Genesee County Land Bank

The Genesee County Land Bank is revitalizing properties, enhancing neighborhoods, and strengthening communities by preventing tax foreclosure on area homes and bringing tax reverted properties back into productive use. The Land Bank encourages reinvestment in residential, commercial, and industrial properties acquired through the tax foreclosure process. The program is made up of ten components: Demolition, Sales, Side Lot Transfer, Housing Renovation, Property Maintenance, Clean and Green, Adopt-a-Lot, Brownfield Redevelopment, Development, and Foreclosure Prevention. Through these programs the Land Bank maintains and promotes homeownership, eliminates blight and prevents the decline of viable neighborhoods, revitalizes residential neighborhoods, supports economic development, and promotes community-based greening of abandoned property. The Land Bank works with public, private, and non-profit partners and uses proceeds from the tax foreclosure process, proceeds from home sales and rental programs, and grants, loans, and bonds.

The goal of the Genesee County Land Bank is to return land obtained through foreclosure to the tax roll at a higher and better condition than when received.

Since it’s inception in 2002, the Land Bank has encouraged reinvestment in more than 4,000 properties acquired through tax-foreclosures. The program has demolished 800 blighted structures to date, and continues to demolish 100-200 structures per year. Thirty houses have been renovated for sale, 65 houses have been renovated and are available for rent, and 150 units of affordable housing have been developed by non-profit partners. The program has sold 300 side lots to adjacent homeowners at low cost. The Land Bank has secured $8.3 million in Brownfield funding and grants to assess, clean up, and return environmentally contaminated property to use.