Description:

Across the country, communities are still struggling with inventories of properties that are causing harm – properties that are vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated (VAD).ⁱ Many of these properties are underwater in value – meaning the amount of delinquent taxes, liens, and other liabilities are more than what the property is worth. Often times these properties serve as remnants of a troubling and intentional history of racist policies that continue to disparately impact Black communities and concentrate poverty.

Land banks and community land trusts (CLT) are two entities that, in concert, can help reverse the trajectory of disinvestment and unlock a pipeline of VAD properties to provide much needed quality affordable housing for current and future generations.

Places like Albany, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; and Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio are pioneering models of how these partnerships can support neighborhood stabilization and prevent displacement of vulnerable residents.

Download this report to learn more about:

1. land banks and CLTs;
2. promising models and examples of land bank and CLT partnerships from across the country; and
3. what is needed to evolve and expand land bank and CLT partnerships.