Abraham Lincoln and the Race to Property Title

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Abraham Lincoln had some catching up to do.

It had been three years since the residents of Abraham Lincoln, a small, hilly neighborhood on the edge of Tegucigalpa, became eligible to buy the land they live on. Abraham Lincoln, like many neighborhoods in Honduras, was settled informally—people just moved in. Some paid for their land, but no one had the official document, called a land title, that proved that the land was theirs. Land titles give residents the legal backing to pass the land on to their children, and allow them to use the land as collateral for a loan to improve their homes.

Thanks to a law passed in 2004, these neighborhoods can be taken over by the Honduran government and residents can buy the land, with any past payments counting towards the cost. The government then finds the owner of the land and gives him the payment. When the residents finish paying, they get a land title.

The 300 families of Abraham Lincoln watched as three nearby neighborhoods which had started the process at the same time passed through the steps of getting a land title, with the help of the Association for a More Just Society (AJS)-supported Land Rights team. But, the neighborhood council in Abraham Lincoln was convinced the government was trying to trick the community to give up its land through the titling process. Several years passed with no changes and no titles.

Neighborhood council elections in Abraham Lincoln brought in a new set of leadership. Ramona Medina (pictured at right), a mother of five grown children who sells food to neighbors, became the new neighborhood council president. She had seen how people in the three neighboring communities had obtained their land titles with no problems, and now could use their land as collateral to take out loans. Ramona and other residents wanted these benefits and knew that the Land Rights team could help. Team members began a set of workshops that explained the basics of the Property Law, educating the residents concerning their rights and responsibilities on the path toward full legal title.

“The neighbors were more receptive to the trainings because they had already seen ASJ work in the neighboring communities,” said Anajansi Alvarado, a community organizer and member of the Land Rights Team. “The residents knew more about the process than most other neighborhoods that we work with.”

But the partnership between Abraham Lincoln and ASJ did not end at the conclusion of the workshops. The team accompanied neighborhood residents to meetings to sign a contract saying they would pay for the land, and then make a schedule for these payments. Finally, in July 2011, the citizens of Abraham Lincoln received their titles right outside the Presidential Office in Tegucigalpa. Of course, the Land Rights team was there, too, congratulating Ramona Medina and the other residents of Abraham Lincoln for their patience and hard work.

Abraham Lincoln had started the effort toward property title trailing its neighbors. With the help of ASJ’s Land Rights Team, the residents of Abraham Lincoln received property titles side-by-side with the other neighborhoods which had initiated the process long before.