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Land banks have existed in the U.S. for more than four decades, but as recently as 2010, they were still a relatively unexplored community development tool. That was the year the Center for Community Progress opened its doors with the purpose of advising communities on land banks and other critical tools to address vacancy, abandonment, and tax delinquency. At that time, a handful of states, most notably Michigan and Ohio, already had land bank enabling legislation on the books, and a small number of well-established land banks had emerged as examples from which to learn. A national community of practice related to land banking, however, had not yet formed, leaving many questions about best practices unanswered. This landscape began to change in the wake of the 2008 housing market collapse and subsequent foreclosure crisis, as an increasing number of community development practitioners around the country came to view land banks as a potential game changer in their efforts to combat problem properties.
