Detroit Land Bank presents Q1 report as residents press for clearer notices, faster rehabs

Detroit City Council members and residents pressed the Detroit Land Bank Authority on Wednesday over title clearance, customer service and how the agency notifies property owners before taking legal action, after the DLBA presented its Q1 2025 report.

The Land Bank reported an inventory of about 66,170 properties, “almost 60,000 pieces of vacant land” and a structure inventory of roughly 5,500 properties, and said it sold nearly 17,000 structures to date and almost 30,000 lots. The DLBA also reported nearly 1,300 buyback closings, more than 2,000 nuisance-abatement compliance outcomes, 72 community events in Q1 and more than 14,000 incoming calls handled in the period.

Council members said they hear repeated complaints from residents who say Land Bank customer service is hard to navigate. “How are you getting this information out to the public and getting it out in a way that is shareable, easily consumed and digestible?” asked Council President Pro Tem James Tate. DLBA CEO Tammy Daniels said the authority has expanded in-person “back to the district” events, increased social-media activity and signed a communications vendor to launch new tools, including web chat and chatbots, intended to provide quicker, self‑service answers.

“Our goal is not to take the property,” Daniels said when describing nuisance-abatement work. “It is to have the private property owner step up and take…