Land Banks and Land Banking Frank S
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Land Banks and Land Banking Frank S. Alexander June 2011 About the Author Frank S. Alexander is the Sam nunn Professor of Law at emory university School of Law and a co- founder of the Center for Community Progress. He is the author or editor of eight books and more than forty articles in real estate finance and community redevelopment, including Georgia Real Estate Finance and Foreclosure Law 2010-2011 (5th ed., 2010). Professor Alexander’s work has focused on homelessness, affordable housing and community development, serving as a Fellow of the Carter Center of emory university (1993-96), and as a Commissioner of the State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless (1994-98). He has served as Interim Dean of emory university School of Law (2005-06), as Visiting Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard university (Fall Semester, 2007), and has testified before u.S. Congress concerning the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Professor Alexander received his JD from Harvard Law School, a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and his BA from the university of north Carolina. 2 Land Banks and Land Banking Frank S. Alexander June 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS > Foreword by Dan Kildee, President, Center for Community Progress 8 > IntroductIon 10 > PART I. UNDERSTANDING ABANDONMENT > chApter 1 – understAndIng the Inventory 14 > Vacant, Abandoned, Tax-Delinquent, and Foreclosed Properties > The Significance of the Housing and economic Crises > chApter 2 – the evolutIon oF lAnd BAnks 18 > The First Generation: St. Louis, Cleveland, Louisville, Atlanta > The Second Generation: Genesee County & Michigan; Ohio > The emerging Third Generation: Pennsylvania, new York, Georgia > Land Banks and Land Banking > The Federal Role and the neighborhood Stabilization Program > chApter 3 – the rAnge oF chAllenges 24 > Barrier: Lack of Awareness of the Problem > Barrier: Tax-Delinquent Properties > Barrier: Title Problems > Barrier: Property Disposition Requirements > Barrier: Inadequacy of Code enforcement > Barrier: unknown Owners > Barrier: Lack of Control > chApter 4 – potentIAl solutIons 28 > understanding and evaluating the Inventory > Reforming Tax Foreclosure Statutes > Judicial Tax Foreclosures > Clarity and Flexibility in Disposition Criteria 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS (COnT.) > enhancing Code enforcement Procedures > Identifying Responsible Parties > Judicial Receiverships > chApter 5 – AddItIonAl tools And AlternAtIves 36 > Land Banks as Depositories > Land Banks as Development Partners > Land Banking and Community Land Trusts > PART II. CREATING AND OPERATING A LAND BANK > chApter 6 – creAtIng essentIAl powers For lAnd BAnks 44 > Property Acquisition > Property Management > Property Disposition > chApter 7 – FInAncIng oF lAnd BAnk operAtIons 48 > General Revenue Funding > Inventory Cross-Subsidies > Tax Recapture > Delinquent Tax Revolving Funds > Borrowing and Bond Financing > chApter 8 – FormIng the governAnce oF lAnd BAnks 54 > Factors that Influence Land Bank Governance > Legal Structures of Land Banks > Organizational Structures of Land Banks > Selecting Public and Private Roles > chApter 9 – IdentIFyIng core puBlIc polIcIes For lAnd BAnks 58 > Identifying Critical Policy Goals > Building upon Key Public Policies > Strategic Banking of Properties > The unintended Consequences of Success > chApter 10 – determInIng AdmInIstrAtIve polIcIes 64 > establishing Property eligibility > Identifying eligible Property Owners > Setting Pricing Policies > enforcing Commitments 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS (COnT.) > PART III. BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE > chApter 11 – the Case For lAnd BAnkIng In your communIty 72 > Building Constituencies > Anticipating Objections > Managing expectations > Defining Success > chApter 12 – stAte enABlIng legIslAtIon 76 > The need for State enabling Legislation > The Types of State enabling Legislation > Drafting State enabling Legislation > chApter 13 – IntergovernmentAl Agreements 80 > Maximizing Intergovernmental Cooperation > Developing and Drafting Intergovernmental Agreements > BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDICES > BIBlIogrAphy 84 > AppendIX A: lAnd BAnks Around the COUNTRY 90 > AppendIX B: stATUTORY reFerences 95 > AppendIX c: templAte For lAnd BAnk legIslAtIon 96 > AppendIX d: sAmple AdmInIstrAtIve polIcIes 105 > AppendIX e: lAnd BAnk deposITORY Agreements 113 5 the center for community progress The mission of the Center for Community Progress is to create vibrant communities primarily through the reuse of vacant, abandoned and problem properties in America’s cities and towns. We accomplish this mission in the following ways: • The Center is the national resource for