Lenawee Now is pleased to share a Lenawee County Land Bank Authority success story! In 2014, a home located at 140 Butler Street in Adrian was acquired through means of a tax sale. Lenawee Now was then able to facilitate a sale to a buyer. Since, this home has undergone a complete renovation and is ready to be put on the market.
This home was given new life because of the Lenawee County Land Bank Authority. The land bank is a public authority created to efficiently hold, manage and develop tax-foreclosed property. Land banks act as a legal and financial mechanism to transform vacant, abandoned and tax-foreclosed property back to productive use. Generally, land banks are funded by local governments’ budgets or the management and disposition of tax-foreclosed property.
While abandoned and vacant properties depress property values, discourage property ownership, and attract criminal activities in the surrounding area, a land bank provides tools to quickly turn these tax-reverted properties back into usable parcels that reinvest in the community’s long-term vision for its neighborhoods. Land bank programs act as an economic and community development tool to revitalize blighted neighborhoods and business districts. Land banks can benefit urban schools, improve tax revenues, expand housing opportunities, remove public nuisances, assist in crime prevention and promote economic development. Contact Tim Robinson at 517-265-5141 or tim@lenaweenow.org for more information about the Lenawee County Land Bank Authority.