Terms and Concepts for Understanding Land Banks

Mary Kilpatrick provides a glossary of terms to inform readers about the entire process surrounding land banks, especially in Cuyahoga County in Ohio, where thee city of Cleveland can be found.

So to described the county's land bank, kown as the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., Kilpatrick writes: "The quasi-governmental nonprofit debuted in 2009 to acquire foreclosed and abandoned properties to reduce blight, increase surrounding property values and improve neighbors' quality of life." Since its inception, the land bank has assisted in renovating some 1,100 homes and demolished 3,500 derelict buildings, "acquired mostly through tax foreclosures, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and government-owned housing lender Fannie Mae."

The article includes several other procedural terms of relevance to residents in communities where blighted properties required land banking activities, including "mortgage foreclosure," "tax foreclosure," Board of Revision foreclosures," and "Sheriff's sale."