HomeKeep
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About HomeKeep

A home is the biggest thing most families ever pass down. In Columbus, many families lose that wealth not because of debt or a bad deal, but because one form was never filed. We built HomeKeep so any family can find out, in plain English and for free, whether their home is protected, and what to do next.

Who it's for

Homeowners, especially older homeowners, and families who inherited a home. It's written for people who have never talked to a lawyer, works on a phone, and has a larger-text button.

Why it matters here

Heirs' property is concentrated in neighborhoods that faced long-term disinvestment, where families had less access to lawyers and estate planning (Greater Ohio Policy Center, 2024). A clear title is what lets a family get repair loans, disaster aid, and the homestead tax break, and pass the home on.

How it works

  1. You type an address. The app asks the Franklin County Auditor's public parcel records (an ArcGIS REST service) who is on the deed and when the home last changed hands.
  2. You answer a few yes / no questions, like whether everyone on the deed is living.
  3. Rules based on Ohio law (Transfer on Death affidavits, survivorship deeds, and Franklin County Probate Court's small-estate options) turn the answers into a status, a plain-English summary written for you, and a step-by-step roadmap with time, cost and where to go for each step.
  4. The optional Homestead Benefits Check estimates the property tax savings for the home's own tax district, using the County Auditor's published figures, and shows how and when to apply.
  5. "Who would inherit?" shows how Ohio law would split the home, and how many dollars of family wealth are locked until every heir signs.
  6. "Free help near you" maps the free and official offices that handle each step.

Privacy and safety by design

  • One address at a time. The app never builds lists or maps of homes that might have tangled titles, because people who prey on heirs' property could misuse them.
  • Neighbors on the map only show what the County's own public map shows, never a title status.
  • Nothing you type is saved. The server keeps no record between clicks. Roadmap check marks stay on your own device.

Limits

  • General information, not legal advice. Every plan points to free legal help.
  • Franklin County only (for now). County records can lag behind recent filings.
  • The app can't see whether someone has died; it asks you. Savings are the Auditor's estimates.

Built by

  • Tejas Menneni, New Albany High School, 12th grade
  • Satvik Surapaneni, Olentangy High School, 12th grade
  • Sutton Sykes, New Albany High School, 12th grade
  • Naman Soni, Olentangy High School, 12th grade

Built with

Python, HTML / CSS / JavaScript, and pytest, hosted on Vercel. Map tiles from OpenStreetMap contributors and Esri World Imagery. Parcel data and homestead estimates from the Franklin County Auditor. The text is from Atkinson Hyperlegible.

Use of AI tools

We had a few technical issues to overcome. One of them was translating the app into languages other than English. We were struggling to get the translation done manually on our menus as it was taking too long and was messing up our code structure. We decided to use GitHub Copilots AI tool to help with our translations. It translated all of our text files quickly into multiple languages and kept our core code safe. We also used Google Earth API to process the satellite images.

Sources