Study Finds Michigan Land Bank Cut Vacancy by 27%
One Community Update
June 28, 2026
Source: www.midmichigannow.com
A new report tracking Michigan’s land bank program over nearly two decades shows the effort has touched hundreds of thousands of properties and helped communities reduce vacancy and blight.
The data, spanning from 2004 to 2023, found land banks across Michigan have handled more than 159,000 properties — about one in every 20 statewide. The program began in Genesee County in 2004 and has since expanded to 57 land banks across the state.
Researchers found vacancy was reduced by 27% statewide during the period studied.
“Land banks offer us a terrific tool to communities to not only address unproductive property but to also provide some tools for economic development,” said Joseph Rivet, executive director of the State Land Bank Authority.
Along with economic development, the report found vacancy decreased and population increased in various communities. Rivet said Michigan has made “significant progress” over the past 20 years.
“There’s a significant number of stats: $100 million a year added to the tax rolls, tens of thousands of properties that were prevented from foreclosure. I mean, these are the things that are really beneficial to communities,” Rivet said.
The report said about 45,505 tax foreclosures were prevented through the land bank program.
Before land banks were created, communities had limited options for repurposing abandoned, tax-foreclosed properties. Those properties typically went through auctions, and in some cases buyers let them sit vacant, eventually ending up in foreclosure again.
“Foreclosed properties were not as significant of an issue but as the ’90s went on, especially in some of our urban, more dense urban communities, there became greater and greater issues with foreclosed or abandoned and blighted properties,” Rivet said.
The report traces the program’s origins to former Congressman Dan Kildee, who created the land bank while serving as Genesee County treasurer.
Rivet said pandemic-era funding helped accelerate blight elimination work.
“We received about $150 million in blight elimination dollars, half federal, half from the state itself. And the state land bank authority worked with our local land bank partners to do some intense blight elimination. Demolitions was a significant part of that but we also did some rehabilitation and some what we call stabilization work,” Rivet said.
Not every county or community has a land bank, and Rivet said activity varies widely depending on local needs and capacity.
“Land banks can be as active or inactive as they want. So it’s a very adaptable tool, depending on the community and the conditions that exist. So we have land banks with a single property in their inventory that they’re working to address. And so you can have a substantial amount of activity as you see in Genesee County or you can have very limited activity on a very part-time basis in a smaller county or a less populated county,” Rivet said.
While vacancy and blight have been the focus since the program’s inception, Rivet said he believes the next phase will center on building new attainable and affordable homes — an effort he said the Genesee County Land Bank has recently launched.
For full report, please click the source link above.