Detroit Land Bank Departments and Activities The Detroit Land Bank is a City Authority, created by the City of Detroit to serve its residents by striving to promote healthy, vibrant neighborhoods by strategically acquiring, managing, and disposing of properties. It does this through programs and activities that fall under the six operating departments: Inventory Disposition Demolition Legal Public Affairs Finance Inventory Department The Inventory Department is responsible for the management of all properties in Land Bank ownership. This includes the acquisitions of property by the DLBA, whether from private or public sources, as well as the physical maintenance of property. The Inventory Department is responsible for the assessment and placement of inventory into “pipelines” including Demolition, Legal (Quiet Title), and Dispositions sales programs. The Inventory Department supports DLBA programs with data analysis and ability to sort and map all properties by type, location, condition, and other factors. It also provides assistance to the City’s economic development efforts. Future Inventory programs may include data analysis and support to the City for land assembly, whether for Blue/Green Infrastructure projects for storm water management, economic development, or another use. Acquisition The Inventory Department oversees the acquisition of property by the DLBA. The consolidation of public property has simplify the issue of public ownership of vacant land in the City of Detroit, as historically property has been owned by multiple sources including 1 041416 the Michigan Land Bank, Wayne County Land Bank, Wayne County Treasurer, City of Detroit, and more. The Inventory Department works with these entities to continuously acquire surplus property as well as receiving property from the Nuisance Abatement Program, and donations from banks and other parties. The Inventory Department is responsible for receiving and processing data about proposed acquisitions from any source, reviewing each property to make sure it meets all of the criteria for that particular type of acquisition, and then processing all of the paperwork to make certain that title is fully and properly vested in the DLBA. Inventory & Pipeline Management The Inventory Department is responsible for the physical maintenance of Land Bank owned properties, including board-up, mowing and snow removal. In addition, to the physical maintenance of property, it works to remove clouds in title such as inappropriate tax and utility assessments. The Inventory Department works closely with external public/private agencies such as the General Services Division, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, DTE, Department of Public Works, Buildings Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, the Wayne County Register of Deeds, the Wayne County Treasurer, and others to optimize the process of Inventory Management. The Inventory Department oversees the initial sorting of properties between those that are ready for sale, those requiring demolition, and those that are in need of some additional activity (e.g. quiet title to clear liens). Properties that require additional activity are fed to the Quiet Title team within the Legal Department. The Inventory Department assists the Dispositions Department by categorizing properties for the Auction, Own it Now, Side Lot, Community Partnership, Special Projects, Lease-A-Lot, Rehabbed & Ready, and other new programs being formed. Properties that are not selected for the dispositions programs are likely moved to the demolition pipeline. The Inventory Department also works closely with external partners such as the City of Detroit Jobs & Economy Team (JET) to categorize properties associated with economic development projects. Data Support The Inventory team assists other departments within the DLBA with reporting, GIS & mapping support, and the gathering of field data related to the current conditions of the DLBA’s inventory. Disposition Department The City of Detroit and the Detroit Land Bank seek to repopulate neighborhoods, reduce the number of vacant homes, and increase the tax base by returning surplus property to productive use. Disposition Programs include any sale or transfer of property out of the Detroit Land Bank, and other programs that support and enhance the success of those 2 041416 sales. The current disposition programs are the Auction (including Own-It-Now), Community Partnership Program, Rehabbed & Ready Program, Side Lot Sales, and Buy- Back Pilot. The Dispositions Department also works to provide financial incentives for buyers including offering a City Employee Discount, Homebuyer Counseling Discount, and it works with financial institutions to provide Mortgage options for DLBA buyers. Auction Program The Auction Program plays an important role in repopulating neighborhoods and attracting investment to restore homes. Via its website BuildingDetroit.org, the DLBA currently auctions three vacant homes each day that are in need of rehabilitation. With the theme “Neighbors Wanted”, the DLBA has structured the auction program to encourage responsible investment that will rapidly change the landscape of our neighborhoods. All successful bidders are required to bring the property up to code and have it occupied within six months (nine months for historic properties). The Own-It-Now option offers certain properties for direct sale at a set price online, in order to increase the number and variety of properties that are available to be moved back into private ownership and stabilize neighborhoods. The properties offered for direct sale will be those that the Land Bank Inventory Department concludes are not likely to succeed at the auction, usually because they in worse condition or are located in neighborhoods where the auction is not active. The eligibility requirements to purchase a property through the Own-It-Now process are the same as those in the auction. Community Partnership Program The Community Partnership Program allows local nonprofit and faith-based organizations to acquire property from the DLBA at reduced rates, provided they rehab or demolish any structure that is not up to Code or maintain it if it is a vacant lot. In addition, Community Partners can designate auction bidders to receive a 20% discount on their winning bid in the on-line auction for homes in their catchment area. Rehabbed & Ready Program Rehabbed & Ready is a philanthropic initiative aimed to improve residential market values in the City of Detroit. Through collaboration with Quicken Loans and The Home Depot, dilapidated DLBA properties undergo full rehabilitation to bring houses to at-or above- market conditions. As this is a neighborhood-based initiative, there are also parallel efforts in place to reduce blight via the DLBA’s existing demolition and nuisance abatement programs within a 2-block radius of the homes selected for the Rehabbed & Ready initiative. 3 041416 Side Lot Sales Program Side lot properties are offered for $100 to the owner of an adjacent occupied home. Potential purchasers must be up-to-date on their property taxes in order to purchase these properties. Once a neighbor submits an on-line application to purchase a side lot, there is a three day waiting period for application processing, which also provides the other neighbor an opportunity to submit an application to purchase, as well. If both neighbors submit an application at the same time, whoever has been maintaining the lot will receive precedence to purchase. In addition, when there is substantial inventory available, the DLBA has held Side Lot Fairs at which residents who meet these criteria can purchase their side lot on the spot. Buy-Back Pilot In March, 2016 the DLBA launched a Buy Back Pilot. This gives current occupants of DLBA-owned homes an opportunity to own the home that they are occupying. The occupant must (a) have been the most recent owner of the property, (b) have been tenants of the last owner, (c) made significant improvements to the building, or (d) paid utilities for the property for the past 12 months. Participants work with the DLBA for a year or more before they can buy a property. They pay $1,000 to enter the program, which will serve as the purchase price of the home at the conclusion of the program. In addition, they must set aside money monthly for future property taxes, remain current with their water bills and attend homeowner counseling. After they complete the program, participants own their homes. Discount Opportunities City Employee Discount: A fifty percent (50%) discount will be given to all eligible employees, contractual employees, retirees and their immediate family members of the City of Detroit and its affiliated governmental agencies on all on-line auction properties sold by the Detroit Land Bank Authority, with full benefits vesting after they hold the property for three years. Homebuyer Counseling Discount: A twenty percent (20%) discount on the auction price will be given to anyone that completes a certified Homebuyer Education Course. The goal of the homebuyer counseling program is to provide homebuyer education via in-person workshops or on-line curricula to prepare potential borrowers for homeownership and home repair and rehabilitation, including content that meets or exceeds the benchmarks of the National Industry Standards for Homebuyer Education and Counseling, and also including content to be developed with the DLBA that is particularly directed to effective participation in the DLBA’s disposition programs.