71 Missed Opportunity for a New Land Bank????

Here is an opportunity for a new Land bank to start to be a catalyst for revitalization.

Suppose a entry street to a town's downtown was lined with abandoned and blighted houses or houses that were blighted or unkempt vacant lots. Along the street were in a random way well maintained owner occupied houses.

The downtown has a struggling, continuing and upward resurgence with an attractive streetscape, unique retail stores, examples of historic and appealing commercial structures, a scenic river, community murals and sculpture and the site of regional events both public and private. (A private restaurant has annual events that attract participants in the low thousands. A community nonprofit has events two or three times a year that involve the river and dramatic displays of controlled fire along it at  nightfall that attracts numbers in the tens of thousands.)

The County Tax Claim Bureau has published properties along the entry street that are eligible for private tax sale. There are 22 properties in number.

The properties can be acquired for a Tax Claim Bureau fee of about $200 for each and a bid of $1.00.
For a total of $4422.00 a land bank could begin the mission of revitalization,

A private tax sale results in all tax liens on each parcel being expunged, gone, nada.

However, private tax liens remain. However, they can be dealt with petitions to the County Court to "quiet title." Should a private lien holder step forward, a land bank could create as a condition for a lien holder to have a viable claim they could have a policy of requiring the lien holder to pay all back taxes and to be in compliance with the building and maintenance code. Their having cleared tax liens does not give license to the private lien holder to that benefit. That will likely have the private lien holder release all rights. Now then as a land bank can act to quiet title to a bundle of properties, that provision of the land bank law means a cost savings in legal fees going forward with a bundled action to quiet titles.

Here is the LIST of properties:

Here is an aerial map: