Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Bank Mou topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Land Bank reports Q4 sales and outreach; council presses for clearer buyback and accountability language in MOU
Summary
The Detroit Land Bank Authority reported Q4 sales and outreach activity and compliance supports; councilmembers pressed the DLBA for clearer buyback, right‑of‑first‑refusal, grievance and reporting language in a proposed one‑year MOU and gave staff one week to circulate revised language.
Tammy Daniels, CEO of the Detroit Land Bank Authority, presented the authority's quarter‑4 report, highlighting sales and inventory figures and community engagement efforts. Daniels said the Land Bank sold 324 structures across auction and own‑it‑now platforms and more than 856 lots through side‑lot and neighborhood programs in the quarter. She reported a large inventory of parcels under management and described outreach initiatives such as 'Talking with Tammy' Instagram live events and localized office hours.
Daniels summarized the Land Bank's compliance and rehab supports: purchasers must bring structures to a blight‑free standard, provide a working kitchen and bathroom, hot water and active utilities, and obtain at least one building‑code inspection to achieve compliance. She said the Land Bank offers discounts with local hardware partners and a small grant program that has, in limited cases, paid contractors to install essential items (water heaters, furnaces) so low‑income purchasers can reach compliance. The Land Bank also said it will subordinate its interest on a property to allow bank financing where that helps a purchaser secure funds to finish rehabs.
Councilmember Waters (identified in the committee by last name) presented a walk‑on memo with proposed MOU amendments that would expand the Land Bank's duties, formalize shared disposition responsibilities with the council and set out a homeownership pathway for occupants of DLBA properties (including a buyback/right‑of‑first‑refusal mechanism and grievance process). Several councilmembers expressed support for greater transparency but raised legal and liability concerns about wording that said the Land Bank would "share responsibility" with City Council. Council members asked the Land Bank and law department to review the language and produce clarifying text that preserves the Land Bank's statutory independence while establishing stronger reporting and accountability.
The committee agreed to circulate the proposed revisions to members and to the Land Bank's attorney and requested the administration's position on newly added resolution language. Members set a one‑week timeline to return related line items for final consideration, with the vice chair saying he would move the package next week if updated language did not arrive. Daniels said she had already provided lists of occupied properties and would provide additional detail on properties denied for buyback eligibility; she also explained the typical compliance timeline and the Land Bank's practice of extending time where purchasers demonstrate progress.
No final vote on the MOU occurred; the committee set a tight follow‑up schedule to reconcile language and asked staff to provide specific lists and legal clarifications.
