House General & Housing committee asks DHCD for statewide land bank report by Nov. 1

The House General & Housing Committee on Thursday, Feb. 27 continued its review of draft 4.1 of a committee housing bill and included a provision asking the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to produce a report on land banks by Nov. 1.

Committee leaders said the request is intended to examine how a statewide land bank could work alongside local land banks, creating a tiered relationship so communities across the state — including rural areas — could benefit from land-bank activity. "One of the ways that emerged to deal with this is the creation of the land bank," the Committee chair (unnamed) said. "This section asks for a report. And one of the concerns…was that the report not only look at a statewide land bank, but look at the relationship between it [and] local land banks."

The committee framed the report as an early step rather than final legislation. "We really weren't anywhere near a place where we craft an actual, actual legislation creating a land bank because there were too many unexpected [issues]," the Committee chair said. A committee member added the Nov. 1 deadline should give legislators time to "learn more about land banks" and to have DHCD's recommendations available before next year's session.

During the discussion committee members noted they had not heard testimony opposing the report or the Nov. 1 deadline. "I am unaware we've had testimony supporting this. I am unaware of any objection to the report or the number one, the November 1 date," the Committee chair said, asking for committee feedback.

A committee member raised a concern about access for individual residents who want to rehabilitate properties. "How fast is this land bank gonna be grabbing up real estate when there's people out there that do wanna get involved in bringing back properties?" the member (Debbie) asked. The Committee chair responded that, based on experience, land banks typically wait for local governments or landowners to refer properties to them rather than actively seizing parcels.

The directive in the draft asks DHCD to examine possibilities beyond dealing with abandoned houses, including whether a land bank could support broader housing goals. The committee did not adopt final legislative language on a land bank during this session; members described the report request as a study step to inform future drafting.

The committee paused other agenda items to allow more time later in the day to work through the bill.

Ending

The report request remains in the draft as a research and policy-development step; no formal motion or vote on creating a land bank occurred during the session. DHCD is asked to deliver the report by Nov. 1, and the committee signaled it expects the report to inform potential legislation in a future session.