Land Banks

A land bank’s primary purpose is to acquire properties that some call “blighted” and temporarily hold and take care of them until they can be transferred to new, responsible owners. State laws give land banks their unique powers.

While these powers vary state to state, ideally land banks can: acquire tax-foreclosed property cost-effectively; flexibly sell property to a responsible buyer or developer, driven not by the highest price but by the outcome that most closely aligns with community goals; extinguish liens and clear title; and hold property tax exempt.

In the last decade, over 300 land banks and land banking programs have been created to return collective purpose to vacant and problem properties.

As the foremost national resources for land banks, Community Progress is proud to lead the National Land Bank Network (NLBN), which unites land bank leaders to share knowledge, network, and leverage their strengths to better inform policy change, strengthen land banking as a tool, and build a national community of practice.