I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7103 

To direct the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation with respect to the 

establishment of a national land bank network, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Mr. KILDEE (for himself and Mr. FERGUSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation with 

respect to the establishment of a national land bank 

network, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Land Bank 

5 Network Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Vacant and abandoned properties desta9 bilize rural, suburban, and urban neighborhoods 

10 across the United States by creating fire and other 


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1 public safety hazards, driving down property values, 

2 and draining local tax dollars. 

3 (2) The cost of repairs to maintain such prop4 erties, as well as the potential unpaid taxes and pub5 lic liens on such properties, often exceed the prop6 erty values of such properties, driving away pur7 chasers. 

8 (3) Additionally, the lack of an insurable and 

9 marketable title frequently prevents such properties 

10 from returning to productive use. 

11 (4) Low-income neighborhoods and commu12 nities of color disproportionately bear the burden of 

13 living near such properties and the associated haz14 ards. 

15 (5) Land banks— 

16 (A) have been developed to respond to the 

17 challenges posed by such properties; and 

18 (B) are primarily focused on the return of 

19 vacant, abandoned, and tax delinquent prop20 erties to productive use in accordance with lo21 cally determined goals and priorities. 

22 (6) Land banks, regardless of location, size of 

23 inventory, or duration of existence, share challenges 

24 in accessing best practices, research, technical assist25 ance, and other resources. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that a national land bank 

3 network would provide the tools necessary to ensure that 

4 land banks— 

5 (1) use best practices; 

6 (2) operate transparently; 

7 (3) develop partnerships and programming to 

8 drive community redevelopment forward; and 

9 (4) access education, expertise, and research to 

10 strengthen the critical work of land banks in sup11 porting equitable communities. 

12 SEC. 4. NATIONAL LAND BANK NETWORK. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Neighborhood Reinvest15 ment Corporation shall enter into a contract with a na16 tional nonprofit organization that has demonstrated and 

17 established expertise in supporting the creation, imple18 mentation, and operation of land banks, as well as exper19 tise relating to the systems, laws, and policies that impact 

20 vacant, abandoned, and other problem properties, to es21 tablish and operate a membership-based national land 

22 bank network. 

23 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the national land bank 

24 network established under this section shall be— 

25 (1) to provide technical assistance to rural, sub26 urban, and urban land banks who are members of 


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1 the network to support skills training, staffing sup2 port, and other operational capacity needs of such 

3 land banks; 

4 (2) to work with those rural, suburban, and 

5 urban communities that are considering whether a 

6 land bank is an appropriate tool to address vacancy, 

7 abandonment, and other problem properties in their 

8 community, and provide technical assistance in the 

9 formation of a local land bank; 

10 (3) to develop partnerships and programming to 

11 advance the work of land banks; 

12 (4) to provide land banks with access to edu13 cation, expertise, and research that supports the 

14 work of land banks; 

15 (5) to develop and administer grant programs 

16 to support existing land banks and communities in 

17 the creation of new land banks, including with re18 spect to the ability to design, develop eligibility cri19 teria, and disperse grant funds directly; 

20 (6) to work with rural communities and land 

21 banks to ensure the specific challenges of rural areas 

22 are addressed through the grant programs, edu23 cation, expertise, and research; and 


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1 (7) to track and evaluate the activities and out2 comes of land banks who are members of the net3 work. 

4 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each fiscal year, the Neigh5 borhood Reinvestment Corporation shall submit to Con6 gress a report describing, with respect to the preceding 

7 fiscal year— 

8 (1) the services provided to land banks by the 

9 national land bank network; and 

10 (2) the outcomes, qualitative impacts, and 

11 quantifiable impacts that land banks who are mem12 bers of the network have had in their respective 

13 communities. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—This is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Neighborhood Rein16 vestment Corporation to carry out this section— 

17 (1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, except 

18 that not less than $7,000,000 shall be used for the 

19 grant programs developed and administered pursu20 ant to subsection (b)(5); and 

21 (2) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

22 through 2031. 

23 (e) LAND BANK DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec24 tion, the term ‘‘land bank’’ means any of the following: 


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1 (1) A government entity, agency, or program 

2 that has been designated by the local government (or 

3 two or more local governments) to acquire, steward, 

4 and dispose of vacant, abandoned, and other prob5 lem properties in line with locally determined goals 

6 and priorities. 

7 (2) A nonprofit organization that has been des8 ignated by a local government (or two or more local 

9 governments) for the sole or principal purpose of ac10 quiring, stewarding, and disposing of vacant, aban11 doned, or other problem properties in accordance 

12 with locally determined priorities and goals. 

Æ 


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