policy, information, capacity building, and training regarding the redevelopment of vacant, abandoned and problem properties. • The Center partners with federal, state and local officials and non-profit organizations that are charged with repositioning vacant, abandoned and problem properties. • The Center collaborates with experts on relevant research needed to contribute to the growing body of appropriate public policy regarding the successful reuse of vacant, abandoned and problem properties. • The Center is the national advocacy organization regarding the successful reuse of vacant, abandoned and problem properties. • The Center uses its expertise to improve the overall economic and social well-being of American cities and towns impacted by large numbers of vacant, abandoned and problem properties. 6 lAND BANKS AND lAND BANKING This volume is published and distributed by the Center for Community Progress, with offices in Flint, MI, Washington, DC, and new Orleans, LA. Its principal office is located at: 421 Garland St., unit A, Flint, MI 48503 tel: 877-542-4842 Copies of this publication are available in electronic format at www.communityprogress.net. Copyright, 2011, Frank S. Alexander. All rights reserved. ISBn-10: 0615471765 ISBn-13: 978-0-615-47176-1 7 lAND BANKS AND lAND BANKING FOREwORD If America’s cities and towns are to realize their available to combat the contagious blight, crime, disease, and greatest potential as attractive and welcoming disinvestment associated with forgotten urban land. As many metropolitan areas continue to consume suburban and rural places—and as drivers of the new American land much faster than their population grows, thousands of economy—they must be able to repurpose their urban parcels sit idle, available but somehow out of reach. vacant, abandoned and foreclosed properties. There is hope, however. In a growing number of American Those properties—whether the product of the cities and counties, progressive leaders are implementing current foreclosure crisis or the remnants of the new approaches to combat blight and abandonment. By rethinking the value and potential of vacant and abandoned old economy—diminish the sense of community properties—seeing them as assets rather than as a disposable among neighbors, erase the value of lifelong commodity—these communities are finding new ways investment in a home, and make it nearly to breathe life into once-forgotten neighborhoods. impossible for cities and towns to attract and keep With initial funding from the Ford Foundation and the the creative, innovative, entrepreneurial citizens Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, we formed a new national who will build the next economy. organization to support those local efforts and to carry this agenda of reform across the nation. In January 2010, we launched the Center for Community Progress. The mission of For decades, older cities have struggled with the problems Community Progress is to create vibrant communities through posed by unoccupied, dilapidated houses, vacant buildings the reuse of vacant property in America’s cities and towns— and open, empty lots. Those abandoned properties depress to transform the systems that affect how the community tax revenues, strain public services and demand constant development, government and private development and expensive attention from local governments. They are fields repurpose these properties and communities. targets for arson and breeding grounds for crime, and they present a dangerous and sometimes deadly playground for One of the approaches we believe to be critical to this neighborhood children. In my hometown of Flint, Michigan, mission is the development of land banks—public authorities for example, seven out of ten fires occur in abandoned houses. created to efficiently acquire, hold, manage, and develop Ironically, the declining tax base and subsequent budget cuts tax-foreclosed property. By using the legal tools a land resulting from those vacant properties have forced the city to bank provides, a community can ensure that tax-foreclosed close fire stations that would have responded to the infernos. property is sold or developed with the long-term interest of Vacant and abandoned properties diminish the resources the community and surrounding property owners in mind. 8 lAND BANKS AND lAND BANKING Foreword Land banks often provide marketable title to properties only to acquire and care for tax-foreclosed property. previously impossible to develop due to complicated liens In fact, these laws, together with amendments to the and confused ownership histories. While land banks are Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act, have allowed generally associated with older urban communities that the Genesee County Land Bank to acquire more than have significant abandonment, they are potentially just as 10,000 parcels in the past nine years, redevelop abandoned useful to safeguard