SB 1894 - Municipal Land Banks

• One or more municipalities may create a land bank by ordinance or agreement to acquire and return vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties to productive use.

• Land banks must have a seven-member voting board with representatives from real estate, banking, development, commerce, affordable housing, and property ownership sectors, plus planning directors as ex officio nonvoting members.

• Land banks may acquire property through gift, purchase, foreclosure, or tax sales, but cannot exceed 7 percent of total parcels in the municipality and cannot exercise eminent domain.

• Land banks may issue revenue bonds, receive grants and loans from public and private sources, and hold property tax-exempt while maintaining public inventory records and monthly reporting requirements.

• Land banks may make automatically accepted bids at tax sales for abandoned properties meeting specified criteria without competing bids, and dissolution requires two-thirds approval from both the board and municipal governing body.