkeep of the property and pays all property taxes while the developer rides out any public scrutiny in hiding.

For those supports in NC, call or write your NC legislators and demand that these kinds of practices be stopped by the passing critical legislation mentioned by Ms. Harris.

Thank you.  Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers supporting us.  We are thankful to celebrate our matriarch, Clotelle Fisher, this weekend as she continues to inspire our efforts to save our family’s land.

With deepest gratitude,

The McQueen Family